Mark Manson and Reuben Salsa Broke the Fuck Barrier

And yet it’s still an ugly word. But for me it opened up a wide realm of philosophical thought.

Why do I say that? Well, here’s what Mark Manson said,

“Developing the ability to control and manage the fucks you give is the essence of strength and integrity. We must craft and hone our lack of fuckery over the course of years and decades. Like a fine wine, our fucks must age into a fine vintage… “

As I approach age 70, I’ve found that I care about a lot of things, but specifically I really do give a fuck about my writing and the subject areas that interest me. Which are manifold — encyclopedic really.

So what I do give a fuck about is my being a sort of human Wikipedia who writes about stuff. Some things, sex for instance, are things that I don’t give a fuck about and generally won’t write about. Sure, sex is still important at age 70, but I won’t normally give a fuck enough to actually write about it.

I’m a white, German-American now living in a brown country. Here I’m subject to a kind of reverse racism. Not only do I not give a fuck about that, I find it amusing and appropriate. I can see from this remove the ugliness of Americans, and it’s more than appropriate that the people in, for example, Latin American countries, hate us so. I hate us too.

See? In this case I give a fuck about not giving a fuck. Do you understand what I’m saying?

Well, maybe you do and maybe you don’t. Frankly, I really don’t give a fuck either way.

No, I’m not going to give you quotes from Reuben Salsa’s articles. He doesn’t give a fuck anyway, and neither do I. Besides, if you can’t find his articles using both hands at once, you deserve to die in ignorance.

Or whatever.

Choose where you use your limited fucks. You’ll find that it simplifies life and the decisions you have to make.
… from Fred Ermlich… and thanks for reading, dear reader, because you do mean a lot to me.