We didn’t ask to be here

  By Mystic | April 9, 2012 - 00:48 |

Now, you can pull the – “I had to do blah blah…..So they have to do it as well” line, but I am not going to call that thinking~!
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Written by: Mystic on April 9, 2012.
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  • NascentMind

    The state must introduce a minimum standard of living and social safety net, that only comes into effect at 28years
    The ten years  from 18 to 28 must be carried by the family unit.This will enable sorting of the wheat from the chaff in the higher education systems then. Move on to the only alternative to capitalist, and socialist systems which I believe will be a formof Neo-Syndicalism. There will be no wage slavery in the future, that didn’t work back in the day and we will
    not de-evolve, So if I were a shadow banker or elitist politician, or a brain washed capitalist American
    I would Start thinking of what your own future will bring, When you at the most vulnerable stage of your life.
    You see many a wise man says a civilisation is judged on how it protects the weak!

    Rest assured you will be judged… 

    • Bigcollapso

       The idea that the “state” can provide something is very dangerous. We are on the verge of the end of fiat currency because of all the things that the “state” has promised to provide. When that state starts to harvest so much from the working class that they cannot afford to work, a very large problem is created.
      Many Romans left their land due to taxation. In the town I live in there are 6 pages of foreclosure notices. The Fed has blow these wealth harvesting bubbles to the point that working people are ruined. Where does it stop. Nature provides absolutely nothing for free. The most important role of government should be to protect the individual from excessive government harvesting.

  • Paul

    Brilliant video, Nick.  I call it the “misery loves company” perspective of life.  Most people don’t a give a shit about other people, because no one gave a shit about them.  We are creating a culture of callousness, especially among the youth.  Let’s hope it doesn’t bit us in the ass, in the long run, when we may need to count on the “kindness of strangers” someday.  I’m afraid that there will be many unkind strangers in our future.  We reap what we sow.

  • CSArichardo

    I think your “people be logical do not have kids” syndrome is showing through again. 

    People have kids because it is natural to have kids, if nature allows it.  Nothing is ever promised or guareenteed once you pop out.   Is there something wrong with that conept?  I guess we could train people not to want kids which I believe is what happens in OECD countries when the focus goes to spending on stuff and not children !  So the reduction in birth per capita is happening in some parts of the world anyway.  Today having kids is more a choice than ever in the OECD.

    I guess we could just have the government allow each women to have only one child ?  Worked in China, I think ?  However in countries like the US who need service workers this is not really an option is it ?  Sure they need less production workers since that has been outsourced but the guy that fixes the toilet, cleans the house, does the gardening, plows the snow, takes your blood sample, fixes the car, etc cannot be outsourced to another country.  The fact that you come into the world and get pushed into such mainstream jobs is just the way the system is !  Everyone of these service jobs helps other people !  Nothing really wrong about that. 

    Oh in other parts of the world children are needed to fight wars, when they grow up.  I think Ho Chi Min once said that he knew the US could not win the war in Vietnam when their birth rate out matched the US kill rate !  I suspect the same is true in Afganistan.

    Based upon that I guess the “people system” is as complex as the “financial system”. 

    • Paul

      You’re right, there will always be a need for service sector jobs.  The problem is that most of those jobs are low wage jobs.  With increases in food and energy costs, their disposable income with be reduced.  So, consumer spending will deteriorate over time.  This trend has been going on for the past 30 years.  That’s why we had the great credit expansion bubble.  Credit allowed those who were making less money to buy homes and cars that they really couldn’t afford.  Now, that credit is gone.  The new normal is contraction and deflation for years to come.  Housing will not recover.  The OECD economies will be blah, if they are lucky.  We are downsizing.  It’s not a bad thing, but the transition period will be hard.  That’s one of the reasons Americans are turning in their big old SUV’s for smaller, more energy efficient new cars.  Also, they are going back to renting, and not buying, a home.  Applications for state universities are skyrocketing because private universities are no longer affordable for middle class families. 

  • Acrobat_747

    Interesting point, but no offence, you do sound like most men of more advanced years – basically an old moaner.  Like all men of 60+ you are convinced the best of the world is over. This is what elderlies have been saying since the dawn of man.

    I would not be worried about the youth.  I would be worried about the retirees.  Eventually these “youth” will gain power and the elderlies will be at their mercy.

    Your generation has stolen from the youth. However, you can rest assured that soon the youth you feel sorry for will be knocking at your door.

    The boomers are going to be in for a shock in their retirement.

    • NascentMind

      The youth will be knocking at your door not the retirees.
      Its not the retirees that need to worry, they made there social contracts years ago and  stole nothing, they have been lied to and manipulated.
      The ones that need to worry are the median age groups that will not retire and will die working, or get ill. They will have to rely on there children for 
      support. The medians children are the key. They better get politically active soon or they will live old age in misery. The Boomers will be long gone.
      It’s your problem not theirs.

  • SeanTheLight

    This video has me thinking about how much waste we accept in manufacturing in the name of creating jobs/profit. I despise the concept of “value engineering” simply because it burns through world resources more quickly, and provides less valuable products to me. Seems like we should be rewarding quality engineering instead of value engineering, but who can afford to?

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I really don’t know what we should be rewarding, or why~!?

      • CSArichardo

        How about growing potatoes ? 

  • snedmeister1

    Evening Nick…

    Thought inspiring, but I will add a different perspective on this…
    I agree, people didn’t ask to be here, that is very true…But….

    Although people didn’t ask to be here, they very often expect the trappings of a life, that can only be achieved through
    someones hard work….
    ie, they ask or expect things, which are not in abundance, or can not be picked from trees…

    Someone, somewhere, must provide these things we want – the modern basic essentials of a modest standard of living…

    This sounds very cold and calculating, but it isn’t really…
    I don’t think it is a good thing, just a cruel slant on our present system…

    We used to be able to work if we wanted, doing what we were good at to build a surplus….
    This surplus, could be used to pay others to do tasks they were good at, ie I save, and buy a car…

    There is no way I could build my own car, so I work at what I am good at, and someone who is good at building cars does that….

    Unfortunately, the system has degraded to the point, where there are too many people, not enough jobs, but all these people
    want ( at least as a bare minimum ), a modest standard of living…. ( And who wouldn’t, we all want these for ourselves )…

    Can we all have it…???
    Should we all have it…???
    Very important questions, especially as the energy problem begins to rear it’s head…!!!

    • NascentMind

      Hard work bullshit No, No, a perfect system does not rely on hard work and no excess work
      No hard work does a Bee for a flower.There is a Bee and there is a flower.

      • snedmeister1

        Did I say perfect system..???
        Did I say we must all do hard work..???

        We don’t want nectar, Matt, we want/ need a resource consuming “basic modern standard of living”
        We can’t, all 7 billion of us, have it….

        I don’t see how your Bee analogy fits what I’m saying at all….
        The bee,and the flower have their parts to play….Win, win situation….

        To make it fit your analogy, I would say people are bees, and the world resources are flowers….

        Our way of doing things the modern way, as people, was never a bee and flower scenario… ( Cheap energy made it seem that way )…
        We, as people ( bees ), have spent the last 200 years, eating the whole flower…..

        • Paul

          Colony Collapse Disorder.  The bees are dying, and so shall we.

    • Paul

      Hello Sned,
      Some very serious “issues” coming our way, indeed.

      • snedmeister1

        Evening Paul…

        And indeed…:)

        • Paul

          I call it the Great Culling.  The system will adjust to the new energy, food and water resource levels.  The population bubble will deflate, just like the housing bubble.  It’s not a good thing or a bad thing, it’s just a “thing” that won’t be stopped.  In 20-30 years, there will be plenty of job postings looking to be filled.  However, the next 5-10 years are going to be a bit dicey~!  Mystic has a good point that a State-controlled economy might be the only solution to see the people through this transition period.  I can’t say I like the idea, but I do see his point.
           
          -looks like Sned has a new BFF in BC :)

          • Bigcollapso

             The state is collapsing. That is not a good way to start “fixing” something.

            • Paul

              Our two  choices now are “Managed Decline” or “Collapse”.

          • snedmeister1

            I would agree 110% with Nick…

            A Gov’t has a role to play, and an important one…. ( IMO )
            It must try to bridge the gap, between what is needed, and what the private sector is willing or able to perform…

            Some things are beneficial for us all, but are not profitable for a company to invest in… The returns take too long to see…
            ( again, in my opinion ).

            Today, BC engaged in meaningful discussion, and had a valid point… ( Although my BFF criteria is a bit stricter than that..!! ;) )
            I try not to let our differences in role of Gov’t, or opinions on money etc, shape my thoughts on any other issues BC and I discuss, or
            stop me from even thinking about them…

            That would make me a hypocrite..??!! :)

            ( Good morning Mr Paul ).

    • Bigcollapso

       Very nice post Sned. The only thing that I disagree with is the idea that the “energy problem” will rear its head later. It has been rearing its head for a long time, we just expect the wrong thing. That said, it may speed up in ugly steps, but we have been in the grips of it for quite a while.

      • snedmeister1

        Morning BC..!!

        Quite possibly, yes, I would not disagree with you on those points….. ( especially an energy point..!! :) )…
        I spent a long time  assuming that the problems would come when oil production decreased….
        I later realised I was missing a big part…

        That the other half to the energy problem, is the demand for it, not just supply…. 
        ( This may be obvious to many, I just overlooked it, instead I was looking at graphs, focusing on the plateau )…!!??

        It may take big investment from Gov’t in energy to use existing alternatives, building power stations etc, as although the returns are shared by all, 
        the investing company would take too long to get the investment back at the moment….

        But as we well know, ( and ignoring our differences on money and role of Gov’t etc ), the Gov’s are taking the austere route…
        This not only holds back growth at the moment, but the energy issue is one that requires an investment of time and money, by them…

        The Gov’s won’t put up any money, and they are burning the time we have left to prepare, away without a care, bickering about nonsense…
        In my opinion, as Paul suggests above, we will probably get the managed decline…. Japanese style…???
        People/ Gov’t being reactive to crisis, other than being proactive..???

        Although, as this plays out, I hold a hope that I will be pleasantly surprised ( but that hope fades more as time goes by )….

  • Sam

    What is more desirable ?

    1. to come into the world with your life mapped out by your elders and a (hopefully) meaningful role to fulfil for the benefit of all.
    2. complete freedom to do or fail at whatever you want to the best of your abilities, without too much or any prescriptive guidance and no real consideration as to the greater good.

    My parents ‘gave’ me 2. and it is existentially hard to deal with so many options!  Sometimes I dream of 1, it sounds warm and nice, but I know I’d rebel against that too…

    It is interesting though, we all muddle along in our little lives and rather than stand on the shoulders of giants we repeat the same old inevitable mistakes.  Vested interests like it this way – they need resources to exploit either as workers or consumers.  Progress would require stepping beyond the requirement to work full time simply to pay for food and shelter.  Capitalism requires that people start out in deficit.

  • amishlandTodd

    Greetings All: The video was another smashing success.  I completely enjoyed it.

    I didn’t much care for the “we didn’t ask to be born” slant.   I think it is more interesting that as an adult I was unable to look fully at the future and say “hold on, I shouldn’t have x number of children because the world is getting so very very crowded”.  In essence, I should have had the for thought to assess whether the system could support the addition of one more little me before completing the task with the Mrs..?.?  Hope that makes sense.

  • Ask

    I didn’t ask to be hear

  • John_by_the_creek

    Dear Mr. Mystic:
     
    A very interesting perspective.  A few thoughts came to mind as I listened and watched:
     
    1) Is being born a “gift”, a “punishment”, or a random occurrence?
     
    2) If it’s “all for not”, why should we care about youth unemployment?
     
    2) No one “asks” to be born.  Seppuku is one (seldom exploited) remedy to this “gross injustice”.

  • Mzagar

    Life is a gift, and we should always remember that we borrow the world from our children. That is why we have families and values. You do not need a centralized state to say how you should live, although they do it all the time.

    There are tons of work to be done, but look at the state.

    Measuring the weight of elderly peoples diapers, in order to optimize diaper usage, food provisioning and workforce. It is utterly sick minds at work. These people are also hindering small businesses (In Finland) to take apprentices legally. They offer instead all kinds of support programs 1000 € support for one month … this BS goes on and on. After the 1-2 months you should hire the person for 3k € a month business costs, although the person is a trainee. Ask your self, why is the youth unemployment in Germany and Austria so low ? It is because the apprentice programs. You can have apprentices to build skills, and real craftsmanship.

    Look at our world ! Does it look like, that there is not any work to do ? The problem is though that the state is there picking our pockets clean, thinking that they are better in creating new ideas and business opportunities.

    In order to live for love in the world, we have to work together as individuals. This state has always been a parasite, I hope that people can see that.

  • Lyle

    I was near 20 years old when the concept of “I didn’t asked to be born” entered my grey matter. Facing the draft to Vietnam while at the same time finding myself married and having a 1 year old baby, both of which happened against my real will – little that I had at the time. ( A long dysfunctional story ).

    The “I didn’t ask to be born” didn’t serve much against the reality I found myself in. My “shit hole childhood” as I’ve come to name it, an only child boiling in a soup of parental alcoholism, drug addiction, multiple divorces, ignorance and poverty certainly provided a sufficient platform to generate questions about being born into this ‘life’ thing.

    Along with many others ( not too many ) my clarion call for the past 40 years has been over population as the source of almost all our social ills. Some argue against the ‘bacteria in a petri dish’ analagy. I don’t. Instincts trump all our imagined consciousness and/or intelligence.

    For the last 3+ years I’ve been part of a local TNR ( Trap Neuter Return ) group for feral cats. I also feed two colonies every morning. Cats can multiply faster than you can kill them. I’ve learned a great deal from this endeavor that easily parallels human behavior. For example: the poor bastards “didn’t asked to be born” but… they suffer starvation, disease, parasites, rain, freezing cold, and death – just the same. That “loving God thing” and “Mother nature” sure doesn’t seem to give a fk either.

    “Suffer the Little Children”

    Life is wonderful – Life entirely sucks.  I stopped seeking ‘answers’ or ‘solutions’. I don’t think there is any. I certainly don’t hold that alleged “consciousness” or “intelligence” is going to make any significant difference. The abundance of those have brought us to this point.  :)  :(

    Y’all have a nice day now, ya heer!

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      The tried and trusted method of dealing with people who do not want to do something, is to rig the system into forcing them to do it.  Clever manipulation of carrots and sticks.
      I’m sure that will not change.  
      Although it may get a bit more sticky and less carrotty~!

      • Michael Byrnes

        Carrots/sticks can be defined positively (tax reductions, financial/regulatory incentives, etc.)… which none seem capable of working vis-a-vis facilitating some form of an economic ‘level playing field’ for the masses… or negatively (regulatory/social restrictions, etc.)… which seem to be growing in the west. See Rachel Maddow’s reporting of how Michigan, USA legislature is circumventing democratic institutions and procedures in the extreme: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#46973330 . Thus, the question becomes: do we even want governments to provide the carrots or sticks? Or do we each take an active participation in transforming our socio-economic paradigms into something more sustainable and honorable?

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           Yeah, I’ve seen the Maddow thing.
          Let’s be frank, there are not enough people, with enough, get-up-and-go to get any sort of desirable transformation up and running.
          It could be said that the most get-up-and-goers are the Reps, who are pissing on everyone~!
          This people or government dichotomy is poison.
          It leaves no room for hope at all.
          Hate the government and you are doomed.  Closed off from reality.
          If there is a hope, then it is to reform government.
          If you don’t think the people can do that, they sure as hell can’t go it alone.
          Are the people storming the Michigan government buildings, demanding fair play~!?

          If you know me, you know I don’t give much of a care either way.
          But, I think I know the real `cop-out-crowd` when I see them……….
          ….and that is the Libertarian idiots. 

          It is a case of dealing with reality and reality is government~!

          • Michael Byrnes

            But, what exactly are we talking about when we say the word “government”? Take a simple sociological example (with economic consequences): Here in Gent, Belgium, we live on a boat on a canal… a lot of college students around… and a lot of those students (for whatever reason) often toss their bicycles into the canal… now, city taxes and police fines have an answer for this: city taxes pay for a small barge to come a few times per year to clean the bicycles out of the canal… and supposedly, police fines are applicable if caught tossing your bike into the canal (rarely applied). Now, we can ask: does the police fine (the government’s stick) really help in this situation? Answer: not really. So, what relevance is the government in this case? Not much. Now, from the taxes perspective: what is actually preventing or facilitating the notion that an individual transcends the thought to toss the bike in the canal, and equally, that a community can band together to help others to transcend lower thoughts when we might from time to time grow weak? As a consequence, taxes could be reduced and/or redirected, again lessening the relevance of government. Now, take a more focused economic example: Recently, there was a story reported about a an access road to a nature park being destroyed by a storm of some sort. The local government was bogged down and would not be able to appropriate funds (about $5 million) for quite some time, seriously affecting revenues from tourism. So, the locals banded together and repaired the road themselves… relieving the government of a burden which was weighing quite heavy. In this case, what is the relevance of a government? I’m not asking these questions from any form of “ism” … libertarianism or otherwise … It is reasonable to assume that certain things will continue to require some form of government oversight/intervention/leadership. But, have we had a discussion about what responsibilities we as individuals could/should shoulder, and what responsibilities are most effectively assumed by formal government institutions?

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               If you care, sort the government out.
              If you care, sort the people out.
              Your choice.
              For most people, they don’t care to do any sorting out, so will leave it to government.

      • Paul

        Carrots only required when times are good.  No need for carrots anymore.
        Sticks are cheaper and just as effective.  Govt. budgets are tight.  A bowl of rice will do, as well. 

  • Michael Byrnes

    ModernMystic’s question contains two intertwined questions: (1) is it possible or even important for the human race to possess the capacity to transcend nature’s seemingly ‘survival of the fittest’ attributes?… in economic terms, specifically, for mankind to not simply be forced to work to merely survive, but rather to seek and utilize one’s greater potentiality to serve some higher more transcendent objective (while still being able to survive)? (2) how, technically, might this transcendence be possible… meaning is it the role of the government to assist/coerce humanity to seek a more transcendent form of socio-economic behavior… or might the transcendence have to occur within each one of us? Was Burke right (in that the masses will always need governance by the elites)? Or was Kant right (in that each one us possesses the capacity to self-governance, but often lack the courage)? In all my travels around the world, I have the wonder and honor to experience many forms of governance and economic expression. In the beginning, I used to joke that if I were born into a communist system, I would have committed suicide sometime in my first month of life. But this joke hides a deeper truth: that people who are born into any system learn very quickly to adapt… or they migrate to another geographic location to seek a more opportunistic form of life. The horrific tragedy unfolding now, however, is that all systems, everywhere, are beginning to falter… so there is little to actually adapt to… and geographically, there is nowhere else to go because everywhere the glue is coming apart. In the end, whether we like it or not… whether it seem unrealistic or not… we as individuals (and hence, groups) will need to transcend.  Into what? How? Now, that is another interesting question.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Yes, we seem to have lost direction and got bogged down.
      I do not see any transcending on the horizon forwards…..Which may be bad news, as we either just keep spinning our wheels in this bog; or go back to before the boglands and that will mean conflict.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

    None of us asked to be here.  We all just suddenly woke up cold and covered with goo, and if you are old as me got a slap on the bottom to add insult to injury. We all have to make our way through the life we find. The only thing that differentiates the human condition in the twenty first century from that in the first century is the average level of comfort due to accumulated technological advances. We all share the same fate.  Deal with it.

    • Paul

      We don’t all grow up in the same environment.  Some have it much, much harder than others.  Take a tour of India, China, South America or Africa and, ask yourself, if they were born into the same world.  We hit the lottery, from no luck of our own.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

         Really?  I had no idea.

        • Paul

          We don’t all share the same fate.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

             You are immortal?

            • Paul

              Are you a moron?

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           But, that is your universal advice, is it  -  “We all share the same fate. Deal with it”.     ?

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

            Last I checked, the majority of the human race have feet and free will.  At some time in the far distant past some humans decided they did not like their situation and walked to North America when the opportunity presented itself.(1) Those people conquered two continents and improved their situation because they were able to “Deal with it”. Those people were no different than us except that they knew something that, apparently, modern humans do not.

            Humankind is not constrained to remain in any given situation.  Yes, individuals may find themselves in a situation completely beyond their control, but the vast majority do, in fact have choices.  They simply choose not to exercise them, preferring to abdicate responsibility for their own well being. Merely redistributing wealth to those unable or unwilling to earn it is false
            compassion resulting in those people learning to survive on handouts and
            gradually becoming unable to sustain themselves at all.  That is not
            helpful, as the result of LBJ’s “Great Society” demonstrates.  I have seen people in the most appalling conditions in SE Asia Dealing with it with no help from anyone and making their lives better. I have seen others in relative wealth and comfort living on government assistance complaining that someone else has something they do not and refusing to lift a finger to help themselves.

            “Deal with it” means take responsibility and do something about it.  Deal with your own situation until you reach a point where you are able to help others.  Then if you really want to do something about the unfortunate in the world, engage them directly, individually, and “Teach them to fish”.  Some will respond and find ways to improve their individual situation and that of those around them and that is very gratifying.

            Of course, once someone has become dependent and comfortable with living off the efforts of others, it is a hard thing to go on your own. Kind of like leaving the womb and entering the cold harsh world.  At the risk of being, once again, too brief and not clearly understood, that is how I see it.

            I am always happy to reexamine my conclusions if new data or a persuasive argument emerges.

            1. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

            • Paul

              And what happens to the poor bastards that don’t have access to fish, or deer or clean water, top soil, heat, shelter, cold, etc.?  You seem like some fucking stupid-ass rugged G.I. type Doll from America.  Don’t embarrass us, G.I. Joe, we are a bit evolved than that nowadays.  It’s not so easy in other parts of the world to be an Action Man~!  Other’s fate on this planet is a bit harder than yours, you Hollywood wannabe bitch survivalist~!

              • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

                You really are ignorant aren’t  you.  You have never heard  “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime” ?  It’s metaphor.  You DO know what a metaphor is don’t you?

                • Paul

                  And what if the poor fuckers have no fish to fish?  Metaphor boy!

            • Paul

              You have Free Will?  Where can I buy that Free Will?  Amazon, eBay?  Let me know, because Free Will is in high demand nowadays, but it’s very scarce!

              • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

                 Paul, I am getting the impression that you must be a fourteen year old school boy (Or a tenured professor) who must resort to name calling and obscenities when facts and logic fail to support your premise. You seem completely ignorant of human history (It goes back quite a long time you know – even before the invention of the internet)

                Yes.  We all share the same fate: Death.  How you cannot get that is beyond comprehension. It is what we make of the time between birth and death that matters.

                If you believe you do not have free will it is because you have abdicated responsibility for yourself; or does mommy still wake you in the morning and stick a spoonfull of gruel in your mouth before dressing you and driving you to day care? Perhaps you are one of those “Academics” who never quite had the courage to leave school and enter the real world. That would explain your attitude, though not your lack of language skills.

                I have traveled to every continent on earth excepting only Antarctica and I have seen people living in the most appalling conditions, even with war raging around them.  Guess what: They DEAL WITH IT.  They help them selves.  They help each other.  They make life better for themselves because no one else will.  The human race did not begin when you began kindergarten.  People have been DEALING WITH IT for tens of thousands of years; Individuals, families, tribes; individually and as groups because if they did not have the option of sitting down and whining that someone else is not doing enough for them.

                Yes, I am an American and I refuse to apologize for it.  Yes, we all have Free Will.  Of course, the problem with admitting to free will is that you would have to take at least some responsibility for your own condition.  Consider yourself lucky that you have the option of letting someone else be your caretaker since you seem to find that alternative attractive.

                I will not respond to any more of your childish name calling and obscenity laced drivel.  If you wish to continue the discussion – grow up.

                • Paul

                  I started to write a long reply to you explaining what a hypocrite you are about “name-calling”, what my career is,  the various definitions of Fate, philosophical discussions of Free Will, recent NY Times articles exposing starvation in India, etc.  But, then I realized that you are truly a moron, and not worth the effort.  I am employing the Mystic skill of nonsense avoidance. 

                   ”I will not respond to any more of your childish name calling and obscenity laced drivel. If you wish to continue the discussion – grow up.”

                  Stay true to your words, and Fuck off , Chucky boy! You are a delusional asshole!  Got it, douche bag?!

  • Lyle

    “Well it’s a thought.”  :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkRN7KYQKLE
    1:09   for a grin and ‘a thought’.

    Brother Dave Gardner, a late 1950′s early 1960′ southern black comedian – once said he entertained the rich because the poor already had something to look forward to.

    • axionication1

      Well, God is in Heaven
      And we all want what’s his
      But power and greed and corruptible seed
      seem to be all that there is
      I’m gazing out the St James hotel
      and I know no one can sing the blues
      like Blind Willie Mctell.

  • http://abellia.myopenid.com/ Andrew

    This addresses the most fundamental of issues, though I’m not sure that whether we chose to be born or not is really the point.

    We have created a system in which most have no choice but to participate.  But then we act as if the system is something beyond our control and has a life of it’s own.  World Economic News addresses this thing called the economy that we worship as if it were the God of our reality — as if it controlled us rather than the other way around.  We take (economic) work as a moral good, rather than see it as something that we do in order to provide for our needs.  Many are blind to the changes that have taken place in our reality (energy and technology increasing productivity, for example), and others, are aware of the changes, but haven’t spent much effort in rethinking our system to make the changes a benefit rather than a hardship to us — the creators of the system.

    We should all remember that:

    - we should work to produce, not to consume
    - money is simply the accounting of claims on the real resources of the world

    Great video

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Thanks for seeing that the video was a finger pointing.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Rose/1618832566 Chuck Rose

       Well said Andrew.

  • http://www.richnewbold.co.uk/ Richard

    I’ve often thought about this, but from a slightly different angle – a more selfish one: I didn’t ask to be born here, I didn’t agree to be governed by anybody else’s rules (laws) or be restricted to the boundaries of any particular land. Why should I obey the law? What right does anybody have to stop me (or anybody else) travelling to any part of the world I wish to? What right do people have to say they “own” a piece of land – they didn’t create it, it was here long before them and will be there long after they’re gone. What right do people have to try and tell me what to think or say and imprison me for not conforming?

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      Strange that I can easily accept that as an individual point of view, but would not if it was advocated by someone as a advice for others~!?

  • doc

    Thanks, Nick.

    Always interesting.

    Sometimes, I feel like just another begrudging wage-slave automoton, (with how many years left to go – fuckmegently!?). While, at other times I see the economic hardship of others & feel ‘privileged’ to have an income, where there’s enough to save a bit. It just works out that way, of course.

    There’s nothing here in these parts for the youth – all the best & brightest leave, by neccessity. Even a tradesman, won’t get paid a proper living wage. How many can afford to live on a part-time job at a call-center, or some other retail gig?

    We can continue to play hardball with each other, become more divisive, etc., but, is it neccessary? (Seven billion & counting).

    Circumstances are absolutely key.

    This is why it seems reasonable, that gov’t policy in these wobbly economic times is a viable way to bridge the gap – private enterprise, obviously isn’t wired for it – shit, maybe humanity isn’t either!?…

    Can’t help but think, that logic & mirror-neurons don’t stand a beguiling chance, in a race to the bottom.

    It always seems to resolve to inane absurdity – until, summin’ wipes that smirk off meface – which always happens, of course.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Hello doc,
      Some things never change. 
      Giving is better than receiving……..that’s one~!

      • Paul

        Giving a fucking beating, is always better than receiving one~!  In my experience of this life, so far~!

  • ZarathustraSpeaksAgain

    I remember reading about a man in Bismark, North Dakota who had decided that he wanted to live without being having to have a government assigned number, a bank account and without being a someone else’s wage slave. All he wanted to do was prove that a human being could live, exist, and not die if they choose to live an unconventional life.

    The poor guy wasn’t allowed to be different. You are not allowed by law to be found asleep in most public places. There is no place to urinate or defecate if you do not own or rent a place with a toilet. You aren’t allowed to drink water unless it is from a government approved pipe. And it is literally unlawful to trade your labor or possessions for food or clothing without first trading them for money which is taxable or at least paying a tax in money on the value of the exchange.

    This guy was not stupid. He was intentionally trying to prove that the rules of society were so rigid that a human being would not be allowed to live any other way. When I read about him, he had just been arrested for living in a small abandoned trailer that he found in the woods.

    • doc

      Great comment, man!…

      {Human psychology (philosophy?)}…

      Is this the way it is?… (let me state the obvious, without taxing meself?)…

      Iconoclasts’ of any type are a directly overt challenge to the system – a perceived threat.

      To openly question authority on this lifestyle level will always be dangerous. (Freeman on the land, etc.).

      Law & order must prevail, man – we the peeps, may also marginalise & austracize these folk, acting as de facto authoritarian agents for the system & it’s various subsets of beliefs/ologies.

      Seems rather religiously cultish – because it is, isn’t it?

      Uncle Shirley lived in a shack in the woods, (unused public land without water/electricity) made his own shine, grew some food, & bothered nobody… Illegally.

      Some of the local dognosed walkers’ (uppitty folk – I read the court transcripts, etc.) couldn’t bear his existence there, because now it became publically known he was there… which suddenly became a big problem.

      Interesting, how decent folks wanted to getshe into proper housing & so on… (he’d been living this way for 20 years or so, mind you). … This iswas the end of Uncle Shirley’s tale.

      Why was it a problem? We all know the underlying answer.

      (His cats/dogs couldn’t be adopted, so were euthanised, shack/still levelled – no trace left).

      Wisest man I ever did know, she was…

      I lie – but it’s still true!?