The top 4 reasons that I’m grateful for a year like no other
By Jesse Rogers. Updated Jan 4, 2021.
I realize it may seem odd to celebrate a year that has become so closely associated with death, destruction, division, and hardship.
Beyond just the initial damage from the pandemic itself, the atmosphere of isolation, fear, and scarcity has often brought out the worst in us.
In many countries, our elites and representatives have disappointed us with pettiness, a lack of cooperation, and inaction. That’s a far cry from the visionary leadership which this moment in history called for.
Moreover, our neighbors, friends, and family have at times shocked us, repeating narratives that we know to be false or unfair. …
Are you sure that’s what matters?
By Jesse Rogers
This is the one.
This is the article that’s going to put you on the map. This one will launch you into the stratosphere! Everything you’ve done up till now culminates into this magnum opus. This is the one that takes you viral.
You’ve read countless stories of “How I Made a Zillion Dollars on This One Article”, and now it's your turn. There are so many other people who have gone from zero to hero overnight on Medium. And as you read their stories you realize that some of them got very lucky.
Some of them are out of your league, sure, but with others… well, their writing style is not as thrilling as yours is, their insights are not as sharp. If they can do it, why not you? …
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is that our nation’s economic, diplomatic, and even military strength is intimately tied to healthcare
I often hear American liberals frame healthcare as a basic human right. They passionately believe that to deny healthcare to someone in need of treatment is an act of cruelty.
American Conservatives like Ben Shapiro counter this by saying that healthcare must not be asserted as a positive right. Legitimate government assurances, in their view, are only ever negative rights- things the government is not allowed to do to you.
That is to say, the government cannot censor your free speech (negative right) but it does not guarantee you a platform (that would be a positive right). …
Eulogy
Celebrating a life well lived
By “Jesse James” Rogers
I was blessed to grow up four houses down from my grandparents, Al and Bettie Rogers.
In the house behind them lived a man named Bobbie Logan.
For us, Bobbie wasn’t just any neighbor. We saw him often because, like my father Dan, he was an elder in the Royal Palm Beach Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
To his captors in the American government, Bobbie was a convict. The deeper truth is that he was an unbreakable man of conviction.
Bobbie wouldn’t call people by their name. Instead, he had nicknames for everyone. The first memory I have of Bobbie is of him using our restroom before leading the group to go out witnessing to neighbors. Behind the door, I could hear him singing “Jeremiah was a bullfrog”. I don’t know if he made that song up or if it’s an oldie that got stuck in his head, but either way, as far as Bobbie was concerned that became my brother Jeremy’s name from then on. …
Episode 1
Announcing the creation of an academic community that explores the intersection of math and money
“When are we ever going to use this in the real world?”
“Why aren’t you teaching us practical things that we’re actually going to need, like how to do taxes, invest, and start businesses?”
Every math teacher has heard these questions phrased one way or another.
And here’s the thing — students are right to ask!
We teachers might want to talk about finding the volume of a logarithm rotated about an axis. Sure, it’s part of the mandated curriculum. But whose life will that change?
Engineering students don’t even need a lot of this content. Computers already crunch all the physics and calculus equations instantaneously. They have for decades. I know this because my own father recently retired after 30+ years as a head engineer for a subsidiary of a $33 billion company. He didn’t even go to college. He’s amazing at design, but doesn’t know advanced math; the CAD programs do all the computations in the background. …
Memory
His simple but effective strategy that you can start using today
“I’m so sorry… (awkward pause) what was your name again?”
We’ve all had that embarrassing moment.
It’s important for you to remember the person’s name, but arrgh! You just can’t. You remember their face but can’t recall their name, right?
It isn’t mere embarrassment that’s on the line. This problem can cost you sales, it can cost you potential friendships, mentors, study partners, and investors. All around makes it more difficult to connect with new people when you have trouble remembering names.
By contrast, imagine what a superpower it was for President Roosevelt to remember the names of people that he met months prior — even if they only met once! …
Cryptocurrency
How you can do the same, and be part of transforming the world in the process
One of Warren Buffett’s famous pieces of advice is to only invest in what you know.
But in a world where everything changes so rapidly, how can you get to know something well enough to be willing to make an investment?
You can pay for expensive courses. But isn’t it better to get paid to learn?
On one level, it sounds too good to be true. But I’ve done it.
I’m still nowhere near an expert but last night I got paid $43.68 just to learn a little about cryptocurrencies.
It was worth it to check my email!
Real Estate
A Florida Realtor explains
Buying a home is the biggest financial investment most people will make in life, and it can be incredibly stressful. But it can also be superbly rewarding.
I was a nervous wreck a few years ago when I bought my first home. I owe my sanity to our Realtor, Christine, who guided us through the process with expertise and almost even made it fun. I made a mental note that it must be an amazing feeling to be able to do that for others.
Christine got my wife and me into a little 2 bedroom, 1 bath home because that was all we could afford at the time. It appreciated in value by 41% during the 3 or 4 years that we lived there! Without the proceeds from selling that first home, we never would have had enough on our teacher’s salaries for the downpayment to buy our dream home in 2017. …
Artwork
I’m still very much an amateur, but here’s a gallery of my journey so far
“All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.” — Pablo Picasso.
One of my earliest memories is of being in my cousin Andrew’s room while he was playing computer games on a Commodore 64. He had posters of comic book heroes on his walls and a model of the Predator which is 7 feet tall in my childhood memory but was maybe only an action figure in reality. Who knows.
Either way, it was cool. Andrew showed me the basics of how he sketched. …
American Politics
Trust is only hard for those who have lost the faith
By Jesse J Rogers
Dear Mr. Carlson,
I write you this open letter as a fellow citizen taking up in good faith your challenge to “always tell the truth”. I seek not to diminish you but uplift and encourage both you and your audience.
Nevertheless, for me to tell the truth it is necessary to challenge parts of your commentary where I don’t believe you’ve been either fair or accurate.
In particular, today I want to respond to this video which, in less than a week, has been watched more than 6.7 million times.
Now, I do like your initial comments. You state that if after all the questions have been answered it becomes clear that Joe Biden is the legitimate winner of the election then you will accept the results. As you put it, “we’re Americans first, and want what is best for this country”. …
