Absolutely. Down with the Protestant Slave Ethic. Although it was easy for Thoreau to say, given that he had a trust fund.
Thoreau was one of the good ones, but, as Delvin pointed out above, it's a little easier saying that sort of stuff when you have independent means. Most of us aren't that lucky, not because we don't want to be, and not because we couldn't be, but because we are trapped Working For The Man and because governments and corporations do everything within their power to prevent us from self-sustainability, mainly through their reams and reams of legistlation and social law. It's illegal to grow your own tobacco for personal use. You need permits for planting certain species of tree. You need council authorization - which, obviously, involves a fee - to install a rainwater tank. You cannot build your own home, and have no real choice when it comes to the pages of red tape involved in acquiring all the necessary permissions. And the resultant home? Far far bigger than it needs to be, leaving you with less land, meaning you cannot plant a garden. And though you may use public transportation, the vast majority of your taxes still go towards building freeways that you will never, ever, ever use. Wood for building things is artificially expensive, as are the tools needed for the building. The only "community spaces" remaining are shopping malls - you must walk miles to find a park. Absolutely everything is designed to keep you spending money - which means you keep working in a fundamentally useless job - until you die.
Absolutely everything is designed to keep you spending money - which means you keep working in a fundamentally useless job - until you die.
Could it be that's what They want you to think, so you buy it?
I never had a trust fund given to me. I made my own.
I did it and if I can do it...and others...anyone can.
It takes no special talent but it does take the idea that you can bust loose. No guarantees.
If you don't think you can, you're guaranteed a self-fulfilling prophesy.
But you made your own trust fund how? Anyway, my point is that that is the way it has been designed, not that those are the blueprints I necessarily follow. I work now in Melbourne in order to accumulate money for my (and my wife's, of course) transplant into Brisbane, where opportunities for at least some level of self-sufficiency are greater (most rental houses have good-sized yards, for example, and the cost of living is generally cheaper, and the public transportation better). Once there I intend to continue working until I am in a comfortable enough position not to have to, or at least not constantly, and certainly not for any corporately-minded organisation (which I probably won't be able to completely avoid). Melbourne was good for its time but it isn't a place conducive towards the sort of life I want to lead now.
I'll admit that sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. I like good books and good music and I need money to buy these things. Could I do without them? Yes, in a heartbeat. But will I? Doubtful.
The thing is, jomama, if you are a college-educated American and were a mature adult between the 50s and the 80s, then you certainly did have things handed to you in that you were part of a parasitical elite with respect to both people in other places and other generations. Don't get the idea that your experience is typical. Most people do not have the same opportunities.
That said, I am doing what I can to opt out. For example, my food today will consist of rainwater, smooties made of wild fruit, yoghurt which I made myself (although I bought the milk) and crushed ice, as well as roast brushtail possum which I trapped last night garnished with wild watercress. Also, I am going to collaborate in an e-book selling venture over the next couple of months. Already most of the little paid work I do is online.
Still, most people would lack the opportunity to make even these halting steps toward self-sufficiency.
I'll admit that sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. I like good books and good music and I need money to buy these things. Could I do without them? Yes, in a heartbeat. But will I? Doubtful.
And that is why most people never do put together enough to make their own trust fund. It's called savings and even tho I lived/live like a monk, I never did without. I'm easily entertained.
My bar bill's only 5USD a day.
i see a jumbo jet flying over someone's head, who perhaps is unaware of it.
Could you further explain that please. That seems weird.
Yes, rev. Please do explain.
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