Things I don't understand about the world

Here are a few things that make no sense to me:

• Why do soda companies exist? Honestly, Coke and Pepsi have no place in the world. They simply hurt people's physical health, serving as one of the leading contributors to the obesity crisis.
• Why are people willing to live lives working in mindless corporate environments dominated by politics and lacking in passion? This makes no sense to me. Life is what you spend your waking hours doing, and people are willing to go through theirs playing politics in a large company?
  
• Why do people value material possessions so much? Studies have clearly shown that happiness is produced by: Family, friends, having *enough* money to be comfortable, doing work you enjoy, helping others. That's it. Why are people willing to work crazy hours in stressful and unsatisfying jobs to make money that they don't need? Seems paradoxical.
• Why don't we massively invest in trains to make them, as quickly as we can, the dominant form of transportation in the US, like they are in most other productive nations?
  

John Wooden on Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley interviews John Wooden -- fantastic interview. You can hear the wisdom in his voice. When he finished elementary school, Wooden's father game him a card to carry with him with 7 life principles to live by. They were:

• Be true to yourself
• Make each day your masterpiece
• Help others
• Drink deeply from good books, especially the good book
• Make friendship a fine art (don't take it for granted, it's two-sided)
• Build shelter for a rainy day
• Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day

After hearing him speak you understand why he won 10 championships.