Our friend Will dropped this in the comments section and sent my brain into hyperdrive for a little while:

No one’s paying me for poetry or compositions, but why would I want to slap myself in the face by accepting fake money anyway? My currency is creativity (emphasis added). I’m already one of the richest guys I know. My invisible cardboard sign reads: “Will Compose For Food.” If I had to produce a new musical idea every day in exchange for a taco (for example), I’d love my “job” and never go hungry. Spicy food in, spicy music out. Win-win.

There is a popular, cult-like myth about money that guys like Will don’t believe. It goes something like this: “The greater the financial incentive (money), the better (or, more efficient) the performance of the individual.” In a factory mentality where work is automated and rote this does actually work. The problem is, the new face of capitalism doesn’t use capital in a traditional sense because we have burned through the factory mentality. The New Economy runs off creativity and purpose — not stuff. In other words, we are moving toward compositions for tacos. But, we’re not exactly there, and last I checked I couldn’t buy tacos with purpose and creativity, so money still has usefulness.

The last frontier of civilization is resting atop your spine. Humans have mapped the Amazon, destroyed oceans, and left trash on the moon. We’ve got plastic crap designed to contain other plastic crap that’s paid for with magnetic strips affixed to plastic crap. We’ve been pretty much everywhere and acquired more knowledge than we can successfully integrate. Now may be a perfect time in history to shut down the Crap Factory and start diving head first into our own minds and communities.

The Internet is changing the face of business and even giving guys like Will an equal voice. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with the Web because of the alluring power it has. That allure is the continual surprise that we are not alone in our thoughts or isolated by space. That allure is the idea that Will could actually compete with Sony records for next to zero monetary investment — not necessarily for a giant payout, but for the sake of the loss of creativity in a dying corporate tempest. The opportunity is enticing.

We need to support guys like Will. In other words, we need to support each other because, here’s the thing — we’ve got enough above ground material to last us until salvation. We don’t need more dollar bills, iron ore, or cut lumber. We’ve got plenty of surplus, processed resources in this country to allow Will to compose for tacos for awhile. But, we still have to feed him.

I recently read John Farr’s (aka TaosJohn) book, Taos Soul. Each of the stories is dripping with earthy richness and, lacking a better word, soul. It sells for $2.99 which is less than a NYC taco, and I urged John to raise the price, but as he explained, “I am compelled to do this.” I compare that to a new edition textbook I just bought for almost $300 which is exactly like the old edition textbook, and it makes me sad. John’s book adds real value to my life whereas my textbook teaches me about a mentality that I believe will not exist much longer.

With indenturing bonds like debt, contracts, and other obligations on future usefulness (thanks, Auntie) staking claims on our lives, the currency of both slavery and ultimate liberation is still dollars. Grinding away at these yokes can arrest a soul if prolonged, so I’ll continue my prodding to either start shoveling or start running. If you’re new here, check out how I got out of over $125,000 worth of debt in about two years — it might be helpful.

There is a transition afoot that we need not fear. The word apocalypse means “change” and although I believe many of the so-called advanced economies will suffer in the coming years, we will emerge a much more sustainable and present society so long as we are able to take action to mend the mistakes of the past.

Will, when I hear that composition, first taco’s on me.

Technorati Tags: debt, money

The embedded video below comes by way of Auntiegrav in a recent comment, and I love it. No surprise I’ve long been enamored with measuring data, so it’s a real kick in the seat to see statistician Nic Marks talking about happiness and ecology.

Another cool resource to kill a couple of hours (fair warning) is Nationmaster. It’s no wonder I married a Venezuelan girl.

Technorati Tags: happy planet

I got this via Mish via Economic Factoid Watch .  This is a fantastic graphic that shows pump and dump trading in the millisecond realm where no trend analyzer will see.  If you don’t understand what you’re seeing, read the original article here.

Back in December I posted on  Project Alpha which is a high frequency trading robot/program based in NJ designed to manipulate markets and create “profit” almost like a sine wave except there is no gentle oscillation.

I’ve read reports that indicate more than 70% of all trading is done by these high frequency algorithms.  The Great Recession has opened many eyes on this planet to the dangers of something for nothing economics, but I’m still alarmed by casual conversations that indicate almost complete ignorance of reality in terms of what money is.

I’ve heard many proud proclamations of “I don’t believe in the stock market.” Or, “I don’t invest money in stocks.”

Oh really? Do you have a retirement fund (TSP, 401K, IRA)? Are you relying on a pension? Do you have a savings account in a lending institution that restricts your access to your money? Most times, the answer is YES, meaning you do have a stake in this system — but not always.

Money is not evil. It can be a very useful tool when it’s slow, transparent, and understood. I’m not convinced that creating a machine that is designed to mop up the casual investor’s nickels and dimes is a useful tool especially when combined with a Federal Reserve backed parachute of imaginary, pixeled cash that is staked by YOUR future productivity.

I’d like to hear what you think about it.

Technorati Tags: project alpha

I’ve boiled bullshit ignorance down to a 2-step process:

• Recognize it as it happens.
• Let it slide off you, unaffected.

Bullshit lurks in nearly every avenue of America waiting to strike innocent victims and assimilate its prey into yet another practitioner of nonsense. I call it The Bullshit Assimilation Project.  Recently I encountered one of the most miserable jobs in the United States:  Toddler Control Agent (TCA).

At a stop in Chicago, my 2-year-old daughter decided to cool off in a giant park fountain seemingly designed for the express purpose of cooling off 2-year-old kids in summer.  In pure kid fashion, she lost her freaking mind running and playing in the water despite the angry admonishment of a government appointed TCA in a crisp uniform shouting at her to stop running. Huh? Turns out, my daughter is an expert at ignoring bullshit and just kept on truckin’.  Recognize and slide.

This is not so easily accomplished but there are some basic clues to both recognizing and sliding. In general (because I’m sure we can sea lawyer an exception), if you are doing nothing wrong and somebody is strongly urging you to reverse your action you can safely call this bullshit.  In other words, if your action has little to no consequence to anybody but yourself then you are not obligated to follow anybody. You might even call this idea, “freedom.” I’ll let you insert the guerrilla.

In general, you can employ some basic 2-year-old type tactics to achieve the slide:

• Pretend you don’t understand language.
• Briefly consider the admonishment, but do what you want anyway until somebody physically restrains you (we call these “consequences”).

Here’s the thing — I’m fairly certain the Toddler Control Agent hates her job. Who would want to walk around all day in a polyester uniform yelling at kids for having fun? The government uniform means that her job most likely pays well, and there’s a strong chance that she needed some type of degree in order to land that coveted position. She is one of the victims in the Bullshit Assimilation Project that has produced the kinder, gentler America that is more afraid of liability than atrophy.

Technorati Tags: freedom

photo by Steven at DigitalPhenom

Rolling back into New York City was surprisingly tolerable after a few thousand miles on the Iron Horse tracking through some of the best terrain in the world. I was expecting to be despondent, depressed, and overwhelmed by the masses of people and the daily ritualistic melee of the boroughs, but your combatant was quelled by the seduction of travel and held no malice toward the citizens of the Lost City today.

Amtrak is a surprise. I was not anticipating that traveling from NYC to Seattle by train to be as enjoyable as it was reflective. It may seem obvious, but, on a train, there is nowhere to go and little to do except engage in an archaic form of communication — face-to-face interaction.  There is no annoying movie car; cell phone coverage is luxuriously spotty; and the crew is a quirky and funny cast of characters that season the experience. What I noticed is that instead of getting hyped up over nonsense, everybody just lets the track take over in a sort of 3000-mile, rhythmic cradle rocking.

In an airplane, everybody seems a least a little pissed off (not just former JetBlue employee Steven Slater) as this mode of transportation dances a dim, necrotic Hokey-Pokey signaled by ever-thinning margins and increasing dependence on subsidies.  But, don’t get it wrong — Amtrak is plenty subsidized and gets the transpo-crap beat out of it by the extensive US highway system that obliges a nation utterly demised by fossil fuel addiction.  Why not let the true cost of air and car travel dominate the industry and push US citizens back into a slower mode of travel?  Track infrastructure is still intact and ready for service even as Amtrak gets its guts stomped out as the transportation whipping boy for being so wasteful.

I see no great need for billions of dollars to be spent on faster trains — just a few pennies spent on retraining the American mindset that slower does not always mean crappier.  In other words, there is no solution but three words:  Lower Your Expectations.  Of course, I’ll admit my naivety to expect such a thing in the wake of the ultimate 21st century human cloning experiment highlighted by two-week vacations, stock market induced pension swindles, real wage execution, time-value-of-money religion, and a forced march toward mediocrity.

I set out thinking that traveling by train with my family was going to be a trip of a lifetime, but have come to realize it was more of a trip toward a lifestyle.  Watching my girls reading books, chatting up other passengers, and napping in the giant window as the open plains of North Dakota or the forested canyons of Washington state pealed away was enough to convince me that we don’t always have to move faster to be better.

Technorati Tags: amtrak, iron horse