Are you attracted to wars? (You’d be surprised how much you are)

I recently watched the movie “Ford v Ferrari,” a movie starring Mat Damon and Christian Bale about the rivalry of Ford and Ferrari in car racing in the 1960s. Even if I’m not into cars, I enjoyed watching the movie with my husband Marvin. 

What stayed with me after watching the movie is the thought that Americans love wars. After Ford lost the race to Ferrari, there’s a scene where Henry Ford II delivers this line to Carrol Shelby as they look out the window, “You see that little building out there? In World War II three out of five US bombers rolled off that line. You think Roosevelt beat Hitler? Think again. This isn’t the first time Ford Motor’s gone to war in Europe.”

I don’t know if I’ve watched way too many Hollywood movies and American TV shows, but really, there seems to be a fondness for war. I wonder if it’s a western thing? If you look at the general philosophies comparing the west and east, you would notice that while the former focuses on individualism, the latter focuses on collectivism as explained in an article by DifferenceBetween.net. It describes the western civilization as more individualistic in trying to find the meaning of life with the self at the center. On the other hand, the eastern philosophy is drawn more to groups or society with efforts to get rid of the false “me” concept in order to discover the true “me” who is always in relation to everything else around him or as part of a bigger scheme. 

Love for war present everywhere

Most of us probably agree with the 1980s Boy George song that goes, “War is stupid…”

But if we look at history, we see that human beings, whether from the east or west, have engaged in wars. And I’m not just talking about those that involve physical killing with blood. War is applied in a lot of marketing tactics, politics, religion, etc.

War is the easiest to understand and easiest to sell propaganda! Yes, check out all the successful election and marketing campaigns. You always have to have a villain. This strategy is so successful that most of the time, villains have to be invented and “manufactured.” The more ridiculous your villain is, the more successful you are. “Lumang uso na pero kumikita pa rin!” These manufactured villains come in various forms and have been used and continue to be used even after elections. 

I’m still feeling the love from last weekend’s Valentine celebration and I’m not yet in the mood to be trolled, so I’ll leave it up to your imagination (correction: rational assessment) to figure out what I mean by manufactured villains in politics. 

When it comes to marketing, a campaign would always ask us to identify our villain so we can help our customer overcome it and we become the hero!

When it comes to money matters, why do we call it financial freedom? We seem to imply that financial matters are negative and the villains, that we’d rather be free from them (as in stress-free, sugar-free, wrinkle-free).

So you see, it’s not only the Americans who love wars. The war tactic is often used because it’s the easiest way to rally everybody behind and take action. 

But is war the best way?

Casualties of war

Years ago, I was having an asthma attack and Marvin brought me to a doctor for consultation. The doctor was a very nice guy whom we would see in church but even nice guys use “taktika military!” During the consultation he said, “Parang giyera yan, so I’m going to prescribe all these medicines to you. You have to take them so we keep all bases covered!” We were still newly married in our twenties then and because both of us wanted me to get well as soon as possible, we bought all those prescribed medicines which summed up to a rather big amount for a young couple still starting their wealth accumulation together. 

Guess what happened? That night a few minutes after I took my dinner and all the medicines, I vomited like I’ve never vomited before! And I am someone who never vomited during all my three pregnancies. Yup, not a single tiny puke. 

Marvin was so angry that he started calling that doctor “Doctor Lason!”  Needless to say, I didn’t take any of those medicines anymore, never mind the cost.

Why did I narrate this story? It’s to point out that using the war tactics leaves casualties behind. It may be the fastest (or at least the perceived fastest) way to solve a problem but it is definitely not the best solution. It always leads to more problems.

In my case, I got dizzy and felt even weaker after throwing up. But it did teach us a lesson. From that day on, we became more attuned to our body’s signals. We avoided medicines, particularly those that just cure symptoms. From then on, whenever my throat gets dry and irritated, I would take lots of fluids and extra rest. It is my way to help my body’s immune system work its magic. Diet should be easy to digest so that all my body’s energy will be focused on fighting the disease. And since then (knock on wood), I’ve been able to manage my asthma pretty well. 

When we were raising our sons, we avoided treating just the symptoms as well. Coughs and colds remedies were more fluids, vitamin C and sleep. For low grade fever, we were not quick on the draw for medicines that suppress fever.

Try harmony

Even if identifying a common enemy is the fastest way to rally everyone to forge ahead for a common purpose, it is not the best and most sustainable way to live our life. It is not always a zero sum game where there has to be a winner and a loser. Instead of winning a war, why don’t we aspire for harmony? I hope we remember this the next time we make important decisions in our life.

******************************* 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1, I have received several queries on my next public talks. Here’s one that you can attend and you will not just learn from me and my family but also from other speakers. Come to the Money and Family Summit on April 4 to 5, 2020 at SMX Aura. Register here: www.finlitsummit.ph.

2. Mom and Son Podcast - Year 2 Episode 7 (Types of relationships – then vs now)

Still feeling the Valentine’s fever? Today, we discuss how relationships were: relationship status, when a couple is actually legit together and more! How different were the dating scene and rules back in my mom’s baby boomer time compared to today’s millennial/gen-z? Join the discussion and stream the episode now!

#MomAndSonPodcast

Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/353HJ6AsxDw029WjCxG7Vc?si=GpJC2K8qTgeQFs-xjJszsg 

YouTube
Originally uploaded on Anton Fausto’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/TiPPjC31-jA 
FQ Mom Link: https://youtu.be/_qziRLRQTmw 

Buzzsprout
https://www.buzzsprout.com/241447/2763709 

Apple iTunes
https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/mom-and-son-podcast/id1449688689?mt=2 

Google Podcasts
https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yNDE0NDcucnNz

3. If you want to include better Financial Health for 2020 and the new decade, take the FQ Test now. Click link: http://rebrand.ly/FQTest

4. Have a healthy relationship with money, start by reading “FQ: The nth Intelligence” and sharing the lessons with your loved ones.

You may purchase the book in major bookstores, or if you want autographed copies, please go to FQ Mom FB page (click SHOP), or FQMom.com (click BOOKS), or email us at FQMomm@gmail.com. 

Rose Fres Fausto is a speaker and author of bestselling books “Raising Pinoy Boys” and “The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon” (English and Filipino versions). Click this link to read samples – Books of FQ Mom. She is a behavioral economist, a certified Gallup strengths coach and the grand prize winner of the first Sinag Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards. Follow her on Facebook & YouTube as FQ Mom, and Twitter & Instagram as theFQMom. Her latest book is “FQ: The nth Intelligence.”

Attributions: Photos from Wikipedia and valucre.com, modified and used to help deliver the message of the article.

Information from http://www.differencebetween.net/science/differences-between-eastern-and-western-philosophy/