Some of you thought that perhaps I was a little too hurt over what went on at the "female dropout" thread. It was not necessarily because I thought
my own pride was insulted or anything. I just caught myself thinking:
What if this entire "dropout" movement is bunk? I suspected that a fair deal of you were elitist. Scoffing at any trappings of mainstream society and meeting anyone even with the subtlest of these trappings with suspicion. As if he was brainwashed. I was asked about the community living as some of you objected that I spoke of living alone. Well, here's what crossed my mind: why should I bother with community if I can't find a single person who is anything other than a pampered materialist (on one hand) or snobbish elitist (on the other). What if conventionalism was still better? That perhaps I just need to drop all my "dropout" pretenses and revert back to more standard ways of living? What if I need to start doing what I love and then expect money to follow? And just become generally more socially acceptable? Of course, I would still retain my finely honed frugal habits to some extent, although I'd start buying more records again (and there we go again with a bit of extra consumption!). Worse still, what if I was completely fake about my own previous pretenses? I was seriously considering chucking this entire Prieurian/Thoreau-esque philosophy altogether just because I thought that perhaps the ones on the other side aren't necessarily as open minded as the members of conventional society. Like it's perhaps easier to win approval of the ordinary folks than self-styled elitist jaded wannabes?
Then I heard some stupid song over the radio. Not that it sucked musically but the lyrics were fucking annoying. The woman sang about how she wants new clothes, but she ain't got no money. She tries to get a raise. And she of course craves for some fancy car. Again, no money. Can't lease the car either. She feels inferior to her friends who have all the latest designer clothes and all the gadgets. The song's title translated as "Vicious Circle". The vicious circle of materialism.
And then I understood!
Regardless if there really are any black sheep in the "dropout" family/tribe/community (though, to be honest, they may not be on this forum contrary to what I had previously thought), I just can't revert back to the old ways. Old ways are corrupt. Maxing out credit cards over some hot designer jeans and thus condemning yourself to consumer debt is never where it's at! It's the trapping of our modern society. But Thoreau's ideas contained in Walden Pond are still timeless. The vision of eccentric architect Michael Reynolds' sustainable living ideas in "Garbage Warrior" documentary (I really recommend this one!!!) offers more hope than all Obama's speeches combined (not that I have anything against Obama, I believe he's better than Clinton, but you get the idea). As for finding out a pleasant way of making money, that'd be nice but it would be beating against all odds. I'd be very lucky to even find some low status slacker career. When I aspire to what Ran calls "dropping out", I don't mean to distance myself completely, I just want to be as free as I can. Freedom is better than money. Time is also better than money. Always. Money is just a necessary evil. Hopefully my life will not fall apart and turn into misery.
I realize that some of you may view me as slightly suspect, but let me tell you this. What you and I believe about our society, is not as founded on rational basis as you might be tempted to think. We accept it on basis of faith. Just like the ordinary people accept mainstream values. It's all on faith. There's no rational truth as to what way of living is better. It's subjective and related to experience. When I say I almost backslid, it means I was losing faith in your values. Now I feel that my faith is back. And the same thing about love. I have faith in its transcendence, even though I'm critical of the false ideas about this. But I'm sure that it takes a lot of faith to decide that "love is bunk". I don't have any. Just like some of you who thought sexual relationships sucked, you don't have faith in relationships. But you believe it's all bunk. It's all pure faith. I admit it and I think it applies to you as well. Therefore, I ask from you what I think is pretty much all we can do. I plead that we were more tolerant about our own personal beliefs. Because that's what they are, beliefs!
Peace,
SM.
What if this entire "dropout" movement is bunk? I suspected that a fair deal of you were elitist. Scoffing at any trappings of mainstream society and meeting anyone even with the subtlest of these trappings with suspicion. As if he was brainwashed. I was asked about the community living as some of you objected that I spoke of living alone. Well, here's what crossed my mind: why should I bother with community if I can't find a single person who is anything other than a pampered materialist (on one hand) or snobbish elitist (on the other). What if conventionalism was still better? That perhaps I just need to drop all my "dropout" pretenses and revert back to more standard ways of living? What if I need to start doing what I love and then expect money to follow? And just become generally more socially acceptable? Of course, I would still retain my finely honed frugal habits to some extent, although I'd start buying more records again (and there we go again with a bit of extra consumption!). Worse still, what if I was completely fake about my own previous pretenses? I was seriously considering chucking this entire Prieurian/Thoreau-esque philosophy altogether just because I thought that perhaps the ones on the other side aren't necessarily as open minded as the members of conventional society. Like it's perhaps easier to win approval of the ordinary folks than self-styled elitist jaded wannabes?
Then I heard some stupid song over the radio. Not that it sucked musically but the lyrics were fucking annoying. The woman sang about how she wants new clothes, but she ain't got no money. She tries to get a raise. And she of course craves for some fancy car. Again, no money. Can't lease the car either. She feels inferior to her friends who have all the latest designer clothes and all the gadgets. The song's title translated as "Vicious Circle". The vicious circle of materialism.
And then I understood!
Regardless if there really are any black sheep in the "dropout" family/tribe/community (though, to be honest, they may not be on this forum contrary to what I had previously thought), I just can't revert back to the old ways. Old ways are corrupt. Maxing out credit cards over some hot designer jeans and thus condemning yourself to consumer debt is never where it's at! It's the trapping of our modern society. But Thoreau's ideas contained in Walden Pond are still timeless. The vision of eccentric architect Michael Reynolds' sustainable living ideas in "Garbage Warrior" documentary (I really recommend this one!!!) offers more hope than all Obama's speeches combined (not that I have anything against Obama, I believe he's better than Clinton, but you get the idea). As for finding out a pleasant way of making money, that'd be nice but it would be beating against all odds. I'd be very lucky to even find some low status slacker career. When I aspire to what Ran calls "dropping out", I don't mean to distance myself completely, I just want to be as free as I can. Freedom is better than money. Time is also better than money. Always. Money is just a necessary evil. Hopefully my life will not fall apart and turn into misery.
I realize that some of you may view me as slightly suspect, but let me tell you this. What you and I believe about our society, is not as founded on rational basis as you might be tempted to think. We accept it on basis of faith. Just like the ordinary people accept mainstream values. It's all on faith. There's no rational truth as to what way of living is better. It's subjective and related to experience. When I say I almost backslid, it means I was losing faith in your values. Now I feel that my faith is back. And the same thing about love. I have faith in its transcendence, even though I'm critical of the false ideas about this. But I'm sure that it takes a lot of faith to decide that "love is bunk". I don't have any. Just like some of you who thought sexual relationships sucked, you don't have faith in relationships. But you believe it's all bunk. It's all pure faith. I admit it and I think it applies to you as well. Therefore, I ask from you what I think is pretty much all we can do. I plead that we were more tolerant about our own personal beliefs. Because that's what they are, beliefs!
Peace,
SM.
