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.
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Creativity yielding beauty is candy for the soul. Make leaving the concrete, glass and steel, sterile canyons of the urban megawastes your commitment to your inner psyche. Nature is the nurture of your neurons. Find the art, music and theater of humanity’s genius before ego, lust for wealth, and mindless power destroy it.
“The last frontier of civilization is resting atop your spine.” Word. Down with the Crap Factory! Personally I’d like to start with the White House and the Federal Reserve. As for tacos and music (toot, toot!), thanks TK, you got a deal.
I read an article recently about teachers in Texas having a difficult time making ends meet. This started a heated discussion in the comment section that went along the lines of “why do professional athletes make millions”, etc. One of the contributors was a teacher; and some one asked why she continued to teach when she felt she was underpaid. Her answer was that she loved the job. My response was that I love bourbon and cigars, but that won’t pay my bills.
This idea that you get better teachers by paying them more is simply not true. At one time, D.C. school budgeted more dollars per student than any place in the country, and the kids couldn’t read. In the discussion, there was a lot of overwrought declaration about how great teachers are. No offense to teachers, but in my experience, not so much. I had a few good teachers, but most were just OK, and some were awful. But the good teachers weren’t good because they made more money, it was because they had a passion and were motivated by the results.
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth it’s riches; for the creator, there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.”
Rilke
The way I see it, I’m already in debt to Will for one, tasty, homemade taco.
Why?
Well, I just love the line, “Spicy food in, spicy music out. Win-win.” and I love that attitude. So, you made a fun ‘composition’ and I enjoyed it; therefore, one taco for you. If you ever make it to Colorado, look me up to collect from your debtor.
Will, you are rich as are others on this blog. I’m glad ecopax brought me here.
Will wrote: ““The last frontier of civilization is resting atop your spine.” Word. Down with the Crap Factory! Personally I’d like to start with the White House and the Federal Reserve. As for tacos and music (toot, toot!), thanks TK, you got a deal.”
Will, with a little headbanger guitar, I think that’s already a song…
Great post Tommy. Before Susan Marie gets here with her wonderful optimism, I just want to close the loop a little on the “frontier resting on your spine” bit. Be careful what you wish for. A brain is a Terrible Thing. Make big leaps of imagination to break the mold, but when you tackle your next project, start small and think small and local. All that debt that piles up on people’s shoulders? That comes from Believing that if a little is good, More is Better. When it comes to sustainability, less really is more. The ‘net’ in ‘net usefulness’ means that the less tacos you start out consuming, the less you will have to make up for later with songs (and exercise). Let the big things happen from small cooperation. That’s the part that governments and idealists forget: solidly built foundations are simple and bigger at the bottom, and resting on bedrock, not spreadsheets.
RE: “We’ve been pretty much everywhere and acquired more knowledge than we can successfully integrate.” – First of all, many never make a commitment to the knowledge they acquire. By this I mean the disearning and sorting through to determine what is useful and valuable and in alignment with our PURPOSE. Then allowing the process of alchemy as knowledge settles into the heart/feeling center of intelligence for “review”. Ahhh the birth of CREATIVITY. The fact is that the INTEGRATION of what we know/think and feel into our daily lives is the hard part – and many never take the time to facilitate this process. Knowledge becomes WISDOM when integration/alchemy has occured and we LIVE what we BELIEVE.
RE: “Now may be a perfect time in history to shut down the Crap Factory..” – LOVE the wording – Crap Factory. The Crap Factory is double doomed!
RE; “The last frontier of civilization is resting atop your spine..”. – seriously you guys would all dig YOGA Philosophy! At the core of it is this idea: Control of thought waves in the mind is YOGA…then (when thought waves are controlled) the seer is established in his/her own true nature. Therefore, the last frontier is actually BEYOND the MIND.
@AUNTIE: We agree that the mind is a useful tool – that needs to be controlled. YOGA Sutra’s go on to say: When the seer is not established in his/her own true nature, the seer appears the same as the trought waves in the mind.
Perhaps thia is what you were warning Tommy about?
Quick note on Daniel Pink’s TED video – good luck getting the Corporate machine to do the right thing. And note the insanity of outlandish CEO compensation with shit organizational performance…in that aspect Mr. Pink’s theory applies perfectly!
Corrections:
1) “Therefore, the last frontier is actually BEYOND the MIND”. That is my summary and not in the YOGA Sutras.
2) When the seer is not established in his/her own true nature, the seer appears the same as the thought waves in the mind. (mispelled the word THOUGHT).
Thanks, Susan Marie. I am a contrarian, so I think that the last frontier is Before the Mind. In other words, realizing that most of what the mind does is bullshit: fooling itself into delusions of intent (future and past). In order to find cooperative sustainability in nature, we need to be smart enough to do all of the things that humans did before they evolved an imagination, and ensure those things are sustained and protected…and then move Beyond the Mind to real useful purpose (protecting the planet from asteroids, protecting individuals from groupthink, building systems that moderate our desires effectively and yet allow for free movement and change, cataloging the universe, and of course, all of the arts and beautiful things). Too much?
The foundation is perpetual investigation. FG is part of that. We’ll see where it goes.
@ Steve: Great quote. Rilke rules. “Poet enough to call forth.” Yes!
@ Connivingsumo: I used to live in Colorado and have several friends there. Would love to hang out with you and chow down. No debt owed! To borrow an idea from Rutherford B. Hayes, “I cannot assent to a measure that would stain our fellow guerrillaship. That we must keep untainted.”
@ Auntie: Thank you. I will keep that in mind as I re-build a new foundation. Despite the occasional earthquake, the bedrock is solid, but you push me understand it on a deeper level. As a self-proclaimed idealist, I recognize my need for practical, concrete-minded people to help me hammer in the nails of my vision. I appreciate all the books you’ve read, all the thinking and writing you’ve done, and the value you’ve brought here. While I prefer to shoot from the hip of my spirit, your many labors of mind and words haven’t gone unnoticed. My thanks for all the heavy lifting.
@ Susan: You frequently resonate for me. “Commit to the knowledge you’ve acquired” is a great reminder. Thanks.
@ All: I love starting projects, but usually suck at completing them. My new mantra is “I finish what I start” and I’m committed to making that a part of my character. To serve my creations, I’ve taped up a note on my keyboard that reads “What can I do to make this better? (i.e,) Awesome? Original? Compelling? Unique?” Thanks to the recent arrival of a new Buddhist friend/messenger, I’m seeing my wealth in a new light, and from that has come the first real connection to my “action self.” My newly hatched plan is to sell all my gold, use that money to pay off a credit card, use that credit card to pay off my land (thereby trading Crap Factory pixels for real property that I own), and then buy a new boss that I will be more than happy to work for: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Boss-BR1600CD-Multitrack-Digital-Recorder?sku=241064
My intent is to produce a good quality recording of a new composition I’ve been working on, then get it to Tommy so he can share it with all of you.
Until then, my many thanks to each of you.
P.S. @ AF Walking: Thanks for the links you provided in response to the previous “Robot” post. If anything should happen to me you must go to Gort and say “Klaatu barada nikto!”
@Will: Cant Wait!
@ AUNTIE: Your idea – that the last frontier is Before the Mind – is nearly identical to my idea – that the last/final frontier is Beyond the Mind.
Before or Beyond the Mind = a state [of mind] not corrupted and contaminated by memory (past thoughts) and imagination (future thoughts). Note thatdirect perception, inference and sleep are also in the mind mix. All of these things fall into two categories: painful and not painful.
The mind is a powerful instrument! Always “on”, even during sleep. Think of it as a giant recording device with inputs coming from the 5 senses (hearing, tasting, touching, sound, sight) as well. The attachments we have to everything in this life are enhanced through the senses – they should not be taken for granted in this analysis.
REALIZATION that we are not what we think (even tho it seems so real!) is not easily attained. This is the practice of YOGA…My life is YOGA and it is dedicated to seeking the TRUTH of who I am. The battlefield is the mind.
YES, practice (perpetual investigation) and dispassion (non-attachment)are the tools essential for battle and for achieving this state of purity better known as your own True Nature.
I do LOVE your contrarin Ways as they keep me on my toes.
This thread keeps triggering stuff…
Inside the borders of “the last frontier” is a place resting within the human spirit that we have never before explored. It’s the ultimate travel destination, and personally, I can’t wait to see what’s there. Saddle up, guerrillas! We ride! (Cue epic western soundtrack…)
Yo, TK, thank you mucho for the mention. That $2.99 price point for TAOS SOUL is reputedly a sweet spot for Kindle sales as well as being within reach for almost anybody, although one does need to be on guard against the fear of failure that leads to devaluing one’s own work.
I’m compelled to do this—to write—because I finally grew to meet my gift and take responsibility for myself. With some of us, this takes forever, what the hell ya gonna do. Doing what one WANTS, all the way down deep inside, is the only way out of the learned dysfunctional hell that passes for life for so many people, and I know whereof I speak. It’s taken me decades to get this far, but here I am.
Your very kind words about my book adding value to your life are deeply appreciated. Whenever I come here, I’m struck by your sincerity and passion for life. Maybe we just did an exchange.
What is really funny about “guys like Will” is that they are always the ones who resent how much money someone else has. They want to live free and still have everything provided for them and they want their politicians to punish the successful. What kind of flawed logic tries to make everyone equal by pulling everyone down to the lowest level?
@GWTW
What is really tragic about ‘guys like you’ is that they are always the ones who misinterpret ‘guys like Will’. I do not feel able, or inclined, to explain this to you.
You are trapped in your version of reality, and it appears that is one of lack – lack of compassion, lack of understanding, lack of imagination. You are the status quo.
Your ad hominem post is an appeal to ridicule – and an appeal to emotion. It is flawed. But so am I, I took the bait.
TJ, Thank you for this:
“Doing what one WANTS, all the way down deep inside, is the only way out of the learned dysfunctional hell that passes for life for so many people…”
@ GoneWithTheWind :
Not true. I don’t resent how much money others have. I regret that everyone in the world doesn’t have the same opportunities as I do.
What I resent is being exploited by my selfish boss, who considers herself valuable enough to go on vacation to Hawaii, while making money off me in her absence, but doesn’t consider me valuable enough to give me the raise that I recently asked for. Not even 25 cents. I talked to a friend about it to see if maybe I was out of line and he said, “No, I’d be embarrassed if one of my employees had to ask for a raise.”
Taxes went up, so our prices went up, but my wages haven’t, not in a long time, despite ten years of being the “go-to guy” for my boss. Years ago she promised to take me “to the next level,” conveniently forgetting to mention that next level would be her ever growing mountain of cash, cars, houses, and vacations whose summit I would never see. I don’t envy her for it, I pity her for it, because except for the vacations, her life is empty and full of crap — she’s literally the type of person who buys a giant modern mansion for two people, and then fills it with hundreds of glass dragons. So she can afford that, along with classic cars and dive trips to Australia but can’t afford to provide me with some health insurance and paid sick days? What-the-fuck-ever.
Her motto on the job is, “If it needs to be done, you do it.” But she doesn’t seem to notice that I do it all, and have been for ten years, running an entire bar and handling hundreds of requests and tasks by myself every night. Her actions speak volumes, making it as clear as her crystal dragons that she doesn’t value me. That’s bullshit, because I know I’m a hard asset to anyone who’s got the good sense to train me and put me to work, and I deserve to be paid well for it.
She’ll soon be off indulging luxuries she doesn’t need, completely taking for granted that she’s only able to enjoy them because of my ability (and my co-workers) to run her business while she’s gone. I think she’s an idiot because she doesn’t make the connection between her success and the “guys like me” who make it possible — guys whose head, hands, and feet that success depends on, and without which, would not exist. I work fast and hard at my job and I kick ass. I’m great with people and they love my service. They come back, not because I resent their money, but because “guys like me” have the hustle and personality to earn it from them honestly, trading my values for theirs, as represented by the pieces of paper we exchange.
Of course, I want to live free, and I deserve to, because I have the virtues necessary to provide and maintain that freedom for myself and others. I speak for it, work for it, and am willing to defend it. My problem is that I see how much of my “freedom” is founded on exploiting others, just as my boss enjoys her freedom by exploiting me. I want to change that for myself, and then help someone else do the same. If people have a problem with my “contradictions,” oh well. Based on astronomical probability, none of us should even be here, but we are, so as I see it, life itself is a contradiction.
I have no politicians because I govern myself. I don’t want to bring people down, I want a fair shake for everybody. I think our fiat monetary system is a barrier to human progress because it is fundamentally dishonest. The “successful” person is already punished before he even gets out the door, because he has to figure out how to flourish within a matrix of lies.
I care less about logic and more about truth. The “flaw” is that most “jobs” are a waste of human life. I continue subjecting myself to mine because I’m not yet prepared to leave it, and even if I do, the overall economic system still hangs over my head like a sky wrapped in prison bars.
Acutely aware of my need to quit, I still rely on dollars to save up and make the leap to a form of work I enjoy more. That said, being able to “succeed” in a sick economic system based on things that have no relationship to natural resources and human relationships isn’t my idea of success. Working toward a world that’s better today than it was yesterday, is.
Overall, we humans all need to free ourselves from these ridiculous money struggles, and instead get cracking on some really great shit that makes the universe proud. Every person on the planet should be able to look everyone else in the eye and feel that same pride, but to get there we have to sincerely want true equality and fairness for everyone. So I say ditch all the goddamn money, and let’s dare to build a new world and share it with each other. My father always asks, “Where does it begin?” and the answer is the same for all of us: ” It begins with me.”
I wrote this comment (below), but didn’t want to post it because FG has been more kind than angry, even when I write off the cuff. I have been trying very hard to not be the angry person I was when younger, and also: I’m too tired to get that angry anymore. But Will’s post and Tommy’s encouragement reminded me that it’s sometimes important to get shit out there and let the shit fall for fertilizer:
GWTW wrote: “What kind of flawed logic tries to make everyone equal by pulling everyone down to the lowest level?”
There is nothing wrong with THEIR logic. Just look at the numbers. The vast majority of the people on earth are below the level which “guys like us” want them to be. The “American Dream” that is lived only by a tiny, tiny few people who never have to work again, is like a hot air balloon waaaayyy up in the atmosphere, powered by a finite quantity of petroleum. We simply want to shoot it (and it’s politicians) down and collect the energy from its fall so that the world can stop living with “freedom” hanging over its head, and we can then go about the work of everyone standing up to a rational , equal level of sustainable existence along with ALL of their neighbors (not just the light-skinned, Ivy League ones with solar panels).
The myth is that there is some kind of ‘middle class’ which hangs on ropes, dangling gratuitously from the nuclear balloon, but those petty bourgoise suckups in their McMansions are really standing on the backs of millions of caring, hardworking, underpaid, undernourished, and exploited people who are so deep in the mud that their heads look like stepping stones to the corporations, media and schools. They own no property, but they pay taxes by not getting paid their worth at every turn. They have no credit, but the government tells them they owe 43 trillion dollars in entitlement promises. They have no time for doctors, but are now forced to buy some form of health ‘insurance’ from companies which would deny them coverage if they showed up needing it. I don’t resent the ‘money’ that anyone has. I have some myself. I resent the resources my children WON’T have just because some pissant millionaire wants to get drunk in Bangkok and bugger little boys on his useless yacht with his personal ‘conservative’ senators while his ‘liberal’ wife drives a leather seat Cadillac with personalized tags that say “NO FUR”.
This is Class Warfare, and it isn’t pretty and it isn’t discussed on the airwaves of the rich. It’s fought in prisons, deserts, marijuana fields (second largest cash crop in USA), recruiting centers and oil-soaked Louisiana morgues.
A.F. Walking: I took the bait, too, but I’ve got a lot of broken fish lines hanging out of my mouth, and a few fishermen are lying at the bottom of the pond.
To Auntiegrav: What a load of psychobabble. What does it mean and how does it relate to your conversion to Socialism? For example you said: “The vast majority of the people on earth are below the level which “guys like us” want them to be. The “American Dream” that is lived only by a tiny, tiny few people who never have to work again, is like a hot air balloon waaaayyy up in the atmosphere, powered by a finite quantity of petroleum.” To call it flowery prose would be to complement it. What in the hell does it mean? I can only guess you are talking about people like the Kennedy’s who inherited money and you resent them for some reason. Why would you care? If you spent more time worrying about yourself and your future instead of obsessing over what someone else has you would get further.
You also said: “The myth is that there is some kind of ‘middle class’ which hangs on ropes, dangling gratuitously from the nuclear balloon, but those petty bourgoise suckups in their McMansions are really standing on the backs of millions of caring, hardworking, underpaid, undernourished, and exploited people who are so deep in the mud that their heads look like stepping stones to the corporations, media and schools.” Again, what in the hell does it mean? Are you unable to express yourself in simple English? It is a failed 18th century belief system that you are espousing. Socialism fails every time it’s tried. If you allow your greed and jealousy to control your life you will never succeed. If you truly hate your work or believe your boss is simply “making money off you” then quit. If you don’t think you are getting anything valuable for your work then quit! But quit whining as well. Your life is in your hands not your bosses or some politicians.
As for the complaint that taxes keep going up but wages fail to keep pace I can only say DUH! Do you really believe that the government can somehow take more and more and somehow just offset it with a raise? A better solution is to vote out the party of “tax, tax, tax and spend, spend, spend”.
@ Gone:
Is there any substance to your wind or are you simply bulk air?
If your life is in your hands and not some politician’s, please explain to all of us how voting out the party of tax and spend is the better “solution.”
You’ve already demonstrated your ability to insult people, now let’s see if you can bring any value to the table.
We’re listening.
GWTW: ummm. yeah.
Apparently, the party of tax and spend, as you call it, is the Republican Party, since the government salaries and spending have gone up mostly on their watch, all under the same bullshit you are implying about “smaller” government.
Socialism isn’t a bad thing. It is what people evolved to DO. Though there is a conspiracy theory that the modern version of Unionized Socialism was invented for Czarist Russia by your friends the Capitalists like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers in order to give Americans something to be afraid of (it backfired and we got unions and even elected some socialists–a problem when democracies actually count the people’s votes). Do you even know about the U.S. involvement in the Russian revolution? Here’s a clue: we fought on the WRONG SIDE, protecting the ASSHOLES, and we lost. It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly wasn’t the last (If you doubt that it was the wrong side, then how come we were allies with the opposite side during WWII?). Just like our efforts to maintain our hold on Iran (deposing their elected leader) in the ’50′s led to the 1979 revolution and the current spate of armed Islamist Fanatics (the only place revolutionaries could meet was in mosques because of the Shah’s US-trained death squads), our ‘assistance’ of the assholes in Russia (the White Army) led to the ‘Reds’ hating us and mistrusting Americans, which led to so many decades of lost opportunities for our businesses and theirs. I wouldn’t be surprised to some day find out that the same experiment was actually carried over into National Socialism (NAZI) Germany, working perfectly as planned to increase ‘business’ (read “IBM and the Holocaust”). Don’t forget that it was an American total balls-up which put the communists into power in China.
The ‘conservatives’ hate real, effective government because it makes them give up some of their delusion of control over the world, so they bury it with inept war mongering. The ‘liberals’ have so much contempt for human beings that they are afraid to let them do stuff for themselves (or give up their lucrative education stranglehold), and then fail to do their own jobs. The happy compromise between the two parties ends up being a system that gives a job to all of their relatives and pretends to provide both economic security and physical security while doing everything they can to prevent either.
Big government isn’t the problem. Big idiots are, and this country’s got them in droves. Real capitalism works best when it stops trying to scare the shit out of everyone, but that would be too much to consider in a world where scaring the shit out of people has become the ‘norm’.
Ooops. Sorry. I forgot that anything with more than two sentences is “psychobabble”. You’ve got it wrong, though: In my case, it’s technically “psycho’s babble”. Take it with a grain of sea salt. It isn’t written for you anyway, it’s to keep the voices in my head from going into barbershop mode.
Yes. I am unable to express myself in simple English because I prefer to write in analogies. Human memory is unreliable when it comes to specifics, but very reliable when it comes to associations. If I wrote in simple English, you wouldn’t understand it or remember it, and you would probably be offended by it.
Here’s another concept for y’all…it’s in response to the New Normal idea – referenced here as the New Possible. The article I’ve linked presents much of what we’ve been discussing lately in a very positive and “fresh” way. Check it out!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-parramore/a-call-for-the-new-possib_b_706595.html
By the way, I just ordered the book “Come Home America” by Willian Greider – it is referenced in the piece linked above. Anyone read it?
Great article, containing many of my own sentiments exactly. Such contributions help keep us on course. Thanks, Susan.
Wow. Nice link.
Thanks, Susan. Haven’t read that book… let us know how it is?