After listening to my favorite podcast (My First Million) featuring Jason Fried of 37Signals.com, I decided to try a founder’s letter for our site.
Truer words may have never been spoken than “give me something to believe in”. Humans require hope- something to believe in. We have lost so much of that despite our planet and the human experience being arguably better than it ever has been- to the point that our great-great-grandparents would think we lived like superheroes. Gene editing. We can make our own movies and share them for free with anyone. Transplanting organs and people live for decades more. Get on a plane and be in a dream location tomorrow. Get ongoing loans for thousands of dollars (credit cards). It goes on. We should be as happy as pigs in mud. (We even have good fake bacon now, for Pete’s sake!)
And we’ve never been more lonely, separate, angry, addicted, and suicidal. People have given up the communities and beliefs that used to sustain hope for many, like organized religion and brotherhood organizations like Kiwanis, Rotary Club, etc. The suicide rate in 1950 was 21.2 suicides per 100,000 for men and 5.6 suicides per 100,000 for women. In 2021, it was 22.8 suicides per 100,000 for men and 5.7 suicides per 100,000 women.
Despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent annually to treat mental illness each year in the 2020s (and almost none in the 1950s), our suicide rates went UP.
I know, I know… it’s complex blah blah blah. Of course it is. Or is it? Billionaire, millionaire, and Royal Family suicides point to even the highest echelons of our society suffering from despondent woe. We have also become more addicted to food (obesity was a punchline in the 1950’s, not the majority of the population) and drugs, and more of us are homeless in spite of, again, billions more dollars spent each year than the 1950’s to prevent and fix the problem. The billions are spent and the problems grow.
What does that have to do with LuckyStan? Despite rates of religion and community participation plummeting, belief in luck is standing strong at 86% of Americans and most of the planet. It’s a near-universal religion. It’s a rocket we can all ride to a happier, more productive, more abundant, and more hopeful set of humans- which makes a happier, more productive, more abundant, and more hopeful population. A better place for all of us to live.
And I believe that I’m suppose to be the one to bring it to life. To get people to see the world through shamrock-colored glasses. To try to build and maintain friendships. To do good deeds- even if they are selfishly done to make us feel better about ourselves. To learn life hacks that make life seem easier. To inspire wonder and hope.
And maybe it’s one person who is helped. Or maybe this becomes the juggernaut of my entrepreneurial dreams. I must try. It feels like what I was made for.
Have suggestions, questions, comments, or concerns? Sock ’em to me. I’ll be stumbling around trying to figure out how to get my message out and help as many people as possible. Join us, please!