Trouble with The Computer
6 hours ago
Monday, March 10, 2014
The slaves get angry
People like to complain. No surprise there. I've discovered that they don't want solutions, but only want to hear sympathetic noises.
When someone whines about the the high price of electricity, I tell them how they can reduce their bill or go off grid completely. They complain about sewer and water bills, and I tell them about my well and septic system. The high price of gas bothers them, and I'll show them my waste veggie burning vehicle.
It might be too much to expect a polite thank you and questions on how to do it. A tiny few want to know, but many more actually get angry at me. That puzzled me. My guess is that they rather keep being slaves to the system rather than do the work to be free.
One nice exception to that experience has been the live aboard boat cruisers. Most of them know the cost and the value of freedom. The life style requires a high level of self reliance. People who are out living on boats have taken risks. They've exchanged being normal for a high level of freedom.
I thought that I'd get a fair number of cruisers criticizing my choice to travel on such a small boat. That was rare. More often people would praise my choice to sail on a 19 foot boat. Many recommended that I stay away from big boats. The extra complexity and expense puts freedom at risk. Too much money and time goes into keeping a big boat going. Some learned the lesson the hard way. Several captains have actually gone from big luxurious boats to much smaller ones. Freedom was more important that physical comfort.
The system (government/business/etc.) doesn't want people to be free. We should all be good worker bees: paying our bills, getting into debt, being taxed to death, and totally dependent on the system. Free people rely less and less on the system. Even a small home garden gives people a taste of independence.
Funny thing about freedom. For some of us, even a small taste is very sweet. Some of us, having a small taste, want a whole lot more. The blinders drop from our eyes and we see the chains that bind us.
-Sixbears
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So true. The extra complicity of a bigger boat, (or even two small ones), puts hard won freedom at risk.
ReplyDeleteSimplify simplify simplify...
That's what I get from reading "Walden" at a young age.
DeleteFreedom is a scary thing to many, as you've learned. It was the same way when I was self-employed; a lot of the same folks who looked down their nose at me for "not having a "real" job, envied my lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteJust the thought that might not have to be chained to their "real" job scares some people.
DeleteMany folks think that freedom is free, but the rest of us know that everything has a price!
ReplyDeleteI think that working at being free is worth it in the long run!
Freedom has a price, but it also has value.
DeleteOnly those who've tasted freedom can know its worth.
I have good friends who are avid sailors. They sold their small business to globally cruise full time. They bought a 42 foot single mast sailboat. Yes the size and space was nice but just too much to handle for the two of them. So a year later they sold it and bought a blue-water 32 foot sailboat and are still on it 10 years later. They have sailed around the world on little money. What a great life they are having.
ReplyDelete