What is the Solution

[itsscience]

My friends,

As psychonauts many of us are searching for something. I'm going to assume that many of you, like me, are searching for an alternative to the lives we are stuck in. By that I mean this cycle of working 5 to 7 days per week, spending the majority of our waking lives working away from family and friends just so we can pay mortgages or rent etc.

Most of us can see that the current economic and political models we are working under are counter productive to human happiness in that they keep us away from those things that make us happy.

It seems to me that there is a current of thought amongst many in society that the way we live our lives is wrong.

BUT

I can see very few attempts to provide alternative models of economics and government with which to replace the existing models.

I come from a school of thought that there is no point pointing out flaws unless you have a solution to put in place. I've racked my brains for a long time as to how the current economic and governmental status quo can be altered or replaced to give us our lives and happiness back. The warrior focuses on the self and how to transform the self but there are far more souls asleep in the dream of the planet than there are warriors or those with the potential to become warriors (I'm talking about peaceful warriors, spiritual warriors if you will). Too many of those that are asleep can't be woken so those that are awake must attempt to find a solution so that one day all our brothers and sisters can live with eyes wide open and have true joy in their lives.

So my question then is do any of you have any ideas as to how we can escape the chains of commerce that tie us to our lives of toil and drudgery. By that I mean what systems can be put in place so that work no longer dominates our lives but supplements it and gives us our freedom back. No one will have all the answers but with a master mind group (such as the internet gives us) hopefully a lot of small suggestions can be synthesised into a working system.

One example to give would be complete deregulation (from a legal perspective) of our lives. At the moment I can't sell cooked food out of my home without three or four seperate licences each of which would require me to spend thousands of dollars upgrading my kitchen and home to be able to meet the regulations. I don't actually want to sell food from my home but if I had no means of income it would be a good way to generate some money. Not everyone can afford to eat out and doing so is getting more expensive so if I could grow veges in my backyard and sell meals to people I could subsist and not have to rely on government welfare. So too those that can't afford restaurants could come to me to eat and socialise with their friends without it blowing their meagre budgets.

I'm trying to get a discussion going that doesn't stop at, "this must change" but progresses to "this is how it can be changed".

Thoughts?

 

[darkwolfunseen]

The difficulty with radical paradigm shifts, even if they're done piece-meal as you're suggesting, is that everyone has a different end goal. I think the primary reason why the status quo has stayed so constant over the years is that fear dominates people. Once they've subscribed to this model (from a childhood onset), changing seems to frightening. Why fight something that may feed me later on. And thus the whole system repeats itself over and over again.

This might sound a bit obvious, but the biggest impact you can have, is finding someone who understands you and your mission, having kids with them, and teaching your kids about the alternate universe if you will. That way, they may grow up and continue the thought process. It seems like a long-term plan, but thats the problem, our current predicament is to difficult to go marching in the streets over. We just don't have the numbers on our side. So if you want a solution, I say it is in our families, in our communities, and in educating anyone you talk to about the differences between a washed out pothead, a cokehead, and someone who really wants to push mankind forward in thinking. The sad thing is most will still think the three are the same.

 

[itsscience]

I think the primary reason why the status quo has stayed so constant over the years is that fear dominates people.

Agree entirely but fear is bred from ignorance and the ignorance here is the lack of a plan for what comes after the revolution - it is fear of the unkown whereas if a cohesive plan could be presented that shows how the new model will operate perhaps the fear can be overcome.

I certainly educate my kids, talk to my friends and my wife thinks the same way so I'm on that page but you are right, the numbers are not on our side and probably never will be because for every one activist there's 200 apathetic couch dwellers. So while educating others is a good thing, I doubt it will ever change anything.

Therefore any solution will have to address how to overcome the fear/apathy. Best way I know of is to incentivise - show them that personal gains can be made through the change.

I think, however, that even if the exercise turns out to be a purely academic exercise it is still a worthwhile pondering.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Read early anarchist movements, the time of marx and engels.

Geddes and others address these problems - but that is the main thing. They address the problems. There is not a great solution because the system is the government. To not partake in capitalism is a crime - all parts of being here, in this house, this neighborhood, this school, this state, this nation - I must pay for by capital. To escape that? Go camping... if only.

When I was in highschool I used to go around with the humorous saying of "Camping is anarchy!" which is completely true. The reason so much of us love camping in general is it is the ultimate escape from the nation state and capitalistic notions that have been intertwined in our ape's mind.

My solution? There are many;

Do not take out loans. Do not use a credit card. Do no approach anything with the word "interest" in fine print - this is the ultimate capitalistic idea. Money from money.

Don't give relatives, children especially, money as gifts for holidays or birthdays. This is foolish.

Re-use materials, be a junk searcher. I personally do not believe in owner ship until you directly manipulate or alter what you purchase. Customizing or building your own goods and consumables is a great way to escape.

Tabulate where your money goes - the monthly bills, the weekly spending. Cut out what you find stupid or irrelovant. You'd be surprised at how many people don't actually know what they are paying for.

I live off of 10 grand a year and I'm fairly happy. I'm going to school for a salary of 60k+. I don't really want that, and I don't want to work 40 hours a week.

To approach idealism, however, you have to realize that where you live is going to determine how you live. If you truly do not agree with the capitalistic nation-state, get the fuck outta dodge. The draw of the big cities and consumerism of america is a drug and an addiction. To leave is an intense purging of all that has made us sick.

I don't plan to live in america for much longer. Unfortunately america's grasp on the world is so strong there are few places I can escape it. I fear that soon there will be no places I can escape from it. The problem of its prevelance is in basic psychology of chance and risk. We all take the chance of becoming powerful with a risk we never truly realize - our life being controlled by a boss, our freedom held up in a paycheck, with the glimmer of hope being in a lottery ticket or a stock market.

"The chance at power within bounds turns all wheels"

 

[darkwolfunseen]

itsscience - Thank you for contributing to the movement. Call me apathetic or a pessimist, but I think you've done more for the movement than possible. I just think that the human race is probably doomed if we carry on in this fashion, and the irony is that the people who lead this world don't care. They rather rule in hell than be subjects in heaven.

ijesuschrist - props on living on ten grand, I can't think of a US city where most people could do that. Funny thing you point out about camping, as I remember the last time I went camping, the buddy that came with me bought with him a tv, a satellite phone, and his laptop. He just couldn't disconnect, and I swear I felt like I could see his addiction really come out when the battery died for each device. I just don't understand why humanity hates facing itself in the mirror anymore. I mean our ancestors did for so long, why are we so afraid to be alone?

 

[darkwolfunseen]

Maybe you're right. I wish it was easy to be right and reasonable to everyone.

 

[itsscience]

Anything can become easy through repetition and habit, it's how we learn. But you're right it is bloody hard to develop the habit of treating everyone the way you would want them to treat you.

 

[IJesusChrist]

there are so many people we can never reach...

but;
buy organic
no loans / credit cards
buy what you love - not what you want
do art, music, crafts... sell them.
farmers markets
unfortunately buying a house is a very capitalistic thing to do - rent from like minded people or areas
go to that crazy anarchistic cafe
walk the alleys, not the streets
do graffiti - yeah haha
ride the bus, or bike

its all shit thats been going on forever, but not picking up pace. The bohemian, once a "counter-culture" has gained so much ground it is now not even a sub-culture, it's approaching a mass culture. The tides will flip eventually, as they always have and always will. When a subculture is RIGHT the subculture becomes dominant, but takes years and years.

Like you said in your very first post - more and more people are aware.

And thats the biggest step.

 

[itsscience]

Avoiding loans and credit is a good thing. Try and also stay off government welfare.

The buying a house is an interesting topic. Yes it's capatalistic but by the same token we have to try and acheive change without disadvantaging ourselves. As the human race becomes more and more populous the demand for land and housing increases and land therefore becomes more valuable - as land becomes more valuable not only do land prices increase but so do rents. Perhaps the solution is to aim to buy land that can be shared or used to benefit the community (e.g. through growing vegetables etc).

Buying organic and supporting local business is a good interim measure but at the end of the day those businesses are still bound by the same laws and regulations that curtail our freedoms at every turn.

The more I think about this topic the more I become convinced that the systems can work (i.e. the Westminster system and other democratic systems) if we do away with all the interventionalist and protectionist laws that curtail our freedoms. If we reduce government back to provision of essential services only (provision of utilities such as water, gas, electricity - provision of security (crime and punishment) and a few other areas) then mankind, through its interaction can find its own equilibrium without being overburdened with laws preventing the human spirit and initiative from being successfully applied.

 

[ararat]

(slightly) relevant article by Bertrand Russel: http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html

 

[ararat]

yesterday I found articles on (living in) yurts, and it sounds awesome. it's cheap to build - a tenth of normal housing, although I think it is less than that - it does not qualify as a house here in Austria but as a tent, which brings a lot of advantages, IT IS ROUND, goddamnit it's attractive to leave the cubus I'm sitting in. there's a lot more to it, I'll let this article speak:
http://billstclair.com/DoingFreedom/000 ... .yurt.html

when I'm done with university I'll build one of those in the garden of my dad or somewhere. what is very attractive as well is (depending on how you build it) you can take it with you and go somewhere else for the winter. or if you don't need it you can store it at a friends/parents place.
also in terms of ecological impact it is said to be the least harmful.

this looks awesome as well http://www.simondale.net/house/


not so much a question of money for me, but I'm considering to go dumpstering again. there's a lot of food in garbage-containers that is still just fine.


http://justfortheloveofit.org/philosofree
this is very interesting as well. look into it, it's cool.

there's already a lot of alternative ideas, one just has to find them.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Awesome banana!

 

[ophiuchus]

phyllotaxis. athenian lottery. zen mind. transmuting negative into positive.

 

[ararat]

phyllotaxis?


to live by example would be one of the foremost solutions - *insert Mahatma Gandhi quote*. that would be a rather homeopathic route.
yesterday I watched a movie about earthships, the guy who invented them, and his struggles with politicks. this guy is dedicated. recommended to watch, this guy seems onto something. when you have housing that doesn't need outside electricity, water, heck, even food, you won't have to work a lot to go about your life. --> http://earthship.com/
housing seems one of the first places to really make changes. the houses in Vienna appear prehistoric, really. often no good insulation, heating with gas, sometimes ridiculously high ceilings (which I kinda like though) etc.

cities, generally, seem a very bad way of living for people. it struck me that the people who built Vienna (and other cities, for that matter) apparently hardly had any idea about consciousness and peoples needs. citylife seems predestined to make people feel miserable.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Ahh banana, I just finished 12 weeks on this very subject!

The city itself, and I will be speaking of all of history between 1700 (london) - 2000 (New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mexico City), is a complete nuisance to the human. It is to facilitate the trade of money and wealth, but not people. The conveniences of the city - the freeway, the airport, the mail and telecommunications - these are so popular due to their ability to transfer wealth. The reason some technologies seem outrageously expensive is due to their abundance of non-wealth transfering gains. Such as the mac, the mac is double the price of a similar PC computer due to it's ability to pertain to the individual, more than homogenous tasks of the working world. No business needs this, so the cheaper version (and more advanced!) is the one that facilitates only the trade of money and is used!

But this gave us cancer. The highways gave us carbon dioxide and particulates, the factories tore our limbs off and gave us diseases, crime went rampant due to block busting and white-flight (USA specifically) and now everyone has cancer and heart disease. The convenience of fast food on our way to and from our 8 hours of death became a necessity for many people. The wakeing before the sun, to a night before of drinking and opiates has destroyed the personality of many.

BUT, the fear of this city is incorrect! We do not fear the city itself, we should not fear the city itself, for the city brings ideas, communications, community, and society together. A good neighborhood brings love to one's house. A good city - hard to come by - brings peace to one's life. The image of the city being tall buildings and wealthy well-to-do's with their briefcases and cars as expensive as houses, is not correct, or more appropriately, it is not the only type of city.

We can live in high density environment with great health and social prosperity. This is not an illusionary utopia of some far off galaxy, it can be done here. The name escapes me, but there is one in denmark - an anarchistic society. Their wealth is fully dependant on the cannabis trade, illegal in the surrounding country, and their houses are made from scraps of the larger cities.

The problem with the health of cities is the travellers - those who work in the city do not live in the city! This is perposterous. With the fusion of the suburb into the rental-style life into the city, would create great amounts of space of nature. The idea of the suburb is long gone, and needs to be destroyed, and the awakening of either inner-city living ot the secondary option of isolation from the city needs to become prominent.

Travel is one of the largest producers of pollution... The city itself... is not.

 

[tryptonaut]

By that I mean this cycle of working 5 to 7 days per week, spending the majority of our waking lives working away from family and friends just so we can pay mortgages or rent etc.

Try to get a job that is not just a job, but something that you like. I know it may be hard and it's not always 100% possible, but when you like what you do for a living, then work is not that bad. This is not the perfect solution to anything, but it's a start!
Too many people choose their careers on what will pay the best, and then they find out they have to do something they don't like for 8 hours a day (or more) for the rest of their lives. Work takes up a lot of your lifetime, so it must be something you really like, or you'll get depressed by it sooner or later!

 

[ophiuchus]

phyllotaxis- perfect unfolding, perfect nesting. basically growth in accordance with natures patterns. like the way the leave grow opposite each other on every new bud, this is something we have to incorporate into our systems to make them sustainable forever. does that answer?

 

[Crimzen]

tryptonaut:
WORD.
i', 22 i march and to this day ive worked only dead beat shit kicker jobs simply as a means of supporting myself because i couldnt find what i really want to do
i still think im a bit off from the bullseye but im now unemployed, living at home and studying to teach english to speakers of other languages 'TESOL'
which is IDEAL for me, i love culture, especially cultures i know little about as i have so much to see
and now im on my way

i've always wanted to teach something (i come from a family of teachers but i dont think that came into it so much)
and although english isnt really THE thing i want to teach, if it helps people in some way then i'll teach it in order to move further down my path



We are far from 'the solution' unfortunately
well we're actually not so far, but the layer of blockage stopping us from being there is rather strong
we just need to break through
which sadly doesnt seem too likely anytime soon...maybe? hopefully?

 

[ophiuchus]

We are far from 'the solution' unfortunately
well we're actually not so far, but the layer of blockage stopping us from being there is rather strong
we just need to break through
which sadly doesnt seem too likely anytime soon...maybe? hopefully?

of course, we will always be of some distance from "THE solution" because of the nature of it. you can of course have A solution, but to claim that one has THE solution is implying the solution as "THE END OF ALL FURTHER SOLUTIONS!" which is simply limiting to put it nicely. can you imagine what life would be like if we discovered the telegram, and then left it at that? "OH! we solved the problem of transmitting information long distance! glad we dont have to worry about that anymore!"

strong blockage is a relative term. could easily be overcome with sturdy solutions...

depends on your definition of soon as well. "in a lifetime" is but a blink on a historical timeline. "in a couple years" is a long time to wait for dinner.

dont be so pessimistic. things dont change any faster that way.


i think change is upon us. fundamental, radical change of the way everyone who is anyone views and interacts with the world. but once again, these terms are relative. i dont expect all of everyones routines to change overnight...

 

[Crimzen]

i dont think im pessimistic i think im being realistic
people will always want to dominate one another and their environment
of course i try to remain hopeful however that we'll evolve socially at some point, who knows when that will be or if it will be a 'positive' shift