Interview with my dad, Eric Roseland, database administrator extraordinaire

A rare in-studio interview with my dad, Eric Roseland, about my family's NASA connection and a lot more...

Please excuse my father’s “ahhing” and the occasional background noise, courtesy of my wife’s ferocious little Pomeranian. 

We discuss…
What is something your father (my grandfather) taught you?
An American child in Germany
What was a book that influenced you?
My grandfather’s career as a rocket scientist for NASA
Were the moon landings faked?
Our family's proclivity toward the technological
When was a time in your life when you thought you were going to die?
Thoughts on the Vietnam War
Thoughts on becoming a father
Moving to Colorado - living in a haunted house (discussed in my interview with my mom)
From database administrator to Walmart stocker
Losing a son to world travel
His science fiction novel, Back Time

I have to admit to you (my audience) that I did this interview with my father nearly two years ago, and something held me back from releasing it...

I couldn't quite figure out what it was until now. As you'll hear in the addendum comment to the podcast that my dad sent me in an email after the interview, his Christian faith is central to his life. About my dad; he has worked, more often than not, for the American government - either working directly for the state or military contractors. Herein lies my hesitation in releasing the interview.
I'm also a Christian and a person of a libertarian bent. I hate the US government, it's probably the only thing I truly hate. I hate it for its history of perpetuating tremendous evil and suffering in the world. And I hate it for the evil it continues to do. I hate it for the unending betrayals of the American people. I hate it for the insane money printing it does which robs the decent American people of their savings. I hate it for the regulating "health" agencies that do nothing but serve big pharma and harm the collective health of the nation. I hate it for its warmongering, for the bloody path it has cut through the world - destroying countries - for as long as I can remember. I hate it for making the country of my birth a place I no longer want to live in - it would make me a second-hand citizen because I've stewarded well the immune system God gave me and don't need a COVID vaccine. I hate it for the cult of fake liberal morality it's built as a moat around this cathedral of corruption. And I hate it because it hates me for being a straight, white male.

Anybody remotely observant of politics and world events or philosophical rigorous will understand my contempt for my government; as I see it an "evil factory" - the heart of the beast system. Which brings us to my father's faith. One thing that my parents taught me from a young age is that Satan runs this planet, and has entrenched a "beast system" to mire mankind in our violent, basal instincts - and that's why it's such an evil place. Do a little research and it's not hard to see the beast system in action; the US government, corporations, media, banking, and most institutions collude to impose suffering and destitution on Americans (something that became exceedingly clear in 2020).
I've read the New Testament of the Bible multiple times and Christianity is fundamentally volunteerist; You make the choice to accept the gift of salvation. It's a consensual, non-violent religion. It's the most Libertarian religion. The world-rocking philosophical innovation of Christ was the introduction of universalist morality, the moral systems before Christ were just manifestations of evolutionarily adaptive tribal in-group/out-group preferences. The underlying Christian values of free agency and the sacred value of every human being are why classic liberalism and the civilization that made it to the moon sprung out of Christendom - Europe - in the first place.

This brings us to the contradiction that held me back from releasing this interview for two years. My father has always been a vocal Christian; he's led bible studies, and he's taught in churches. And I just find hypocrisy in being a conspicuous Christian while working for the US government, an obvious force of evil. To me, it's serving two masters.
For comparison, my passion and career for nearly a decade now have been being a professional biohacker; researching, writing, and putting out +400 podcasts about empowering health. Imagine if, while talking so much about health, I had a job working for Monsanto, Coca-Cola, or Philip Morris - the cigarette company. I'd be a tremendous hypocrite for working for an organization that so starkly opposed the values I trumpeted. And when confronted, if my only response was, "Well, it's only a job. And they pay me a lot, the benefits are great, lots of vacation time, so what am I supposed to do..." It would be clear that my values didn't connect with what I actually did in life. Nobody would take seriously what I said about health stuff. And that's how I feel when my dad talks about his faith.

In his defense, in his formative years as an adult, there were only like 10 channels on TV, there weren't a bunch of great libertarian-esque podcasts and Youtube channels where you could learn about philosophical robust freedom, about the brilliant future that beckons when humanity finally throws off shackles of centralized authoritarian government. They didn't really have alternative media that exposed the corruption and evils of government. As he mentions in the interview, as a young man he was given a "plata o ploma" (silver or lead) deal from the US government - go to Vietnam or go to jail - and that imposition would define his relationship to the government for the rest of his life. And, he worked very hard in those statist jobs of his to provide a pretty decent life for his family. And, he was not like the guy in the Pentagon in charge of bombing wedding parties, he was a minor cog in the machinery of state. If he knew that I'd grow up to be such a convicted anti-statist maybe he would have made some different career decisions. I love my dad and having recently re-discovered my faith as a Christian I wish that I could connect with him as a Christian, but I just can't take that part of him seriously because of his career. I can't remember him ever being very critical of the government, he seems to be pretty OK with everything the government does.

The takeaway from this is, live consistently with the values you espouse. Let your career be a manifestation of your values, not an exception to them. And know that any hypocrisy between your values and the way you live your life will become a wedge between you and those you care most for - especially your children who will have an increasingly keen sense for detecting that hypocrisy as they grow up.

The worldview differences I have with my father, more than anything else, make me thankful that my wife and I agree on almost everything ideologically. Since I seduced her properly from the inception of our relationship, I get to exert the influence I deserve in my marriage. And since I chose the right kind of woman in the first place to be my partner, we can reason our way through any differences we have. Guys will want to read my book, Don't Stick Your Dick in a Blender, which explains in exhaustive detail seduction, filtering, and frame control so that your relationship can be a source of tranquility and strength as opposed to discord.

Don't Stick Your Dick in a Blender

 

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Category: Book