Gone Fishin'

About a year ago I did a post about the rich man and the fisherman, a story I was familiar with because of a certain cartoon I found while a teenager. When my youthful eyes went over the illustration 30 years ago it made a lot of sense to me and I kept a copy.

Then I found the cartoon that confirmed for me that simple living was the only way to go. After our cross country move intervened the page descended back into a box somewhere. I found it again recently and am posting it like I promised an anonymous commenter a year ago.

Please do show your kids. Perhaps we can save some of them from the consumerism trap and they can focus their lives on more important things. It would be great if they could work more at being free rather than trying to out do the Joneses by collecting more crap than they have.

We should let kids know that it doesn't get any better than being simple and free. Free from wage slavery, free from repressive governments, free from forming our identity through the things we own, free from endless maintenance and storage problems, free from arm-twisting advertisers and marketing campaigns.

“Better to sleep in an uncomfortable bed free, than sleep in a comfortable bed unfree.”

― Jack Kerouac

GAI - The End Of Involuntary Work

The involuntary work system is just as damaging to our freedom as if we were behind bars.

Everyone knows that in life you have to work. But you shouldn't be forced to work for a bunch of parasites while being under-paid, under-appreciated and over-exploited at every turn.

The ultimate answer to ending the forced labour system is providing every global citizen with a Guaranteed Annual Income (GAI). With a basic living income everyone would be able to meet their needs. People would be less susceptible to exploitation and forced labour just to survive.

Such a bold move would improve life for the vast majority of humans. Freed from mind-numbing jobs simply to survive, people would be able to follow their passions.

Some worry about what would happen if people "didn't have to work". Would we know what to do? Of course we would. How about: raise children, grow food, volunteer in the community, make music, build things, teach, learn, read, and take naps for starters?

Some people would choose to continue to work. They would get the GAI in addition to being paid for the work they choose to do. Those that take this option might like to start cooperative businesses where they have a say in decision making, and a share of the profits.

For example, Mondragon, Spain has a 50 year old network of cooperative businesses with 84,000 employees and 25 billion dollars in annual revenues. This region has the lowest unemployment in the country.

With a GAI, some people might choose to shift from full time to part time work, and others may leave paid work altogether in favour of spending their time honouring different priorities.

Imagine the innate creative impulse that we all possess unleashed in such a supportive environment. It would mark a major shift in human development and progress as we made the time to improve ourselves, and the world.

There is more than enough money in the world to make this happen, with lots left over for those who feel the continued need to hoard it. As a matter of fact, a GAI has been shown to save money overall.

Let's end wage slavery, take care of everyone's needs, save money and unleash humanity's creative potential on our many pressing global challenges.

“I am now convinced that the simplest solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income. A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from wide-spread economic security.”

- Rev . Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Imagine being born and society telling you 'Welcome, you will be cared for', and then asks you what you want to do with your life, asks, 'what is your calling?' 

Imagine that feeling - that’s a whole different atmosphere “  

– Daniel Straub, Co-founder, Basic Income Initiative

Edit: This is an idea whose time has come. Since writing this post I have seen numerous recent articles about GAI.  Support is coming from both ends of the political spectrum.

- The Guardian

"The “unconditional basic income” has a long history in economic thinking, with proponents on both the left and the right. For conservatives it is a way of radically cutting the administrative costs of means-tested benefits, and subsidising low-paid work. For those on the left, who embraced it after the 1960s, it is seen as a way to alleviate inequality."

- Basic Income News

"...the Institute released a poll conducted by GBA Strategies amongst likely voters which stated that 59% were supportive of a minimum guaranteed income. The full question read ‘Close loopholes that allow corporations and millionaires to pay less taxes than ordinary Americans, and use the money to expand Social Security to Americans of all ages, so that everyone has a guaranteed minimum income.’"

- Firedoglake

"In any case, if the economy becomes more precarious and task-based then the yearning for job security and stability will become an increasingly popular sentiment, opening the door for a ready-made discrete solution – the universal basic income (UBI).

With a UBI the volatility and anxiety of task-based employment would be complimented with the security and peace of mind of knowing that no matter how the dice roll in a given month you and your family won’t go hungry or be sleeping on the streets. With those basic needs guaranteed by social security for all businesses will have no problem finding able, healthy, and content workers nor will the nation’s workforce spend their days (as) terrified by and enslaved to the 1%."

- The Tyee

"Charles Lammam, the think tank's associate director of tax and fiscal policy said "there is some appeal" to the idea of a guaranteed annual income."

Hmm, even The Canadian right wing Fraser Institute's Lammam is getting in on it.

However, Mr. Lammam thinks that switching over from our flawed welfare system would be too hard so lets keep on doing what we are doing, even if it isn't working. Because it is easier for the system to do nothing and continue to reap the rewards.

Medieval vs. Corporate Feudalism

The New Feudalism has many people feeling like peasants.

"By the end of the 15th century, a skilled workman could provision his family with 10 weeks of work and a laborer with 15. 

By the end of the 16th century (after the seizure of the monasteries and guild lands, which signalled the collapse of the system) wages collapsed and the corresponding numbers were 36 and 42 weeks."

- John Médaille

Feeling like a peasant lately? It is no wonder - the parallels between what is happening now and medieval feudalism are striking. Except today's top down structure leaves out the most important aspect - mutual obligations which provided protections during dangerous times.

Now we are expected to fulfill our obligations to those at the top of the feudal pyramid, while they have  absolutely no obligations to us what-so-ever.

Medieval feudalism was much more than an economic system. More importantly, it was a set of social relations with responsibilities on all sides. Even the most arrogant baron felt some obligation to both the king and to his tenants.

Medieval vs. Corporate Feudalism 

Those at the bottom, the peasants, knew what they needed to do in the chain of things, and in turn expected certain services from those at the top. A living wage, food, land, shelter, and protection from marauders was something even the lowest of the low could expect.

It is only when these obligations began to erode that you got the exploitive brand of corporate feudalism we know today.

Is this progress?

You Are Not A Machine

At its peak in the 1930s, the Ford factory in Detroit employed 100,000 workers and used over 120 miles of conveyor belts in a sprawling mile-and-a-half wide, mile-long facility. Image: detail of  "Detroit Industry" Murals (1932-33) by Mexican artist Diego Rivera

Stop. 

You are not a machine. 

Your natural design does not tolerate 2-4 hours of travel per day, 8-12 hours of slave-labor 5-6 days per week, for whatever monetary compensation, on 5-6 hours of sleep, in a system built on penalistic principles and a life under judgmental surveillance. 

Like it or not, you are human. Stress, harassment, constant financial worries, fear and sense of inadequacy destroys the health of any human. This is a scientific fact. 

So why is it that we accept and tolerate a system that in actual reality demands that you erase your needs, and in effect commit a slow joyless suicide for someone else's profit? 

You have a choice, stop pretending that you don’t.

- author unknown

The True Business Of People

An age old question that humans have been asking themselves since forever is, "What should I be doing?" Conversely, you could also ask, "What shouldn't I be doing?" These questions obviously took up a considerable amount of time in the life of the brilliant thinker, Buckminster Fuller.

One thing I love about 'Bucky' is that he did his thinking way outside the box, and considered more than just what the economy needed. His interest was in exploring human potential, and utilizing it to the greatest degree.

Much of that potential in all of us is destroyed by mind-numbing, non-purposeful, busy work.

I have never felt that my life's purpose was to work eight hours a day 'employed at some kind of drudgery' just to make someone else rich. I am not even interested in working to make myself rich.

Rather, I have always thought that I should be doing something to make the world a better place. That might mean some sort of paid work, but it could also mean voluntary efforts.

When we cease to be wage slaves we can experience true freedom, and our true calling. Only then will we understand the true business of people, which in ideal conditions, is more than simply struggling for survival while the bosses hoard their wealth.

Adapting To Simplification

A more sustainable, creative human is evolving

Whether motivated by economics, environmentalism, or a desire to evolve, many people are looking for new ways of doing things that are truly green, respect people, and support democratic values such as cooperation, fairness and equality. Many just want to take their lives back, and are willing to make sacrifices to free themselves.

For many, some form of downsizing or simplification will be the route that leads to the intended results. For others, the same will be how they cope with what amounts to a form of involuntary simplicity.

In both cases we must be patient with ourselves during this process, and recognize the stages of absorbing new behaviours and habits into our daily routines. It would be nice to make this as positive and stress-free as possible.

Adapting To Change

In adapting to change, there are many different levels of understanding. The levels of understanding can come at us all at once in an "Ah-ha!" moment (happened for me while traveling in India), but more commonly take place through several stages and over time (also true in my life).

First, we learn about an idea or way of doing something. In this stage we read, talk with others, and gather information. The internet, public library, community groups, and your own personal network are valuable inputs during this stage. For example, we learned about reusable cloth bags instead of plastic.

Next we have to live with the ideas for a while. After the initial exposure we need time to think, and let the new ideas mesh with what we already know. Our brains are working all the time on this absorption and integration of information. Even when you are daydreaming or sleeping, your brain is hard at work incorporating the new input.

"What will I line my garbage can with?" was a problem my brain worked on for a while after my grocery store quit offering plastic bags.


The next stage is the application of the new knowledge in our lives. A greater depth of understanding comes when you enact the ideas, even in small ways. Many people have learned valuable skills that transfer to other parts of their lives by switching from plastic shopping bags to cloth reusable ones. We are on the lookout for other areas of our lives where we can make similar kinds of changes.

At the application stage you become conscious of how the new ideas and information can be incorporated in your daily life. At this stage you may experience moments of clarity where everything seems to fit together. It feels right and good, and makes sense to you. In this case it fits with your desire for a cleaner environment with fewer plastic bag trees.

How this process unfolds will differ for everyone, but the important thing is to allow it to happen. It may take place over months, or years. Don't be impatient to learn everything at once. And don't be angry with yourself when you discover how much you didn't understand before, or for the feeling that you are not doing enough. Each little bit helps, and we must not get discouraged.

It is important to be gentle with yourself, and appreciate that you are evolving day by day while adapting to the conditions being faced in our post-capitalist decadent world. Issues  such as overpopulation, over-consumption, environmental degradation, inequality, exploitation, and social justice can all be addressed through adapting to a more simple life.

Just remember to simplify at a pace that is comfortable for you. Lasting, positive change will result.

Buying Stuff We Don't Need

How much do we spend on purchases of nonessential goods and services? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

"A non-scientific study of Commerce Department data suggests that in February, U.S. consumers spent an annualized $1.2 trillion on non-essential stuff including pleasure boats, jewelry, booze, gambling and candy.

That’s 11.2% of total consumer spending, up from 9.3% a decade earlier and only 4% in 1959, adjusted for inflation. In February, spending on non-essential stuff was up an inflation-adjusted 3.3% from a year earlier, compared to 2.4% for essential stuff such as food, housing and medicine."

- source

Since American consumer capitalism is the model much of the rest of the world is using, it looks like a lot more of us are going to be buying goods and services we don't need.

It seems an odd thing to do with the wealth we generate. We don't use our improved situation and growing wealth to help lift others out of poverty. We don't generate enough money to buy the things we DO need, then relax. No, we make as much money as we can, and with the 'extra' we buy stuff we don't need.

$1.2 trillion a year is a lot of money to spend on things we might live better without. And that is just the US. Global spending on luxuries is increasing with growing wealth. 

Is this the improved world that consumer capitalism promises? Where everyone experiences a questionably better life as a result of buying useless crap from each other, while destroying nature in the process?

Not for me - I am not buying anything except for what I need. Doing so has been a good way to:

• get out of debt.
• put a stop to clutter.
• generate less garbage.
• free the mind.
• spend less in order to be able to work less.
• join in solidarity with the majority of humans on the planet who are also living this way.
• reduce our impact on the ecosystem.
• push back against a broken, misguided system.

We all spend money on things we don't need. Identifying such things, then slowly eliminating them, is not only good for the planet, but is personally liberating as well.

Gen Y: Not Buying The Work World

Slackers not buying the work world

Teenage participation rate in the work force is at a low not seen for decades. Some have used this fact to predict the demise of the world as we know it. They should relax.

Generation Y, or Slackers as they have been called by the more work-obsessed, have been slagged for a variety of sins, like having a poor work ethic. They don't seem to be playing the wage drudgery game, and that makes some people upset.

I, on the other hand, am with the Slackers all the way. "Go, Slackers, go"... or should that should be, "stop, Slackers, stop"? Whatever it takes, I hope they keep sticking it to the system in the greatest exodus from wage labour since the hippies turned into suit-wearing soldiers of capitalism.

But just because Gen Y is not participating in the labour force does not necessarily mean they are lazy. Maybe they are valuing other parts of their lives more than workin' for the man. Are they volunteering in their communities? Traveling? Helping out at home? Or maybe they are just enjoying being kids.

These kids may be the ones that make a break from our current soul sucking system. A system that awards a good work ethic with longer hours, worse conditions, and declining pay.

And besides, I thought the whole idea was to reduce the number of hours we had to work in the future. Isn't that what time-saving convenience technology and mechanization promised? Don't we all dream of a 3 hour work day, and shouldn't it be possible after two hundred years of industrial 'progress'? Why isn't increased efficiency freeing us from the drudgery?

Labour activist Paul Lafargue (1842-1912) thought God was the ultimate Idler: “After six days of work, he rests for all eternity.” And we get two weeks of holidays a year, if we even choose to take them. We are suffering from Idleness Deficit Disorder, and it is making us very sick.

I hope Gen Y is simply creating more balance in their lives - and releasing their inner idler. That is something I would support. If I could get off the couch. Go Slackers!

No Mischief Monday