{"id":2467082,"date":"2025-08-25T02:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T06:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/?p=2467082"},"modified":"2025-08-25T06:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T10:53:08","slug":"crossfit-reminds-us-whos-really-running-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/2025\/08\/25\/crossfit-reminds-us-whos-really-running-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"CrossFit Reminds Us Who\u2019s Really Running Your Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the movie <em>There\u2019s Something about Mary, <\/em>Ted (Ben Stiller) picks up a crazy hitchhiker (Harland Williams) who explains his brilliant get-rich-quick scheme: seven-minute abs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink about it,\u201d the hitchhiker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9y5K3KsuQ_M\">says<\/a>. \u201cYou walk into a video store, you see Eight-Minute Abs sittin\u2019 there, there\u2019s Seven-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of us grew up watching marketing campaigns much like the seven-minute ab idea. Get rich by watching this 45-minute video that teaches you how to invest. Get fit while eating whatever you want. Learn a new language in three weeks by mastering this one trick.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, CrossFit, a California-based company that operates thousands of independently owned affiliate gyms across the world, unveiled a different approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSociety wants you to believe there\u2019s a quick fix. But real health is yours for the taking,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CrossFit\/status\/1954951003184181637\">company posted on X<\/a>. \u201cThere is no cheat code. Real change takes work. Grit. Discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CrossFit\u2019s message is starkly different from marketing campaigns in recent years. While companies like Nike continue to employ brand messaging that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/Yn1HwFsLVGc\">says<\/a> \u201cYou Can\u2019t Win\u201d (because of oppression and expectations), CrossFit is saying you have the power to shape who you become.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery choice you make today shapes your tomorrow,\u201d the narrator says.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">F*ck The Quick Fix. CrossFit Is The Cure.<\/p>\n<p>Society wants you to believe there\u2019s a quick fix. But real health is yours for the taking. There is no cheat code. Real change takes work. Grit. Discipline. Every choice you make today shapes your tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Are you ready to fight for\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4TrzxYFXv0\">pic.twitter.com\/4TrzxYFXv0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CrossFit (@CrossFit) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CrossFit\/status\/1954951003184181637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The CrossFit commercial presents a message our culture has been sorely missing: individual empowerment. It\u2019s the simple idea that we have agency and choice, and the choices we make today will determine the person we become.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a message that would have made Aristotle proud. The philosopher had the radical idea that <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC4217385\/\">our habits<\/a> define who we become, an idea considered quaint today but one that was once <a href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/resources\/individualism-a-deeply-american-philosophy\/\">embedded<\/a> in the American ethos.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Nike\u2019s ad, there\u2019s no oppressor in the CrossFit commercial. It\u2019s about overcoming your <em>self<\/em>. Instead of seeing yourself as a victim of some external injustice, you can be the author of your own narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some trends in our culture, born of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/article\/review-of-we-have-never-been-woke-by-musa-al-gharbi\">a medley<\/a> of bad <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TwfPMnMARz4\">postmodern philosophies<\/a>, seem to be nakedly hostile to the idea of self-improvement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Consider that not long ago we were told that <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6242949\/exercise-industry-white-supremacy\/\">exercise was rooted in<\/a> white supremacy, and working out was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/far-right-workout\">far right.<\/a>\u201d We heard about a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2023\/aug\/02\/everything-youve-been-told-is-a-lie-inside-the-wellness-to-facism-pipeline?CMP=share_btn_tw\">wellness-to-fascism pipeline<\/a>.\u201d Parents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/national\/professor-bedtime-reading-puts-other-children-disadvantage\/VgkMEQPkIdaAzUx4UM9EyN\/\">were cautioned<\/a> that reading to their children put other kids at a disadvantage, that attempts to improve were <a href=\"https:\/\/karenbanes.medium.com\/the-self-help-space-is-classist-racist-sexist-and-ableist-b2afcb928dee\">sexist, classist, racist<\/a>. The idea of self-reliance and self-help <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/human-interest\/2021\/05\/self-help-conservatism-pete-davis.html\">is considered political<\/a>, because improving oneself is a distraction from the \u201cstructural improvement\u201d of society.<\/p>\n<p>The average person might struggle to imagine how anyone could be opposed to people improving themselves. But to people marinating in collectivism, self-improvement is a threat \u2014 because it shifts agency and power from the group to the individual.<\/p>\n<p>But looking after oneself isn\u2019t selfish; it\u2019s common sense. We can only help others if we\u2019re capable of first helping ourselves. Economics teaches us this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll rational action is in the first place individual action,\u201d Ludwig von Mises famously observed. \u201cOnly the individual thinks. Only the individual reasons. Only the individual acts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If individuals are incapable of thinking for themselves, reasoning clearly, and acting decisively, then nothing meaningful can be built. This is why improving ourselves is so important, even if it begins with simply making one\u2019s bed in the morning, as Jordan Peterson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9KGTkiX15n8\">advises<\/a>. Every work of art began as an individual action. Every invention sprang from an individual mind. Every movement that changed the world started with one person taking initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>CrossFit is offering a simple message: real change begins with you. This message, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/jjmilt.substack.com\/p\/a-new-ai-hit-reveals-just-how-far\">once embedded in American pop music<\/a>, is far more empowering than the belief that we\u2019re merely victims of external forces \u2014 and it has the added virtue of being brutally honest.\u00a0<br \/>Real progress isn\u2019t easy. Humans may crave shortcuts, but there are <a href=\"https:\/\/thedailyeconomy.org\/article\/free-things-and-unfree-people\/\">no free lunches<\/a>, no magic formulas. Stop <a href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/no-one-is-coming-to-rescue-you-especially-not-a-presidential-candidate\/\">waiting for someone<\/a> to save you \u2014 and start doing the work yourself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"attribution\">The post <a href=\"https:\/\/thedailyeconomy.org\/article\/crossfit-reminds-us-whos-really-running-your-life\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CrossFit Reminds Us Who\u2019s Really Running Your Life<\/a> was first published by the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/section\/daily-caller-news-foundation\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">American Institute for Economic Research (AIER)<\/a>, and is republished here with permission. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aier.org\/give-to-aier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Please support their efforts.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the movie There\u2019s Something about Mary, Ted (Ben Stiller) picks up a crazy hitchhiker (Harland Williams) who explains his brilliant get-rich-quick scheme: seven-minute abs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThink about it,\u201d the hitchhiker says. \u201cYou walk into a video store, you see Eight-Minute Abs sittin\u2019 there, there\u2019s Seven-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":2324418,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2467082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2467082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467083,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467082\/revisions\/2467083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2324418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2467082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2467082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2467082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}