The Wayfarer Philosophy

In this modern era of turning one’s back on tradition and history, there is one area especially where this back turning is purely selfish and evil. People in the United States of America do not appreciate what they have and they do not appreciate those who have protected and defended what we have.

War is a horrible thing, and we all know it. Unfortunately, this leads many to despise those who have served in the military to defend our freedoms. They look upon Memorial Day and Independence Day as tired old traditions that do not serve their interests in a modern era of peace. This kind of thinking is akin to living in a bubble where there are no hostile foresees and interests in the world. Not only this, but it also means turning your back on the truth that without those who have risked and sacrificed their lives for this country and the unescapable fact that their sacrifices were necessary in preserving the nation.

It sickens me that so many people in this country let their bleeding hearts bleed in pity for terrorists who want to kill every last one of us for being made uncomfortable from water boarding, but turn their backs on those who gave their lives to preserve our nation. You stand up for those who want to kill you and turn your back in disrespect to those who have given their lives for you? This is the ultimate in in selfishness, complacency, and yes, evil.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth principles of a Modern Wayfarer are strongly related to one another as well as the overall philosophy. These principles deal with the pursuit of knowledge. The sixth principle certifies why the pursuit of knowledge is so import. For it is the pursuit of knowledge through one’s life experience that defines one’s understanding of reality and the role of life within it.

6th Principle

Our daily life experiences are important teachers on our path.

This principle is rather obvious, but as we go throughout our lives, it is surprising how we learn to ignore what is inherently true for the sake of ideologies that we lock on to. From the moment of birth through our early childhood, our family and surrounding environment are the influences on our development. All the knowledge that we acquire during our early stages of development come from our surroundings. We acquire this knowledge without even knowing that we are learning.

If a child is raised by wolves, then this individual develops without the learning of language. The learning of language, morality, and survival skills come about from our experience of our early childhood reality. The same can said be true as we grow older, but we soon develop the ability to choose what beliefs we choose to accept. This switch to a stage of choosing our reality is an important one. We choose to block ideas or open to ideas based on our power of choice.

5th Principles

The path to knowledge necessitates a journey illuminated by self-honesty and the pursuit of truth.

As we proceed in our early adult lives, this new power of choice becomes extremely important to us. It is key to understand that what it really is is a choice. Yet, during adolescence, we often see it as a definition of ourselves. We choose to embrace the morality and lessons of our family or we choose to rebel in an effort to define ourselves to other people. Peer pressure and popularity are mistakenly assumed as very important at this time in influencing our choices in what we accept as true, false, or undecided. In this way, our surroundings are still defining ourselves, although, really, we are old enough to be aware of it.

During this stage of development, defining ourselves is heavily influenced by the opinions of others, and we align ourselves with those we want to be with. Rather than selecting the knowledge we choose to accept based upon our own honest evaluation of it, we often choose it based on the peers we wish to align ourselves with. This is a dangerous road, but down this path the value of learning this very lesson is possible and of the utmost importance.

4th Principle

One must honesty take responsibility for his or her own actions.

The individuals pursuit of knowledge is inherently tied with self-knowledge. In order to pursue honest knowledge, one must continually evaluate his or her own method for pursuing knowledge. One should continually ask oneself, “Why do I believe this as fact?” In order to do this properly, one needs to be honest with oneself and take responsibility for actions and decisions. For if we lie to ourselves about what we do and what we say, we cannot have an honest evaluation of our internal decision making.

Seeing how our pursuit of knowledge is a pursuit of choices, how can we be pursuing truth if we are not honest with ourselves about our reasons for making the choices in what we let in to our consciousness and what we filter out?

1st Principle

Self reliance and independence is essential to the freedom of the individual both in body and mind.

The first three principles deal with an essential part of freedom in the modern world. In the modern world, work and remuneration for work is the main way for one to provide for himself, herself, or the family. One must resist the temptation become dependent upon others and society as a whole. When one is dependent, then the options become slim in choices. If you are dependent on the government, then you are dependent on the way your elected officials vote. Is this any way to live? Do we need to have an “entitlement society” where we depend on others to help us? Of course society needs to have options for helping people to help themselves. The eye should always be on becoming self-sufficient.

If you become dependent, then you will always be dependent. if you take advantage of government services to become independent, then you take on the ability to further yourself as well as others. You free up resources to those who need it like you did. You encounter the strength to employ others and help them. Those who are incapable of working are a different subject. The question is, do you really consider yourself incapable?

2nd Principle

Giving out of generosity should be done without expecting something in return.

This is not just a personal ideal that most people could believe in, but it is also a life principle. When you give, do not expect something for it. There is a difference between giving and buying. When you buy, you expect something for what you have purchased. When you give, expect nothing in return. When we pay taxes, we are actually purchasing, not giving. It is also a requirement of our government to pay taxes. Therefore, we can expect to have our voices heard in return.

3rd Principle

Receiving the generosity of others should not be expected, but should be appreciated and returned to others.

This principle is strongly related to the second principle, but still falls under the hierarchy of principle 1. Basically, when generosity is extended to you, you should pass on that generosity to others and appreciate your received generosity in that way. In terms of government, when the government helps you, you are not receiving a gift, you are receiving a purchase. What society is purchasing from you is your own potential to become a self-sufficient person. When you become self-sufficient, then you can pass on that opportunity to others. if you maintain a position of dependence, you are not appreciating that which has been given to you on trust. We cannot look at the government as some endless supply of giving that we can take advantage of. We need to look at it as a purchase of responsibility from society to us. Use what you are given in trust to become a stronger, self-sufficient person. Then you can pass the opportunity on to others. Government money is not limit-less, opportunity that you achieve on your own IS limit-less.

Independence (what we call freedom) is the opposite of dependence.

On September 19, 2008, this new blog has been founded.  This is the birthday of my wife, Jessica Schambach, co-editor of this blog.  Our posts and additional contributors are forthcoming.  At this point, we are very happy to begin this forum for the discussion of a wide-ranging variety of ideas, philosophies, and opinions.  We believe wholeheartedly that through respectful and constructive discussion, we can all grow as knowledgeable people.  Knowledge is not only power, it is the only true gift that we carry with us throughout our lives, and quite possibly, beyond.