Living Free – An Attitude? Part I

I find it very interesting that the more people I talk to about living free, the more people I find who are coming to the realization that freedom in their lifestyle is what they are really seeking. The vast majority of people are good folks – really nice people. When they get a few years behind them, many (and maybe most, I haven’t done any scientific polls) don’t really want much in the way of stuff. They want life to be simpler. They want peace of mind. They don’t want to be beholding to “the Man.” But, through the evolution of what we term as “Western” society or “Developed” nations along with the industrial revolution, there seems to have been a huge emphasis on materialism, consumerism and the continual growth of the gross domestic product.

Obviously, in a capitalistic society there has to be enterprise. In the U.S. we have termed it free enterprise. The use of the words free, freedom and liberty were used pretty liberally in the documents establishing our country. But, much has changed since that time. I believe that greed and power are two characteristics of human personalities that are pretty common among the human species. I would even assert that it is an instinctive characteristic that relates back to our being a form of animal life. The difference, however, in my opinion, between lower animals and the human species is that we have the ability to think, reason and use logic. We also have the ability with these facilities to exaggerate the greed and power characteristics and even be inventive with them. It’s easy to see the greed and power characteristics in lower animals – just watch a dog or cat when another dog or cat attempts to take food away from them. And we always speak of the “Alpha” animal or, as we term it in human terms, the “Leader of the Pack.”

So, how does this all relate to the human species. Actually, it is very much the same way. Power is assumed, taken, usurped (and we could find other appropriate terms to add to the list) by force, guile, persuasion, manipulation, popularity, creating fear – and again, other examples could be added. Greed is usually allied to the power issue. Greed is manifest in owning, controlling, benefiting from the utilization of others talents, skills, abilities, resources, etc.

Let’s use the banking industry as an example. Essentially, they do not actually have any money when they begin. They find investors, people with money they are willing to put at risk, to put up the money to establish the bank with an understanding that they will be richly rewarded when the bank is successful. So, the investors invest their money with the intention of getting a much bigger piece of pie in return. Then the bankers go to the public, the working classes and convince them that it’s much better, safer and profitable if you put your money on deposit with the bank then keeping it in cash under your mattress. In exchange for this, if an individual puts the money into some form of “savings” instrument, the bank is renting or borrowing the depositors’ money and pays them a minority portion of the earnings the bank realizes from re-loaning the money out at a higher rate of return. So far, this is reasonable and equitable (if the depositors and the bankers agree on the interest or rental paid for the use of the depositors’ money).

This all seems innocent enough and everyone should win, right? In the next posting, we’ll see where this innocence can turn ugly.

Enthusiastically,
Ed