(no subject)
I could invest. Throw my lot in with the risk-takers, place an educated bet and win big.
I could dive headfirst into finance. Crunch numbers for a hedge fund. Steer clients into hot products, make bank off the commission.
I could sell my bachelor's and touch down in marketing. Slide into advertising, leverage sociological insight, convince and persuade. Claim it's for the creativity.
I could do that which we respect, that which we claim as having some benefit. Go back to school, go into hard science, go into medicine. Rake in the dough, but in a socially acceptable way. The benefit may not actually be there (I'm looking at you, medicine), but I'd be able to claim it.
But I don't, and I won't, because I don't give a shit; because nothing matches the thrill of taking a swig, jumping in someone else's car, and hitting the highway. I won't because it seems to me that the mad scramble for cash is ridiculous, and also potentially harmful. It seems to me that we give up something vital of ourselves when our motivations begin to revolve around the pipe dream of being rich. And I am not going to force myself to do things that I do not actually want to do in order that I may someday drive a certain type of car and own a certain sort of house. If I am surviving, and I am comfortable, then what else could I possibly want? I'd rather focus my energy on those who are either not surviving or who are barely surviving, and who are certainly not comfortable, than on furthering my ability to purchase more useless crap.
I say "fuck you" to the American dream. It has made of us a society of infants, of people who care more about their own personal gain than about the health of our culture and our community. There are countries whose standards of living exceed our own because they have adopted policies that we shun out of self-interest. How long will it be before we learn? How far must we slide?
Life is not supposed to be about work. It's supposed to be about what happens when work is done.
I could dive headfirst into finance. Crunch numbers for a hedge fund. Steer clients into hot products, make bank off the commission.
I could sell my bachelor's and touch down in marketing. Slide into advertising, leverage sociological insight, convince and persuade. Claim it's for the creativity.
I could do that which we respect, that which we claim as having some benefit. Go back to school, go into hard science, go into medicine. Rake in the dough, but in a socially acceptable way. The benefit may not actually be there (I'm looking at you, medicine), but I'd be able to claim it.
But I don't, and I won't, because I don't give a shit; because nothing matches the thrill of taking a swig, jumping in someone else's car, and hitting the highway. I won't because it seems to me that the mad scramble for cash is ridiculous, and also potentially harmful. It seems to me that we give up something vital of ourselves when our motivations begin to revolve around the pipe dream of being rich. And I am not going to force myself to do things that I do not actually want to do in order that I may someday drive a certain type of car and own a certain sort of house. If I am surviving, and I am comfortable, then what else could I possibly want? I'd rather focus my energy on those who are either not surviving or who are barely surviving, and who are certainly not comfortable, than on furthering my ability to purchase more useless crap.
I say "fuck you" to the American dream. It has made of us a society of infants, of people who care more about their own personal gain than about the health of our culture and our community. There are countries whose standards of living exceed our own because they have adopted policies that we shun out of self-interest. How long will it be before we learn? How far must we slide?
Life is not supposed to be about work. It's supposed to be about what happens when work is done.