Pete Baron, Author at Pondering with Pete

Unveiling the Cost: How Capitalism’s Façade Harms Even the Fortunate Few

by Pete Baron on February 22, 2024 posted in Pete's Blogs, self-determination series, Social Commentary

We’ve been sold the myth of scarcity, the lie that there’s not enough for everyone, so we must hoard, compete, and climb over one another. This scarcity isn’t a natural state; it’s engineered. It’s a controlled burn that benefits those who hold the matches and watch as we scurry for the embers. They’ve built fortresses of wealth on foundations of our collective insecurity, our fears of inadequacy, and our ceaseless labor. Their wealth is our deprivation, accumulated from the very system that pits us against each other under the guise of scarceness.

“Every Man has the Right to Decide his own Destiny”

by Pete Baron on February 12, 2024 posted in Pete's Blogs, self-determination series, Social Commentary

Bunn was robbed of his freedom, a stark denial of his right to carve his own path. Equally traumatic and unjust, Bunn was deprived of the right to forge his own identity, to navigate the tumultuous seas of life according to the compass of his own will. This injustice is a glaring indictment of the elite’s greed, vividly exposing how they dehumanize those they marginalize and coerce society into complicity with their oppressive profit-oriented schemes.

The Resilience of Haitians in the Face of Adversity

by Pete Baron on February 1, 2024 posted in Pete's Blogs, self-determination series, Social Commentary

Recently, I’ve been thinking about Haiti. I see it as a vivid example—a microcosm—of a larger, deeply personal injustice: the denial of a people’s fundamental right to self-determination.

An Alien Perspective on Human Life

by Pete Baron on August 24, 2022 posted in Pete's Blogs, Philosophy as a Way of Life

We tend to go through life oblivious of our insignificance. Constantly, we worry about trivial things like what people will think of our outfit or if we embarrassed ourselves by making that joke that no one laughed at. We live in an infinite cosmos where everything is insignificant and where our existence is the close to impossible as can be. To spend most of our time worrying is to miss the point. Our unimportance relieves us of the pressure to be perfect.

Nothing has Value

by Pete Baron on April 29, 2022 posted in Pete's Blogs, Philosophy as a Way of Life

Assigning value to things based on knowledge or wisdom we think we possess simply muddles our view of reality. It is better to see clearly and be confused than to think we know and live in delusion.

Reckoning with Rejection

by Pete Baron on February 4, 2022 posted in Pete's Blogs, Philosophy as a Way of Life

When we face rejection, it is natural to feel like the entire world is crashing down around us. We perceive the rejection to be the most important thing in the world. In reality, all rejections are insignificant in the grand scheme. When enough time passes, we gain the perspective that makes this obvious. Rejection is part of life, not the end of life.

Getting Comfortable with Confusion

by Pete Baron on January 16, 2022 posted in Pete's Blogs, Philosophy as a Way of Life

I said to myself, no matter what happens, I will always be able to return to the feeling of being. I will always be able to be aware. Aware that I am not the roles I perform. Regardless of what I did in the past, what I do right now, or what I will do in the future, my being remains unchanged.