Are you a Fundamentalist Without Knowing It?

Fundamentalism: a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles.

When we think of fundamentalists, our minds most often jump to pictures of zealous religious followers who are willing to denounce both logic and reason to protect their beliefs. However, fundamentalism can exist in many different forms. Even scientists can become fundamentalists within their own disciplines and refuse to accept evidence that may contradict with their beliefs. We even now have atheists who ironically promote atheism as fervently as many missionaries promote their own religions. Continue reading →

Avoiding the American Debt Trap

Many institutions in the United States have becoming increasing predatory over the past few decades, among the most notably being: student loan providers, mortgage loan providers, credit card companies and the health care industry. While some of this debt is accrued through misfortune or bad decisions, a good chunk can be accredited to the debt holder having been misguided or misinformed. Many of these industries prey on a person’s sense of self worth and convince them that they are buying a ticket to the American Dream. In reality, they are more likely buying a ticket into indentured servitude. Continue reading →

How to Leverage Currency Exchange Rates to Live Like a King.

The English economist Adam Smith wrote in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations:

 

“Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.”

 

While the obvious translation of this is that the more that you can afford, the richer you are, one does not necessarily need to earn more money to become richer. Instead, one could simply place themselves in an environment where they can more easily afford the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life. Continue reading →

Why We Fear Failure

Whenever we imagine pursuing a new endeavor, we all have that small voice inside of us which warns that we are not good enough. Not good enough to work a particular job. Not good enough to put our own needs before others. Not good enough that another person would want to have a relationship with us. We fear that if we try to achieve something and fail, that it will only serve as proof that the little voice inside our head is right.

So to prevent this, we come up with countless excuses and rationalize away reasons to even begin trying. We tell ourselves that we are either too stupid, poor, boring, ugly or low class. Instead of recognizing our common humanity in others, and realizing that what is possible for one person is also possible for another, we instead separate out ourselves into the “not good enough” category. While our immediate intention is to project ourselves from potential pain, with every deference to fear, we forfeit our personal integrity and slowly chip away at our own souls. Continue reading →

How to Study in Germany Tuition Free

As an American, I completed my entire Master’s Degree in Germany tuition free. Actually, if you count the fact that I was awarded an academic scholarship after my first semester, then I was literally paid to study in Germany. My classmates included international students from China, Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico, Egypt, Ethiopia, Romania and Russia. Many of whom also were on scholarships which covered their living costs for the entire duration of their studies, plus airfare. Continue reading →

How to Best Protect, Manage and Access your Money While Traveling Abroad

In this article I am going to explain how I maximize security and eliminate fees when accessing my funds while traveling abroad. By linking a PayPal account with both my primary savings/checking account and a separate Charles Schwab checking account, I eliminate a single point of failure from leaving me stranded somewhere. You can open both PayPal and Charles Schwab accounts free of charge.
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Causation vs. Correlation: Where Classic “Pick-Up” Advice Went Wrong.

The publication of the book The Game by Neil Strauss, over a decade ago, marked the birth of the modern “pick-up” industry, whose intent is to teach men how to become more successful in meeting and attracting women. Many men started religiously following the advice that they got from such books, lectures and online forums, because when applied, it did indeed appear to lead to better results.

However, almost all these men, including the very authors of the advice, often misattributed the reasons behind why their techniques were successful. They believed that the specific actions that they were taking were directly causing their success, when in reality their success was primarily the result of separate factors which were only correlated with their actions.
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The Attention Economy: How We Are Forfeiting Our Most Precious Resource

The transition from the Industrial Age into the Information Age has caused a dramatic shift in the inner workings of the world economy. The fundamental elements to which we are attaching value are drastically changing. In the Industrial Age, we would provide labor in return for money. People worked in factories, performing value adding processes to create physical goods which were to be sold at a price higher than that of the materials, rent and labor costs that went into producing them. The labor may have been non-stimulating and repetitive, but nonetheless, one received a paycheck for producing something tangible. In the Information Age, people are now giving away their attention and personal information to organizations, which are making record profits by packaging together and selling to advertisers all the data that they collect.
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The “Forgotten Man” and How Donald Trump Became President

President-Elect Trump stated during his victory speech on election night that “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.” These forgotten men and women, who live primarily in the “fly-over” states and who are often the punch line of the jokes made by the liberal coastal “elite,” were the ones who carried Trump to victory. While the poles leading up to the election seemed to have forgotten to include these individuals, Donald Trump had addressed them by name. And these citizens thanked Trump for acknowledging them by electing him President.
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Pristina and Prizren, Kosovo Travel Guide

Value: 5/5

Livability: 2.5/5

Nightlife: 2/5

Kosovo is one of the world’s newest countries (that is, if your nation recognizes it). The citizens of its largest cities (Pristina and Prizren) are primarily Albanian, and thus Albanian is the language spoken in these cities. However, if you venture to some of the mountain villages, you will hear the people speaking a dialect of the Serbo-Croatian language. Continue reading →

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life / Walter Isaacson

Benjamin Franklin is often thought of as the quintessential American. A man that was born without a silver spoon in his mouth, but achieved greatness through being industrious, frugal and hard working. He did not believe in arbitrary authority but instead evaluated a man based on his merit.  After “retiring” from printing, following decades of working to build a successful business, Franklin proceeds to become a prominent inventor, diplomat and politician. He was a prime contributor to both the establishment of a brand new area of science involving electricity, and a revolutionary new system of government.
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Lviv, Ukraine Travel Guide

Value: 5/5

Livability: 4/5

Nightlife: 3/5

If you live in the the city center, Lviv is a completely walk-able city. I personally love living in a city where everything can be reached by foot or frequently running public transportation. Lviv is also a very cheap place to live. It will be hard to find another city in Europe where you can get as much bang for your buck. Continue reading →

Budapest, Hungary Travel Guide

Value: 4/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 4/5

Budapest was once two separate cities split by the Danube river. I recommend staying on the “Pest” side of the city, since it is not only cheaper, but also where all the nightlife and attractions are. However, I do recommend visiting the Buda side, and climbing up its hillside so that you can get a view of the Pest side from across the river, such like the one shown in the photo below. Continue reading →

Getting a Russian Visa (for US citizens)

I recently completed the process for getting a Russian visa as an American citizen, and personally found it straight forward and painless. I was able to obtain a three year multiple entry tourist visa within 13 calendar days of applying in person at the visa processing center in New York City. Without having a scheduled appointment, I was able to walk into the visa office and immediately drop off my application and pay the processing fee. Continue reading →

Vilnius, Lithuania Travel Guide

Value: 3.5/5

Livability: 3/5

Nightlife: 2.5/5

Rank wise, Vilnius falls in the middle between its sister Baltic cities: Riga and Tallinn. While Vilnius has a small city feel like Tallinn, it is not as charming. While its low prices are similar to those in Riga, the nightlife is a full point lower. Thus if you are only choosing one destination to visit in the Baltic states, I would not recommend that it be Vilnius. Vilnius does not excel enough in one area to compensate for its lack in others. However, if you are passing by, its still worth checking out. Continue reading →

Top Scams that I Have Encountered While Traveling the World

During my travels, I have encountered many scams, but luckily have rarely ever been a victim of one. Making mistakes is a great way to learn a lesson, but this does not mean that they need to be one’s own mistakes. It can be much more enjoyable to learn instead from other people’s mistakes. Thus educate yourself about the following common scams so that you can avoid them during your own travels. Continue reading →