Money Madness

I don't want to buy stuff because I don't want to participate in the whole money business. Money makes people do things in unskillful, unthoughtful ways.

Most of the time the colossal waste of money in the world is rather tragic. Funding for global militarism, for example.

Every once in a while the scurrying after the almighty buck is so insane that it becomes temporarily amusing before the full implications sink in.

A case in point is the Canadian copyright group that seeks to collect their fee every time you play one of your CDs for a group of people, like at a wedding.

If you take a CD you own and play it at a birthday, you owe a fee. What's next? How about, any time you grab your guitar, hit the street for some summertime jamming, and gather a crowd, you owe a fee.

You owe the person that wrote the song, the artist that performed it, and the recording industry. If people dance, the fee is doubled.

I thought about the ridiculousness of this desperate money grab as Linda and I performed a few songs in our living room, and listened to music on the radio.

What if several of my neighbours could hear the music? Do we owe a copyright fee? If we perform a song really well and our neighbours end up dancing in their living rooms, do we owe double the fee?

How much for toe tapping, or head bobbing?

Money makes people do insane things.