What is the point of living if you're not rich?

reply to post by Alyssa


I have a wife and kids, and we live on less than half what I made in the 1990's thanks to the global collapse of corporate telecommunications.

I used to stress out over it, but I don't anymore. I work 2 part time jobs, go to school full time and write poems, stories and songs.

What's the point of living? To create.

I know the shallow part, and money isn;t everything etc etc...

but think about it...

why do people work 10 hrs shifts? over 95% people do not like their work, or rather stay at home and get the pay or want more money.

Our current society takes money as a higher value, and we are molded according to that. So we put money as higher priority.... base everything around that. So you can't be shocked when someone says "they want more money".

I don't think humans were meant to work 9-5 everyday, same monotones environment, same routine... we are trapped in a Hamster wheel.

If there is a high value for money, money will make people happy.

reply to post by Ben81


Yeah, a SAAB. Scary!

Some people do it because they are programmed to, and some do it because they want to better their kids life, etc.

I work a normal shift but I train people all day long and solve problems, so I get a lot of fulfillment through my service to others throughout the week. So I don't mind "the grind", as ultimately I am helping others while helping myself (making a paycheck).

Originally posted by luciddream
I know the shallow part, and money isn;t everything etc etc...

but think about it...

why do people work 10 hrs shifts? over 95% people do not like their work, or rather stay at home and get the pay or want more money.

Our current society takes money as a higher value, and we are molded according to that. So we put money as higher priority.... base everything around that. So you can't be shocked when someone says "they want more money".

I don't think humans were meant to work 9-5 everyday, same monotones environment, same routine... we are trapped in a Hamster wheel.

If there is a high value for money, money will make people happy.

reply to post by watchitburn

I have no idea what the point is.

And apparently I can't have what I want either.

So I came up with my own purpose. The end of the human race. Seriously.

You have no idea how many stars I would give for this post right here. At this time, in our current course, I cannot foresee anything good coming of the existence of the human race. Dinosaurs and cockroaches existed for millenia and the planet did wonderfully. Homo Sapiens shows up and the planet gets a makeover that poisons every ecosystem every day.

Agent Smith was not lying when he said that we are a virus. If we destroy viruses on a daily basis, then what are we supposed to do with ourselves? Show favoritism? Hardly. Either accept the necessary sacrifice of our species or mutate for the better of the world.

reply to post by Alyssa


Have you ever considered that materialism appears necessary only because our species has made it seem necessary? Have you ever TRIED to live without materialism? Let me clue you in on something about me, which I'm sure I'm not alone in:

I am depressed and bitter because the one thing I need is the one thing I don't want, and the one thing I want is the one thing I can't seem to find. I don't want money. I want love. Unfortunately, money satisfies us more than love in this day and age, because we've become addicted to external stimuli. I don't play that game, and I pay for it every day. Money can't buy what I want, and money is all that matters now, it seems. But there's really nothing I love more than love, companionship, and bonding with good people. One of my best buds has his birthday today - it's going to be a good time, and you know what? I won't pay a f***ing penny for it. And yet I will feel more warm and loved than a man with billions in his account, because when his money is gone, so are his friends and house and car and everything else he ever relied upon to make him happy.

And I'll still have my family that I've built over the years. Without spending a single dime. And the world hates me for it, because I refuse to fall into the addiction trap that is materialism. I refuse to put myself in the positions where all the bloodsucking politicians and economic warlords have power over me and how I live my life. I don't have pretty stuff, and I don't have a whole lot of conveniences. Sometimes, I break down and weep over how painful it has become to live what I see as a good, healthy life. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep just thinking about how hard it has become just to earn the right to exist. I didn't choose to be born, but I still have to pay for it.

The world is building a great road of golden bricks, leading to who-knows-where. And we're not being told. We're just expected to follow along like good little drones. And god help the man who decides to make a place for himself off to the side and wait for his questions to be answered, because he'll either be left behind to starve or "persuaded" to rejoin the game. What are we doing? Trying to become gods? Is that the fate our leaders have in mind? Or are we looking to conquer another planet in case we screw this one up too badly? I don't know where we're going. And until I do, until I feel that I can proudly stand beside the ultimate destination of our species as envisioned by the leaders of our planet, I refuse to take part. I refuse to lay down a golden brick until I feel comfortable with wherever the person who steps on it is going. I don't want to be responsible for the potentially disastrous future we may be dooming our great grandchildren to suffer.

I don't have the power to stop it, but at least I can say I didn't cause it. And you know, looking around, I fear very much that that's exactly where we're going. Only worrying about the now, the current existence, and leaving the future to those who have to fight for it. It's not our problem, right? We fought our fight, they can fight theirs. It doesn't matter if our present created theirs. It doesn't matter if our mistakes become their sacrifices. It's not our problem. We'll just die anyway - might as well make the best of it, at everyone else's expense! Survive! Survive!

But here's the clincher: who are we supposed to be surviving against? Not nature, not the weather, not the animals. We're supposed to survive EACH OTHER. Our fellow man. That's what this has come down to. Kill or be killed - by our own brothers and sisters! CNN, NBC, Dateline, Fox, all those news shows prove my point every day. The smallest, most trivial differences have become the greatest causes of death. We can no longer stand each other because we are consistently reminded of our own imperfections in this never-ending quest for perfection. Check the links in my signature for a deeper elaboration on that.

Anyway! That's the kind of world we live in. But I don't buckle, because that means the system wins. And I'll be damned if I put a single ounce of my energy, my blood and sweat, towards a machine that is destroying everything around it because it's afraid of dying and would rather sacrifice the world and all of the innocent lives therein - right down to the last breath - than give up its own feeble, unhelpful existence.

You know why we have a god? Why we have to debase ourselves anbd give all power to a higher being? Because that makes it easier to come to terms with a world that we are unable to accept or understand. Because we'd rather close our eyes then see reality, we invent higher powers in our mind in order to make sense of the world we've crafted to keep us sane in the light of everything we have done. We'd be horrified if we knew the truth. We'd destroy ourselves in a desperate bid to escape confrontation with our own demons, and the fruit we are about to reap. But instead, we hand it all off to a greater being, because we think we're too weak, and we see the proof every day. THe thing is, our weakness comes from our lack of vision. And that lack of vision stems from the very same people who control the machine that drains us of livelihood every day of every week.

The Machine is the source of our suffering, and it has convinced us that we need it. But see - WE DON'T NEED IT. We are our own rulers, our own governors and police. We are our own nutrients, our own strength, our own courage and determination. Freedom is ours to give up...and ours to reclaim, should we choose to do so. And they fear the day we realize that. Ignorance is strength - THEIR strength.

Mario Savio states my feelings quite eloquently:

"The faculty are a bunch of employees, and we're the raw material! But we're a bunch of raw materials that don't mean to be—have any process upon us. Don't mean to be made into any product. Don't mean… Don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings!

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels…upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio, 1964

en.wikipedia.org...

One last quote, which I think pertains very much to this topic. Heed these words well - unless you truly desire to be free, you never will be.

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

AFTERINFINITY---

The most beautiful post I have seen on ATS.

--To the OP
Maybe you should check out my poem (THY MORTALITY).

Pusha T- Exodus
"Ask Steve Jobs, Money don't buy health"

reply to post by resoe26


It appears I've made my point - or several points, rather. This is stuff that rotates in my mind on a daily basis, so it's good to finally pour it out and make my views public for community digestion. I daresay they could be helpful to someone.

Maybe someone will finally wake up and smell the engine grease.

reply to post by Alyssa


ROFLMAO.

Hey OP. You will never be happy.
It is not about the money. $$$ It is about your mindset.
You would be still miserable with a huge bank account.

I want to say thank you to Alyssa. What she has done (unwittingly perhaps) is show ATS that we are indeed at least somewhat united in what life is really, really about. Sure we may be "conspiracy nuts" or debunking pros or whatever, but when you think about the posts here and the sheer raw understanding of what life really is about, this is a group of people that "gets it", and this actually brings me close to tears of joy.

Without the catalyst of someone like Alyssa, I think I would have not seen a thread like this, with such passion and emotion toward the non-material. So, thank you for serving as a catalyst, perhaps you do have a purpose in this life after all! Rejoice!

reply to post by fourthmeal


That's one way to look at it. We are most honest when we are most passionate.

Stop whining.

Originally posted by Ben81
reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX

 

onnnn poor girl
i feel her pain .. her dad should be hanged for that

That made me physically sick. I'm not gonna eat today.

Ughhhh I hate people. Kill her. Just kill her.

reply to post by Alyssa


Just go down to the crossroads and wait for the man to come and tune your guitar.. then you'll be set.

reply to post by Alyssa


Maybe you're just low value?

Don't give up, perhaps you'll get a chance one day to sell your soul for fortunes. Remain vigilant.

If you can't get a good deal for your soul... There's always jazz.




And if you think you don't have a soul....

Have no fear of dementor kisses.

I never cared for money. All I ever wanted was to be good-looking. Unfortunately, we don't get to choose what we look like, or who our parents are. Regardless, beautiful people get treated far better than average looking people, and ugly people get treated like dirt, if not out in the open, then in the minds of others.

reply to post by Alyssa


Explanation: Too Long ... :shk:

Personal Disclosure: ... Didn't Read!

Hint: Do try to be even more shallow next time ... it shows which end of the gene pool you are swimming in!

There is nothing sweeter than being happy with what you have. I am considered poor financially, but I don't want much and I have everything I need materialistic wise.Stuff doesn't make me happy. The people I care about makes me happy.

You know why gas is expensive? Why it costs $4 for a coffee now when it used to be .10c?

Because the people who make up this crap, determine the price for you and me.
It's all make belief. If you really wanted to be rich, you have to WANT it.

And by want it, I mean manipulate every single person in your life, the same way they do.

In reality, every price is simply a consensus.
Some people wake up a billionaire cause they can manipulate enough people.

Personally I don't give a crap about money since I don't need it.

reply to post by Alyssa

I do not care for them.

You do not care for them because you do not care for yourself. All the money in the world would not change this.

reply to post by Alyssa

Why must I suffer so?

I like lemons and cake, the only thing better then lemons or cake would be lemon cake.

Before you ATSians say I'm materialistic......guess what? Everybody is.

You don't say.

You desire love?

Depends on what kind of love it is.

Desire children? Well that's materialistic also

Yup it sure is. But that to simply depends.

Seriously, I'm tired of new age talk, sick of everything. I just want the next life to be a rich one of dreams, cake and tea. The system can take my soul (If a soul even exists that is)

Ah poor Alyssa you see, if you want to make a deal with the devil you must first have something the devil would want. Srry to tell you this and I am afraid that if you think the pinnacle of existence is cake, tea, fancy cream and rich dreams, not only do you lack a soul (which has not yet been proven to exist) but you lack something much more important then a soul....Imagination.... I am afraid that even for the devil that would be a poor trade. What else you got?

One last thing I must ask. Where are you ATSers in life?

Were I always am, in the thick of it.