The myth of security

Something to ponder: The first marketing newsletter I ever bought nearly 22 year ago was the September 2002 issue (front page has a picture of an angry midget stuck in an airplane toilet…) of Dan Kennedy’s old NO BS Letter. And the “back page” article not only has had a profound effect on my mindset — but has kept me healthily paranoid and discontent, no matter how good things get. It was about the fallacy of security. In other words, security (personal, financial, business, etc.) simply doesn’t exist. Dan starts the article off by talking about how that month was the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. One day, Americans thought they were secure; the next they weren’t. Yes, even with Pearl Harbor having happened, and multiple examples of our embassies and terrorist attacks in Europe showing it was possible, Americans got complacent and forgot that there is no security. He then related it to the financial and business world: One day huge numbers of people were feeling secure in their investments and nest eggs… the next (thanks to Enron/Global/Adelphia/Big-8 Accounting, etc.… combined with the stock market turning to mush around the whole affair), they had nothing. These fellows thought they had financial security and were “set.” Reality declared they weren’t. Earlier this year with the bank failure scare, where people/businesses foolishly had multiple millions sitting in a bank protected by nothing but FDIC, reality hit a whole lot of people again. Same thing happened to the crypto bros when FTX went down last year. And, just like with Pearl Harbor there had been many prior historical demonstrations of just how insecure people are financially — like the 1929 depression, Black Monday, the confiscation of gold, numerous retroactive eliminations of tax shelters, etc. As Dan put it: “Could they retroactively change the IRA laws and tax and confiscate your savings to save social security? Of course not, you say, yet history says, you betcha. Could a trusted, big-name corporation in which you’ve invested actually be a charade run by criminals? Of course not, you say, yet history and current events say yes.” “But Ben, I sell on social media and email with my own list, I’m safe.” Well, according to Dan’s essay, you ain’t. He brings up all kinds of examples of entire types of businesses, media, and products that were legal one day, then outlawed the next. Like the Sherman anti-trust law that destroyed numerous companies instantly. Or the various laws defining what "pyramid schemes" are. I am friends with some players in the MLM world. And when one of the big companies, Vemma, was declared a pyramid a few years back, it had an impact and scared a lot of big-time distributors doing tens of millions of business per year into getting serious about marketing themselves instead of their companies. And what about infomercials? As Dan observed, there one minute, gone the next. Then, brought back again. Who’s to say when they won’t be outlawed again? Even flipping properties and JV’s between certain professional practices have been targets of states. In Dan’s words: (This was 2002, the marketing medias have changed, not the specter of the threat) “If they can outlaw broadcast FAX, what makes you think they cannot outlaw all telemarketing or all ‘junk mail’?” And, I would add email marketing. Or text marketing. Or even marketing on social media. “That would never happen, bro!” Well, history says you’re wrong — and, even though a lot of people seem to think direct-response marketing didn’t exist prior to the internet (and, for certain people, before Facebook/Twitter), there has always been a battle between marketers and U.S. government, and there always will be. I have heard that even the late, great copywriter Gene Schwartz went to bat for all of us at one of the higher courts to make sure we could advertise what it actually says in the products we sell. But, even that could easily be overturned someday. Imagine having to get a bureaucrat’s opinion of your copy in addition to your client. Or, needing a government-sanctioned license to practice copywriting, coaching, consulting, etc. More: The myth of security doesn’t stop with money and business and marketing. Dan even went into how there is no real security in romantic relationships (or even personal and familial relationships). At the time, he’d just been abruptly divorced during a period where he was 100% convinced any problems could be worked out in his marriage. Yes, I know, your unicorn would never leave. And, hopefully you are right. But, there are millions of examples each year, and multiple millions of historical examples, of people who had the “perfect” marriage who have demonstrated otherwise. And whole fake vaks drama proved even “The Waltons”-like families can be torn asunder by a little push of propaganda and a few jabs of blatant lies and corporate-sponsored fan fiction.. Including all those good little liberals who were one day marching against big pharma (whatever happened to them?), and the next day literally calling for the excommunication and societal banishment (not to mention taking children away from, locking up, etc) of those who did not submit to the TV garden gnome’s “fear at all costs” philosophical dumb assery. Fact is, unless you have mind control powers, you cannot control others. (To paraphrase what my concealed carry instructor said many years ago: You’re going to do what you’re going to do, your person is going to do what he/she is going to do, the lawyers are going to do what they’re going to do, both your families and friends are going to do what they’re going to do, the marriage counselor is going to do what they’re going to do, the family court judges are going to do what they’re going to do…) Anyway, point is this: There's a Pearl Harbor and a 9/11 and an Enron for every aspect of life. There is no "security" and never has been, and never will be. To use a Lord of the Rings analogy: Even the impenetrable Helm's Deep had a drain the orcs could get through… Which brings me to the hook: I distinctly remember this particular back page essay having a huge impact on my inner game, my beliefs, and the realities of life. And, while it seems like it was a lot of doom and gloom, Dan’s message was ultimately optimistic. Specifically, when he got to the entrepreneurial lesson, which was: “The only real security is your ability to produce.” This one sentence has stuck in my psyche for the past 22 years. So has this part: “… you had better sustain a very, very serious commitment to maintaining, improving, enhancing and strengthening your own ‘ability to produce,’ because, in truth, it is all you’ve got and all you will ever have. Anything and everything else you see around you, you acquire and accumulate, you invest in, you trust in, can disappear in the blink of an eye.” Wise words from a man who's seen it all.. And I was reminded of all this a couple months ago when I was back-and-forthing with another man who has seen it all with the economy, business, government: Ken McCarthy. I was emailing him about selling his copywriting course and telling him about how I’d like to do a live Q&A to the buyers about what they can expect (Ken has significantly altered my views on finance and economy over the last 18 years). His response: (about the economy) “We just hit the same level of credit card defaults that we had in November 2007. By that time, the breakage may finally be obvious. The market doesn't really care...until it cares. Then it loses its mind." Even the biggest Creepy Joe kook-aid drinkers I know know S is about to HTF. But what most are not doing is honing their ability to produce. A lot of people talk about it, many are given to writing about it on the internet, and it seems everyone and their mother is even selling courses about it. But very few are doing it. And that'll be obvious soon enough... If copywriting is your ability to produce, or you’d like it to be, I highly suggest Ken’s course. Especially if copywriting is new to you. Nobody teaches the fundamentals better than him imo. And even the veterans of this business (like the world’s greatest living copywriter Gary Bencivenga and Dan Kennedy, for example) have praised his copywriting. And now, the pitch. Ken’s offering his prestigious “Advanced Copywriting For Serious Info Marketers” course at a gigantic discount for my Horde only, until tomorrow, Friday 1/12 at midnight EST. Plus, if you use my affiliate link and send me your receipt, the title of the book you want me to send you, & the shipping address by that deadline (not after — to be clear, you must send your receipt, shipping address, and the title you want to me, not just buy the course, BEFORE the deadline to get it), I will send you: 1. Free copy of any ONE book I sell I don’t care if it’s one of the bigger ticket ones or one of the more inexpensive ones. Simply buy Ken’s course by the deadline and then email me your receipt with your shipping address & the book you want me to send you (also by the deadline — if you send me your receipt, the title of the book you want, and your shipping address AFTER the above deadline, I am not sending you the book, let me be very clear about that here) 2. Live call with me and Ken about: The end of the world! Not only will we talk about copywriting (of course), but I want to grill him about the economy. Understand that Ken “came of age” in finance during the 80’s in Wall Street. I have learned more from him (and I told him this recently) about not just basic economics that is not taught in school than from anyone else, but he genuinely has given me a lot of peace of mind knowing what he does on this topic. Those who read this month’s Email Players issue will know what I mean by that. Not only peace of mind, but he has helped me position and adjust my own finances, what I invest in (it’s not investing advice, just by understanding what’s going on you can make better decisions), what I buy and don’t buy, how I think of money, how I am planning for the fallout of what’s been going on for over a decade and is about to completely unravel probably this year — maybe sooner than the end of the year, maybe later, but it’s inevitable — and the list goes on. This call (day & time TBA) will be live to customers of this promo. All right ‘nuff said about that. The deadline is tomorrow, Friday 1/12 at midnight EST to get Ken’s course at the discount, get any ONE book I sell (if you send me your receipt, shipping address, and the title of the book you want me to send you by the deadline, if you send the above to me after the deadline I will NOT send you the book, many-a-disappointed-customer who couldn’t tell time has learned this hard way…), plus access to the live call above. Hopefully that is all clear. Whatever the case, here is the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/secret-course]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA