Touche witty friends of Cappy, touche.
However, a slight spin on that question has a lesson for all of us and one I'd like to share:
"What would you do if you realized your dreams?"
Very rarely do people realize their dreams. And the reason is simple - society is predisposed to ensure you don't.
I don't mean this in a "conspiratorial" sense, that there is some sentient, organized effort to prevent you from realizing your dreams, but that society is structured and organized to take advantage, live off of, and parasite off of its precious youth.
Chances are if you were born after 1960 your parents wanted you because THEY wanted a child. Whether they could AFFORD children, whether they SHOULD have children, and whether they had the adult capacity to raise children be damned. They wanted a child like a soccer mom wants an SUV. And thus your upbringing was already impaired from the get go because you were an "object" or a "thing" in the eyes of your parents, not another human being.
After that you were pretty much a pawn for the state via the state education system. Your parents, too "busy" to rear you yourself, were thankful that at the age of 5 you could
Global warming
Ozone Layer
Recycle
Give money to poor disadvantaged people in third world countries
You're privileged
Vote democrat
Go to college at all costs
and other things that were neither educational, nor helpful.
You then went to college, because you were told to, incurred a ton of debt, and then started a career where at any moment you could be fired for the most made-up-of reasons and were strongly encouraged to donate money to your 401k plan, which would be confiscated or haircuted anyway.
In short, your dreams of what you wanted to do as a child never really stood much of a chance. Because from the day you were conceived (not born) society already had your time booked to be slaved away to serve it and not you. Those dreams were merely a fake incentive to get you to work for them. And, for most people, they succumbed to the matrix, they obeyed, they "did what they were told" and now are suffering a mortgage they can't afford, persistent student loans, a spouse that hates them, children they really shouldn't have had, a car payment, parents who refused to sock away for retirement, and a boss that owns them because they are by-proxy-enslaved via debt.
But then there are the "others."
"Others?" You ask.
Yes, "the others."
The men and women who got sent to the principle's office often. The boys and girls who could stump their teacher in the 3rd grade with...well...3rd grade logic. The young 20 somethings who knew something was wrong, couldn't put their finger on it, but via the internet, compared notes, removed the wool from their eyes and realized just what a scam society had in store for them.
We call these people "independent minded."
Most of us fall into this category. We didn't fit in, we refused to obey, and we knew something was amiss, but society kept on telling us we were flawed, erroneous and just plain wrong. Our audacity and personalities would not accept it and we stuck to our guns. We decided we didn't have to obey what society told us. We decided we were going to get a bang for our finite live's buck. We were going to drive our lives to the limit and do what we god damned pleased with it - consequences and society's desires be damned.
And thus you have a new breed of westerners and independent thinkers. Young men (and women) who refused to go with the matrix and are truly independent people.
There are of course, benefits.
We don't fall for the college/education scam. We do not waste our best years laboring away for an opportunistic employer. We don't have enough assets to be confiscated in a 401k or IRA. We don't have debts we can't afford. We don't have kids we can't afford. And by merely identifying and side-stepping the slave-trap society had laid out for us, we're living lives that are arguably the freest in human history.
I just went to Alaska and back on a motorcycle at a whim. Danny is going to live in a trailer in Louisiana, spending time with his nephew, and retire at 40. Matt hitch hiked across America. Roosh is gallivanting around the globe chasing girls and getting paid for it. Davis and Silvio wrote two great books. And scores of you are starting your own business or going on your own adventure. We could go on, but in general, adherents of this new independent line of thinking are capitalizing on the one finite lives they've been given and are thusly living better lives the the average sheeple.
Just one problem.
When I say we are living lives that are arguably the freest in human history, I'm not joking. We really are. But who else has gone down this path? Who else have lived such free lives? Has anyone gone down this rabbit hole before? Has any one tread this path in the past?
While there certainly have been independent minded people in the past, they are so rare and so uncommon their experiences are either unavailable for public consumption or have been lost to history. Their philosophies, observations and epiphanies were considered "obscure" or "outliers" and thus never made it into the realm of "common sense" or "general wisdom." And with this lost, or perhaps, never recorded knowledge, we are going into uncharted territory. And as with every trip into the unknown there are always unforeseen costs, consequences and drawbacks.
It is here a sad irony unfolds.
To the outside observer, stuck at their wage slave job, and boring mundane lives, all the see is the positives. Gallivanting around the world, climbing mountains, leaving at a whim, never worrying about money, answering to no one. Their entire lives they have been told (and truthfully so) that this is the "dream" and when you achieve it all will be well. There will be no more problems and you will be happy. But what they don't see is the unforeseen costs and consequences to "living the dream" and living such independent lives. Costs and consequences that are all too real and hidden/overshadowed by the blinding benefits.
First is the issue of peerlessness. I say this not to brag, and I need you to understand that. I am NOT bragging. I am telling you the truth to make a point and to help you in the future. But this past summer I took two vacations. The first one was 2 weeks in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota with my motorcycle. I drove all over the place, hiked all over the place, smoked cigars and gambled in Deadwood. I experienced something most motorcyclists across the world can only dream of experiencing. The second one trumped even that. I drove to Alaska and back. I saw mountains that put the Black Hills to shame and am one of the very few to claim they drove to Alaska on a bike.
I was miserable about half the time on both trips.
Why?
Because after you gun through the Needles Highway on a crotch rocket or make it to Hyder, Alaska or summit Harney Peak or hike in Banff, and the adrenaline wears off, you are once again alone because nobody can just take 4 weeks off on a whim. There is nobody to share the experience with, not because you don't have friends, but because you are so far to the right of the mean nobody can keep up. Either because they don't have the money, they don't have the time, they don't have the physique, or (more commonly) they don't have the interest.
Roosh is another example. You may disagree with his life choice, but again, to the outside 20 something male observer, Roosh is living the dream. He flies around the world, makes money on writing books about how to seduce women in different countries, and that's his job. But at the end of the day, how many people can Roosh associate with? Who can he compare notes with? Not only is he peerless in that nobody else in the world is doing what he does, but in traveling so extensively, he rarely is in a country where people speak English, pushing him further to the right of the bell curve into further isolation. It isn't until he returns home does he have his peer group surrounding him again.
Whatever it is and whatever your dream may be, realize if you realize it, it will be YOUR dream. And in it being "your dream" it will be so specific and unique to you that by default you will not have any peers.
Second is decreasing novelty.
Imagine if your palate would became inured to new foods the moment you tasted it. You would have to keep pushing the edge getting newer, spicier, and more obscure foods. You'd try one food, and then would become bored with it, forcing you on this spiral to constantly be trying to find new foods. Yes you could eat to merely survive, but you will never experience that "first taste" ever again until you find something bigger, better, and newer.
Your brain is the same way.
Once you achieve your dream, you will become inured to it. My childhood dream was to climb mountains. My first real mountain was Flinch Peak in Glacier National Park. It was amazing. Then I did Hallet's Peak, Laramie Peak, Deseret Peak, Lake Angeline, and more and more and more until one day, half way up a new mountain, I couldn't go on. Not out of physical weakness, but no desire. It would be just another peak. I would be up there by myself. The view could have very well been as spectacular as when I first summited Flinch Peak, but it would be nowhere near as impressive. It would just be more rocks, dirt and snow.
In short, because society enslaves you and prevents you from ever realizing your dreams, you think when you inevitably realize them you will be engaged and stimulated for the rest of your life.
The truth is you will tire of it in about 2-3 years and need to find a new source of inspiration. You will also wonder if the new "dream" will be the same, and you will then finally realize there is no "final solution" to happiness. Like a shark, you will need to keep swimming, keep going, keep trying or else you will become inured to life.
Now, I paint a very dark and depressing picture. And I know, I know, crocodile tears and world's smallest violin.
Would I EVER want to go back to a bank or a corporate gig? Would I or any of the other independent minded types who are pushing the frontiers of independence EVER go back to regular lives?
Absolutely not. We KNOW and APPRECIATE what we have.
But the reason I bring these drawbacks up is not to complain but to warn those of you who are on the path to achieving and realizing your own dreams in your own lives. And that is a higher percentage of you than most of you realize.
Understand this current "generation" of "others" or "independent minded types" had to start from scratch to get where we are. There was no advice, there was no wisdom, there was no internet. We had to wake ourselves up, take our own red pill, with many of us not waking up until our 30's, 40's or 50's. But with the internet and the plethora of websites out there speaking these derived truths and provide such advice, the "next generation" will be able to benefit from our experiences. And the whole concept of wisdom is to help the younger generations by passing on our knowledge so that you may have BETTER lives than us.
This means many of you will be reaching your goals and realizing your dreams ever earlier on than we did. And while you may think this is great (and it certainly is) us "elders" or "older brother types" who are down the path further than you, would do you no service in not warning you about the drawbacks that await.
So in short, consider multiple dreams and goals you wish to achieve because if you take our advice you will have enough time in life to realize more than one. And you're going to need them to maintain your sanity and intellect. Also I strongly recommend appreciating your fellow human being and developing an interest in intellectual thought and good conversation with your fellow man. I delve into more detail here, but it is not through peaks of mountains, riches, or a high notch count that happiness lies. It is your fellow man. Finally, do not be so stupid as to shoot yourself in the foot by making foolish mistakes. i.e.-getting somebody/yourself pregnant, majoring in a stupid subject, going into debt for material things, etc. None of your dreams can be accomplished if you've crippled yourself with stupidity.
