I often find myself thinking of the seemingly unlimited possibilities life holds. What is the best possible alternative to the many inevitable obligations that come with adulthood? Becoming part of this grand machine that is our society and our economy should not mean spending the majority of your productive life doing one given thing, not because you enjoy that thing, but in order to keep food in the cupboard and four protective walls around you. It should not mean tossing ambition aside for security. I dread the thought of working long hours at a mindless and unnecessary job just to keep alive. Such a world appears cold and unforgiving. Instead, I see my future place in this world as a collection of possibilities, beyond a life that is not really living, but surviving. I’m not sure if it is that many people are content in their cubicles, or they simply do not realize there are alternatives. In no way do I see myself as above the masses, but I often feel that I see things a bit differently.
My line of thinking is on par with such cheesy inspirational phrases repeated by professors and advertisements for non-traditional colleges. “Follow your passion!”, they say. “Live your dream” and my personal favorite of “Live to work, don’t work to live”. The message in the mantra being, that if you can find a way to get paid for what you love, it no longer feels like work. But, the barrier that immediately arises, is money. How does one sustain a living from making art, playing music, playing sports or acting. We've all heard of the starving artist, whom, at any given time, may or may not make enough money from their passion to feed themselves. These professions are highly competitive; success stories will leave you feeling inspired, but with the advice that you must work hard, and you must not give up.
But for the rest of us, who have hobbies, but may not be particularly talented, patient or determined enough to turn passion into profit, we give in. We compromise for jobs with little purpose, leaving us too exhausted to do much more than sleep in the bed in the house that we’re working so hard to live in. So many work long hours, selling a product that leaves even the customer with (in many cases) only superficial, material happiness. Whenever we do get a moment to ourselves, it becomes easier to fill it with short lived happiness that comes from buying new clothes, going out drinking, or watching people whose lives are much more fulfilled than our own on television. This grim and desolate description I've painted in my mind doesn't include the happiness that comes from relationships, having families, spiritual fulfillment, or the possibility that many people happen to love the things they work long hours selling, convincing others that for a fee, they will love the things too. But it does, in many ways, present the catch-22 of our modern world. The very situation I’m always looking for a way out of, in between the many mindless tasks that come with a minimum wage job in food service.
In American capitalist society, so much profit is made from marketing to the individual. Every person having their own property: individual houses, cars, tools, and other belongings is much more profitable than if we were to share these belongings within our communities. Of course there are certain items that would be invasive or unsanitary to share, such as toothbrushes and cell phones, but there are also many items that seem utterly ridiculous for every person to own. Things that are rarely used, or used only in certain situations (hammers and cheese graters), or that are used so widely that there is space for many people to use them (coffee makers and transportation vehicles) could save people a lot of money if shared. It is the relationship between companies whose objective is to make a profit, and individuals who seek to save money that has created the market. Businesses only answer to their consumers, creating competition for items with the highest value at the lowest price.
Any economics class will teach that it is this relationship that drives the price of any given good or service, provided there are no restrictions. As individuals, this leaves us with a plethora of options. For lunch, we may have a slice of pizza for $2, a sub for $5, or a chicken combo meal for $8. All the food, imported from different places around the country, determined by each company to be the most cost efficient. We all need to eat, but we choose what to eat based on our supply of money, because if we have enough we can buy based on our preference. Among other basic needs such as housing and transportation, there is a vast variety of options ranging from practically free to outrageously costly. On the low end, one individual could choose to live in free campsites, hitchhike around, and forage for food; while another could live in a mansion and drive a Lamborghini. What the former may lack in monetary funds, he makes up for in freedom and ingenuity. And while the later has access to anything money can buy, his life may lack depth and compassion. The point being, there is no definitive way to justify ones quality of life over another. Individual happiness is completely subjective, yet given the choice between the two lifestyles, most of us would choose the money.
With all the money in the world, one has the illusion of complete stability, comfort, and independence. From high end to hobo, however, there exists a connection to others. If you are person A (living on practically no money), your connections are with fellow campers, the people who made your campsite and gear, with the kind souls who respond to your curbside thumb, and with the wasteful who throw out so much perfectly-edible food. But wealthy person B also has these connections, but they are to factory line and construction workers who built their home and car, and to every company they choose to give their money.
The perceived individuality of our society is perhaps most exemplified in our technology. Now, from a very small age, nearly every person in our first world has their own personal computer in the palm of their hands. It is their communication device, their source of endless knowledge and entertainment, but ironically has also become the biggest barrier between one another. What has opened up communication between people with specific niche interests and knowledge has also given us a wall behind which to hide from our neighbors right across the hall.
Despite its tenancy to separate people in close proximity, I do not doubt that the internet has spawned communities of people with uncommon interests. If you happen to be really into fire spinning, you can surely find a community of fire-spinners by searching the internet. In this way, the internet could be used to better connect with our world in a more wide-spread manner, forming communities that could eventually share skills, hammers, and cars. If we lived in stronger communities, bound together by a common interest, there would be much less need to buy everything we need individually, thus less money being spent and less of us struggling just to get by.
Maybe these small communities would be bound by a common interest, such as fire spinning or playing music, but they could also be built around a set of beliefs. Individuals would still play a role, as no two people are alike, by sharing ideas and techniques related to their common interest, but also by providing what they could to the community in exchange for using others’ contributions. Among members in a community of musicians, one member may give lessons to another in exchange for meals. A community of chefs may cook food for a concert put on by musicians held in a facility created by a community of builders. In such a situation, the group of musicians, chefs, and builders all receive a free meal, a free concert, and a free space to meet.
Such a world would be barter based, and not call for money. With voluntary participation, quality could be ensured through the sheer satisfaction of improving upon your particular passion, which could be pursued fully with free time not spent working. If an individual is not living up to expectations or does not like the way their community operates, they would be free to join another. This map of overlapping, mutually beneficial communities could have the potential to be free of governance and regulation. Although, problems are likely to arise in practice for the simple fact that humans are sometimes selfish, lazy and dishonest.
But this seemingly perfect world appears to resemble the one which we live in. Each community with a specific niche can be acquainted to a business. Individuals move between these communities by proving they have the knowledge and skills to belong to them, through employment. In exchange for what an individual offers to their “community”, they use the money earned to get the things their job does not offer. While a business may give their employees health benefits, it does not give them food and shelter. For that, one must look to the “communities” of restaurants, grocery stores, real estate and apartment buildings.
What is missing then, if our reality is much like that of the money-less utopia? If money were no option, there would be no reason not to pursue our real interests. The less money one has, the more benefit comes from sharing items. The more sharing exists between communities, the less money each individual actually needs. An ideal world must lie somewhere between the two. What must be realized, is that the money-less society is entirely possible, but there are an infinite number of situations between the two extremes. These possibilities create dimensions beyond the two which are: spending quality time to make money, and spending money to create time of quality.
The secret must be finding the happy medium. One must find their own meaningful place in the world, but also have basic needs that make life possible. It seems that a job contributing to society (whether it be a teacher, street performer or architect) quality food, water, health and shelter, and fulfilling relationships really are the only ingredients to happiness. The element of spiritual fulfillment can be found in the satisfaction of self expression that is the driver behind said chosen profession. Even if one chooses to be a monk or volunteer, the kindness and positivity that comes from your actions will touch others and compel them to provide you with whatever means you need to keep going, be it shelter, food or clothing. Penniless travelers are often welcomed with meals and warm beds in exchange for their presence which brings with it inspiration.
What must be executed then, is a whole-heated, uninhibited projection of the self through pursuing your deepest dreams and passions. Harnessing and honing these skills will make them available to others, giving you something to offer beyond a paycheck, which may have required you to put aside those passions to earn. Doing anything less, I believe, is to sell your soul for security. We could surely all use a bit more money in our pockets, but the faith of the poor happy man can offer a better means of getting by. Whether personified by speaking of this faith as God or not, we all have a strength greater than ourselves. Reaching outside ourselves will turn anxiety into strength. The same feeling of worry we have when desperately wondering what we might do next, can be turned into determination that comes from accepting nothing less than whatever end goal we have in mind.
All too often, pride is a barrier that prevents us from asking for the things we need. And all too often, money talks for us. It is actually our individuality which brings us together. Each of us has something to offer, while each of us also has needs we cannot self-fulfill. It is only our willingness to reach out to one another, that will build stronger relationships and communities where we need less, and have more, where we can fulfill every one of our dreams and desires. We do not have to know how we are going to get there, only that we are. And it is this faith and openness that can allow for any sort of lifestyle. The hitch-hiker does not know if he will get a ride, but many have crossed borders without a set of wheels. How many can gorge without knowing where their next meal may come from? No one can do more than the best by their own means.
Then, is it really so strange of me to want such a malleable life? I want to jump from a cliff, not wondering if the wind will take me, but only where it will. I want to break away from the security blanket that is a lease and steady job. I want to travel to a country where I know not another person. I want to look forward, knowing everything I could ever want is within my grasp. Only if I test the boundaries of life will I come to fully feel its fluid impermanence. And that, is something to live for.
