In my last posting, I presented a recap of the last 8 ½ months, as seen through my eyes. I didn’t make any projections or predictions; I simply stated what I perceive to be the facts, based on what I’ve read in the press and heard on the various radio, TV, cable and Internet news sources. I have attempted to not focus on any one source so that I could get a reasonably broad-based and, somewhat, in-depth (not just headline news) account of what’s happening. I am not a scholar, an intellectual, a purveyor of gloom and doom, a know-it-all or an alarmist. I do consider myself reasonably intelligent and reasonably rational. But, what I definitely am is pragmatic and a Libertarian.
So, how do I view all of these events and this crisis? First, and foremost, I do not accept either the conservative or the liberal philosophies or ideologies. I tend to be socially a bit more liberal and fiscally a bit more conservative. I do not agree with redistribution of wealth, but I also don’t agree that we should be taking trillions of taxpayer dollars and giving it to greedy, corrupt people who have robbed us blind and are leaving people, who have done mostly all the right things all their life, broke, losing their homes (that they bought and financed intelligently and properly), their careers, their retirements and their lifestyles. I believe that if there should be any recompense, it should be from the kind of people who gave out and accepted the huge bonuses at Merrill Lynch the day before they were consumed by Bank of America and others like them who have been behind this debacle and profited from the hardship of the average guy and gal. These thieves will live comfortably for the rest of their lives on more money then they could spend reasonably. I place into this same category the Hollywood liberals who get paid multi-millions of dollars to put their mug on a screen that we now have to pay $10 to $15 a ticket to go and see while eating $6.00 popcorn and drinking $3.50 Cokes. Add to them the professional athletes who get paid outrageous sums of money like A-Rod, Manny Ramirez and so many professional athletes in all the sports – Beckham really soured me forever on soccer. I have never and will never watch soccer just because of that. My loss some people may say. So, say them. I can find better uses of my time and better places to spend my money other then the commercial sponsors of that kind of stupidity. I see all of these issues as some of the greed, power mongering and corruption that have run rampant in our society. I have nothing against competitive sports, but at what price? I won’t even go into what I believe are the negative social impacts of this craze and addiction (yes, I said addiction) with sports. It used to be a past time – now, it’s more then an industry.
Freedom Isn’t Free – that’s what I’m calling this series of postings. Well, not only is it not free – but also we are not free and what freedom we had, we are losing even more of. Freedom, like the word ‘love’ is not all that easy to define. Freedom can mean and be different things to different people. There are different forms of love and ways to define that love. But, when I think of freedom, I think of not being addicted (and people all have addictive personalities) to anything in particular – but in moderation enjoying a life full of fun, laughter, friendship and doing things that I enjoy doing with or without people I enjoy being with.
Drugs, is an addiction I choose not to participate in. I don’t see any reason to take a drug to get high – life has plenty to get high on all by itself. But, we see and hear about people with extreme wealth who just don’t seem to be able to get enough highs out of life with all their money – so they have to do it artificially with drugs. I don’t see this as being free. We also see poor people who destroy their lives because they can’t find any joy in the most simple things life provides – so, drugs are the answer. Kids do it because they think it’s a way to break the “bondage” of having parents who may be protecting them. I certainly can’t even imagine all the reasons people do drugs, but I can’t think of any reason that would give me more freedom.
The same holds true for drinking alcohol. Now, before anyone jumps on me and says I’m condemning drinking – I have done my share of consuming alcohol during my lifetime. Currently, for no other reason then personal choice, I choose not to partake in any kind of alcohol. But, I have always enjoyed a good cold beer, a nice glass of wine and a fine single malt Scotch has always been a treat. However, I don’t need any of them to be happy and feel free. I choose water as my drink of choice because I’ve finally figured out that water is satisfying and isn’t full of sugar or make believe sugar and other chemicals. Again, my choice, I don’t make any judgments as to what other people consume. I stopped drinking coffee in 1982 – again, for no other reason then a personal choice. Caffeine has never done anything for me one way or the other. I enjoyed coffee, but I chose for my own reasons to not drink it. I still enjoy all kinds of teas. I drink various kinds of fruit juices, but I usually check to see that what I’m drinking is really juice not some juice flavoring in mostly water with more sugar and chemicals. Am I a health nut? Heck no! But, every one of these choices is a part of my freedom. Like you, I can just as freely chose to partake in these various drinks.
I find the more I do to break away from what everyone else does the freer I feel. By choosing to not conform to the huge advertising and marketing campaigns and buying everything everyone else is buying into - frees me. Okay, so maybe I’m some kind of weirdo non-conformist. I’ll explore more of this in the next posting.
Enthusiastically,
Ed
How to Live Free in an Increasingly Unfree World
Practical Philosophies, Tips, Ideas and Actions for a Freer, Happier and More Fulfilling Life
1 comment:
If only the rest of the world could understand that being "normal", and doing what everyone else does, just to be accepted by them is like being your own worst enemy! There are far too many people in jobs that they aren't good at and don't like, just because their parents or someone else told them they should do it.
The majority of people have stopped thinking for themselves long ago, and chosen to climb their own versions of social ladders, just so they can prove themselves important and equal to people just as mis-guide as they are! And some have even gone so far as to steal from relatives just so that they can assure themsleves of maintaining that lifestyle!
Going into debt for things to make them look just as important as everyone else has caused many of the problems this country is now suffering. The misguided idea that a huge house and social status is "useful" is just as mentally sick as those who hoard useless possessions into those houses.
All it takes is a mental assessmanet of how much actual space a person needs to accomplish day to day tasks, and for most people it can be done is less than 280 square feet! Other people in the world are proving that every day. Anything beyond that is a luxury that creates a chain reaction of having to pay the expenses on it, and having to work harder so that we can increase that space for even more worthless junk that then makes us work even harder! And for what? Why do we constantly have to impress other people? What does it gain us?
If everyone would understand the folly of this pattern, learn to live smaller, more efficient, with less work involved, less expense, less destruction to our envirment to sustain it, and with a WHOLE lot more freedom to do the things they really love to do and are actually good at, we could break this useless and destructive cycle, and make the whole world a better place!
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