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After three years of intense focus on therapy and personal growth, I'm finally hitting the keys again and will be jumping into NaNoWriMo on November 1st, 2016. Stay tuned for updates!

Wednesday 19 March 2014

RANTS & RAMBLES - Misrepresentation of What This Guy Did...

To understand what I'm ranting about, you will have to read/view this pictorial article on EyeOpening.info (it's really short):

Now for my rant...

My problem is with how this post is named (because it is simply not true!): “This Guy Started with Nothing.  What he had just 6 weeks later is amazing.”
A.      A couple lines into the article it says: “With a Thai friend’s guidance, his son-in-law’s masonry skills and a lot of work, the team made progress quickly.”
a.       What part of “a Thai friend’s guidance” and “his son-in-law’s masonry skills” are nothing?  Clearly, that is something.  Those are both two very important things to have to build a wonderful house from scratch.
B.      The SECOND line of the article is: “When Steve Areen thought about building his dream home, all he had to do was find $9,000 and a place to build.”
a.       He had to find $9,000! NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS! – That is ALSO not nothing.  That is $9,000.  It’s not like he built it out of found materials.  Sure, the next time I have $9,000, I will move down to Thailand to build my wonder hut.  Which brings me to my next point…
C.      What is he doing in Thailand anyway?  I’m sure he is employed in some way – otherwise, where did he get $9,000 to build his house.  Also, he had to GET to Thailand – that must have cost money as well, unless he fashioned a boat out of sticks and navigated down, or walked (or, if he is a native of Thailand – he lives in Thailand!  Materials & labour are sooooo much cheaper down there.  The rest of us who live in places with things called Labour Laws may have a harder time finding land and money to do the same.)
D.      I still think the house he built is super cool and deserves the attention, but SERIOUSLY, the guy did not start with NOTHING!  He knew some people and had some contacts and made it happen for cheap.  Still pretty cool, but not something the bum on the street corner can go do.
E.       Also, who designed the thing?  The article doesn’t mention that or how much that cost… unless the dude is an architect (in which case, excellent education is also not nothing – that is a very valuable something).

In short – this guy did not start out with NOTHING.  It should be named "Look at the super cool house that this well-educated resourceful man with lots of cool contacts used his savings to build" (but I realize that may not be as catchy).  Let's actually evaluate what it means to have nothing and start putting the proper value on the things we do have.

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