True vs "Fake" productivity - Essentials in our society

This was a reply to another thread but my writing quickly led me to a different subject on which I continued so I thought it would fit nicely in a new thread.

You are free to not work, to end up on the street, to die of cold or hunger, or to be eaten on the sidewalk by some naked guy who has gone crazy, you're free to do all these things.

You're NOT free to live a relaxed life where most time spent is spent living instead of working, you're NOT free to your own opinion about things as society governs what you're allowed to think and how you're supposed to behave.

My body has a built in function to relieve of excess gasses but when I burp people look at me like I'm a pig, we are all the same and tastes change like seasons but nowadays people who don't look like the fakes you see on television and in magazines are deemed ugly, ironically/sadly they're the natural ones. Like in medieval times, still, your status is determined by what you possess, not by who you are or what you do, with a few exceptions. You can have a truly productive job like being a farmer, feeding people all across the globe, but you will still be looked down upon by someone who does nothing but write emails all day for a paycheck twice that of yours, while in reality, the latter doesn't contribute to anything productive at all, leave him out of the equation and the farmer will still get his food to people who want or need it, but leave the farmer out and you get a whole different story.

This is what frustrates me the most in life, there have only been few decades where true productivity was appreciated according to it's necessity. We can all agree we need certain things in life, sadly, the most important parts are also pretty much the most under appreciated. Nobody wants to keep stinky farm animals anymore, or get their hands dirty growing vegetables, or educate themselves on important topics, they have other people do it for them and as long as those people are there, their needs are satisfied. We've grown accustomed to it so much that we have forgotten how important these things are for us, and how uneducated we are in most of these domains. That's why I love the self-sufficiency movement, people who can go back to what is truly important and work on that in the first place, appreciating it for what it's really worth.

Productive and traditional professions, like farming etc. are far into the process of being taken over by industrial companies, so people can focus on having jobs that have no true value whatsoever, only to buy things they don't really need. Meanwhile, people who DO want to do something productive, are being forced out by the earlier mentioned companies. The latter, of course, making the sector more and more expensive to get started in, even for people who just want to do it as a hobby or for self-sufficient purposes.

Just take a look at this graph, showing the increase of seed prices the last couple of years. The article which it came from is below it;


www.nytimes.com...

We all know who to thank for this, and of course, as if the increasing prices weren't enough, all hybrids are prevented from being reproductive, the seeds you get from a hybrid tomato plant's tomatoes, are useless, they will not produce a new tomato plant. Want more tomato plants? BUY more seeds, or start with non-hybrid seeds.


Continuing with a comparison, I'll divide working people into two categories. The productive ones, people that contribute to society in a beneficial kind of way, and "unproductive" ones, people who make things easier in life, but are not really that important.

In many cases, the unproductive ones will make more money than the productive ones, where minimum wages are prevalent, and enjoy a higher status socially. Though, if you had to choose one of both categories that would "disappear", everyone will agree that it's the productive group they want to keep.

Example; Farmer vs Logistics manager.

The farmer needs the logistics business to transport his goods to the customer, but if the logistics company were to disappear, the farmer would still be producing food and would eventually still find a way to get his food to his buyers. There is a wide range of alternatives to get the food to where it needs to be.

The logistics business has people in it that need food, every day of their lives. They're completely dependent on this (and other) farmer(s). Take the farmer away and they would most likely experience a major crisis. Many people have no clue when it comes to being self-sufficiënt, I don't even want to know how many kids today don't know a potato comes from the ground.

Yet what profession is appreciated most by society? Who do you think people would prefer to be friends with, or get to know better,...? I'm convinced that would be the logistics people, it's a nice job with a good pay and you don't have to get your hands dirty.


What is the point to all this? Is it to say that some jobs are not needed and should disappear? No, it's to say that I really believe we need to tip the scale, to something that makes more sense. I also believe that this holds more ground for major change to a more equal world than simply yelling "banksters are criminals!", though I agree they are, it doesn't change a thing. I think we need to re-prioritize things according to their importance. This will undoubtedly be a very hard thing to do, but if a few people reading this change their views on who is needed most in society, I'm already satisfied. Entertainment will be the hardest to crack I think, there is obviously something wrong when people playings sports make millions of dollar just because other people like watching them.



A couple of disclaimers;

* I'm not a farmer (). I try to be as self-sufficient as possible and I can easily admit that not all that long ago I didn't value things for what were truly worth either. I started growing vegetables, started understanding that it's both very interesting and takes a lot of knowledge, and that people certainly are prejudiced when it comes to things like this. Some people I know asked me why on earth I started growing veg...

** There is no political undertone here, I think we're past the point of -isms and my thinking is no longer confined by them anymore either, this is not socialism or communism, this is going back to what is most important and what comes in second and in third place, nothing more

*** I know I represent things as totally black and white and I'm fully aware this is far from the case in reality, a logistics company is obviously not completely unproductive, but it's easier to state my point by using only the two labels productive and unproductive.

reply to post by ThisIsNotReality


This ties into the False Deprivation program that the government has spent decades ingraining into us. We are lead to believe that our bodies are very important and must be satisfied in every way possible, then they use that mentality to convince us that every stupid toy on the market is an absolute necessity. Then they tie those toys into the idea that "if you have this, you're like the Joneses" or "you need this to have a healthy life" or "this is what you're supposed t have to be like everyone else".

90% of our essentials in society, are actually NONessential. I would know. It's simply an elaborate ruse designed to keep us working like dogs. They want to use this ruse to dumb us down, keep us from developing critical thinking skills beyond the span of our own bodies, and make us into monkeys smart enough to push buttons, but not smart enough to ask too many "Why"s. It's a very clever program. After all, if we're let loose...

Well, we start f***ing s**t up. Someone has to control us. The question is, who and how?

Thank you for the nice addition!

I agree, though I don't think we'd f*ck up if we didn't have government telling us what to do. All people have equal capabilities, of course with exceptions here and there, but I do believe everyone is capable of becoming an intellectual human being with non-distorted views of reality, in contrast to what we see now.

reply to post by ThisIsNotReality


I skimmed the thread, but only because I get what you're saying. I agree with you 100% and then some because I have had this own idea (in another way) floating around in my head.

Today people are busier than ever but enriching the megarich even more, while they get a fraction of what it takes to provide for themselves.

It's like this: all around, people are providing their time, that runs many corporations, and that time runs the business. The business profits millions or more per day. The people are the gears that make it work, but they get fractions of that. People think that's fair, because that's what everyone else gets. Is it fair people in China get pennies per day, because that's what everyone else gets? How much should a boss or business be able to make more than the lower rung people, and it still be fair?

It used to be, you traded equal value for equal value. You didn't RIP OFF anybody, or you were a crook. Today, the crook is put on a pedestal. The more a business earns, the more the CEO and investors earn. They WANT you pay you spare change so they can get richer. If you make widgets for an hour, and they are worth $100. Your boss pays you 10, keeps 20 to cover the costs to make, keeps 10 (you aren't the only employee) to cover his own salary, keeps 10 to cover utilities for that hour, and the business (WHICH HE OWNS!!) "profits" and keeps the rest -- $50.

Forgive is my numbers are off, but the point is that the employee produces something that is worth a certain amount. The boss gets paid and he gets paid for his utilities and raw materials cost, and he pays you, so it's all covered, then there is something left over...a lot left over, because he marks up the price to WHATEVER people are willing to pay, NOT what it is worth. He is expecting to be 'tipped' just for being in business. He wants something for nothing. Oh my god! Welfare for the rich!

A guy works at Wall St and makes a lot of money, though it's only 10% per deal. The financial institution gets 90%, some of which goes to paying rent, having the lights on, etc.

Do we see now how the rich get richer, sooo easily? We, the lower rung guys, ALWAYS get jipped, whether we are buying something and paying a high markup, or we are working. The mega rich almost always win.

No wonder we are dirt poor and the rich are richer every year that passes! They will always win! We will end up penniless, eventually!!! And they B*&CH about paying taxes! Well, you're ripping off your customers and ripping off your employees...you want to rip off the IRS too? Figures! They hate paying their fair share, and they always want more. Don't dare complain!

I realize not all businesses profit enormously, but the general way things operate are the same. It used to be in a market, if you traded with someone, you were NOT expected to give more than the damn thing was worth!

Money are ruined our society, for sure. As long as money can be manipulated, we will edge closer and closer to slavery. For every bit we get, the guy above ALWAYS gets more, even if he got it for free. And, that is "okay" by the textbook writers, because "they took the risk." Let's say taking the risk is included in your standard salary, which is already higher! Mainly it's the mega corporations I have a problem with, but like I said, it happens almost everywhere unless a family works together and thus splits things evenly.