Why I don't like capitalism

Now I know thats a pretty strange thing to say.. especially as I quite arrogantly used to call this blog "entrepreneur of the north", but its true.. honestly.. I could quite happily go and live on an island somewhere, no phones.. no internet.. nothing.. but seeing as I'm in this for the long haul, I might as well have a go right?

All this money stuff really gets to me, I mean.. does it make you happy.. or doesn't it.. or is it a half happy kind of thing.. who knows.

Its a shame so many people judge how well your doing by how much money you make.. don't some people have other priorities in life than being the richest man in the graveyard?

Is money even the best indicator of success? Maybe intelligence is a better indicator.. now I know what your thinking.. NO..

And you would be right, but actually I think what we commonly think of as intelligence is really the wrong definition.. let me explain.. or at the very least.. go off on a tangent, and reach some sort of viable conclusion loosely strung together with suspect claims..

I begin..

Wikipedia describes capitalism as:

An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned and operated for profit..


Great.. so my life will forever be determined by the profit I make.. not the effort I put in or the skill level needed to get there..the immense team I may build or the intelligence of each individual.. just pure unadulterated profit.. fun times!


While effort or the team may be pretty self explanatory, personally I am starting to find a new respect for those more intelligent than myself, those who can do what I can't ..(some would claim this is rare, as a partial.. no.. full on genius it is often stated that I can do everything.. but for the purposes of this blog assume I am a mere human being from Preston, suffering from partial hair loss and an as yet undiagnosed large lips issue that indicates a suspect blood line).


Now to justify this new found love of the intelligent, I feel its about time I mentioned my current interpretation of intelligence is slightly different to everyone elses.. yes thats right.. Will Ryles thinks the masses are wrong and hes right (AGAIN I hasten to add, prick I hear you say??.. correct)


We live in a world where intelligence is defined as the ability to learn a book, with those most able to read and then convey what they have seen paid most handsomely as a reward.. at school the geeks are bullied, but we all know where they are heading, the sporty kid at the back has about as much chance at a good life as a stuffed turkey, but have we got it all wrong, is the bad kid going to do good.. should the bad kid be praised for their lack of reading ability?


For some time now I have been of the opinion that there are several types of intelligence.. you see.. David Beckham.. he plays sport (didn't you know?), was once at the top of his game, and still earns a lot of money from it.. but he has for quite some time, in the least harshest sense possible.. been regarded as well.. not too bright..


Yet this is a man who can do extraordinary things with a football.. (if you have been living below a rock see below)

Now to most people, they would say that Beckham's a gifted footballer, but not a very bright lad..our little cool kid at the back of class that was destined for nothing more than shelf stacking.. but actually.. I'm beginning to think he is actually pretty intelligent too..


I mean he has to be.. logic, skill, reason, interpretation.. its all part of playing football.. ok theres no numbers.. but surely the thoughts that go through his head prior to a free kick, however unconscious they may be.. are actually pretty clever..


And as a result.. this highly intelligent being is rewarded excessively.. brilliant.. a happy ending if ever there was one.. but wait.. what about all the other sporty kids.. that fat fencing boy.. or that athletics goddess that would win everything.. you don't see them earning mega bucks.. but are they any less deserving..


In my mind, intelligence has for too long been linked purely to books..I think as a society we need to disconnect intelligence from school work and open up the possibility to multiple types of intelligence.. no not A.I. or even the alien kind.. just the other stuff schools don't reward.. be it the ability to kick a ball, swash a sword or even just run very very quickly.. that stuff that doesn't have a highly paid job at the end.. we need to appreciate the under appreciated.. but it seems capitalism won't let us..


Now there are two reasons this intelligence/capitalism thing has sprung to mind as of late.. the first being my selection as one of two finalists in the Sunderland area of the If We Can You Can Challenge.. a very capitalist affair


Now this isn't a shameless plug (YES IT IS), so all I am asking is if you could read the two bio's of each competitor in Sunderland and make up your own mind that would be a great help.. (NOTE: VOTE FOR ME) as we need to get as many votes as possible! 


The reason its brought up this capitalism thing is that essentially we have two very different businesses vying for the title of best entrepreneur.. a traditional manufacturing one.. and a modern day service..but how do you measure one against the other? Which one deserves more praise? (ME).. I will let you decide..


But also, as of late it seems two Miss Fosters have found their way into my life, each uniquely brilliant in their own way.. 


Scarily brilliant in fact.. you see both of them are at the top of their game for their own chosen profession.. one runs in super quick time, while the other waddles majestically towards the cake stand..


Now at this point I hasten to add that the waddler.. is in fact my girlfriend and therefore please attach all due humour and possible wit to that statement.. I tried writing this blog post once and have subsequently been castrated so I am just warning you.. shes Irish.. and shes mental.. I carry on..


While one crunches numbers on an almost geek like level, while the other sings to herself pretty much ALL the time.. (note: the girlfriend is not a geek, and is in fact super cool and OUT OF MY LEAGUE)


Two very contrasting approaches to life but I fear only one gets the praise she deserves, you see the number crunching geeky one has a brilliant career ahead of her, as her talents will make some one some where a lot of money.. but as for the other one.. well personally I don't think shes rewarded enough.. but in the society in which we live will she ever be? 


I don't think Capitalisms very fair on the little guy or in this case, the super speedy X-Factor contestant that looks slightly like Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, but less.. Kooky and more.. kick my ass like... but why does that mean we have to appreciate them any less?


Point made..

A fairy tale weekend after all..

Question: Has the whole of the UK been on holiday for the past 11 days?

Well that is except me.. a little depressing..but nevertheless I still managed to get most of it off and visit Northern Ireland where I seemingly left something very dear to me behind..

..my dignity..

Yes, some where in a Belfast Airport currently resides my manliness.. if you find it.. let me know because one day it might come in handy..

Anyway, apart from a slow emotional train wreck which consisted of a realisation that it is entirely possible to describe your perfect girl for two years and then realise you actually already know her..I seemingly had a chance to recharge the batteries, play with some oddly shaped rocks and basically realise I can have my own fairy tale if I really want to.. who needs Kate Middleton.. HELLO PIPPA..

So, weird 3 day week over, its back to normality, and you might notice a cheeky little change to my blog. A friend of mine managed to mention, quite kindly, that on occasion I have a tendency to be arrogant.. which isn't true, seemingly confidence and arrogance are easily confused, but thats a rant for another day!

So in ode to that comment, which shall go on record at the one sure way to annoy me very quickly.. I have decided to take a leaf out of Prince William's book and announce myself the Duke of Newcastle.. yep.. two can play at that game sonny and I have better hair..arrogant or what??

Now yesterday was a strange day for me, one in which I felt a little bit of history was made and one in which I feel the West, namely America, let itself down..

You see, its hard to judge when you don't know all the facts, but let me express an opinion here..

While I feel comforted by the fact that Osama Bin Laden can no longer harm innocent lives, that comfort will no doubt be short lived. Al Qaeda by its very nature has many branches, many of which will have had little to no contact with a man on the run for the past 10 years. His removal as a threat will no doubt have an effect upon that organisation, as much as the loss of any figure head would, but it is now that diverse and spread out that his death will in reality be of little consequence.

It saddens me to think that as the figurehead for the free world, America and its President should rejoice in the death of any man without trial. As a beacon for the rest of the world to follow America cannot offer freedom with one hand and repression with the other, it must show the world that it applies its power fairly and is willing to offer even the gravest enemy the rights which that enemy would deny all others, it must follow its own moral code.

No man, whether elected or not has the right to take another's life, yet at some point, be it war or circumstance loss of life is inevitable, but to rejoice at the death of any man should not be applauded.

Yesterday we witnessed America fluff its lines, it had the chance to show the rest of the world how great it can be, how the worlds police man can police itself, instead it showed a hand we often choose to ignore... one we hoped had been left behind.. one of self interest, and yet the rest of the world and our own government did nothing to defend the freedom in which we all share.. yesterday was a bad day for us all.

On a lighter note, yesterday was also a day of many Bin Laden jokes.. many of which I can't repeat.. interesting how as America celebrated, the British decide to make light of the situation.. two slightly contrasting but ever telling differences between our two nations.. but the most telling difference was that half those jokes were pointed at America.. if ever Al Qaeda needed proof of which country is fighting terrorism for the right reasons they only had to look at facebook.

Now in between watching the Royal wedding on Friday I was actually thinking about something far more important than the chances Harry has with Pippa Middleton.. it seems our little Young Entrepreneurs Trust college is well on the way.. did you know we were starting a college in our spare time?

For evidence.. please see the below drawings of the new college building, which is a converted power station from the old coal mining days.. nothing like using the main staple industry of the past to fuel the future.

Its a massive project that will hopefully be a beacon to the rest of the country so please do let me know what you think here.

Picture 1: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22504193/Drawing%201.pdf

Picture 2: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22504193/Drawing%202.pdf

Picture 3: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22504193/Drawing%203.pdf

Can you help us? Let me know, we need all the help we can get on this one!