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Plan9 · 11-03-2010, 04:10 AM

I don't see myself as free at all. I've traded my freedom for some dude to pick up my trash and a house that I didn't build myself that holds food that won't kill me. I traded my freedom for paved roads and the ability to buy my woman lingerie online at 3 AM while sitting in a third world country.

I'm a meat puppet that must do A, B, and C while avoiding X, Y, and Z in order to meet "character standards" in my job. And, sure, I can spend all my money on Cheerios and duct tape, but then I won't have money left over for retirement or to pay taxes. I am a slave to frugality. I don't make enough money to have health insurance and pay for school and buy a house and have a car, so I have to pick and choose to get the kind of lifestyle I want.

As mentioned in another thread, this is often referred to as the Paradox of Dispossession (William Ker Muir). The idea is that the things you own begin to own you. The more you have, the more you have to lose and thus the less you'll deviate from norms and/or demands to maintain and protect it.

...

To suggest "total freedom" is to be a teenager with an anarchy symbol on the back of his leather jacket: self-centered, myopic, zit-faced.

11-03-2010, 04:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	I don't see myself as free at all. I've traded my freedom for some dude to pick up my trash and a house that I didn't build myself that holds food that won't kill me. I traded my freedom for paved roads and the ability to buy my woman lingerie online at 3 AM while sitting in a third world country. I'm a meat puppet that must do A, B, and C while avoiding X, Y, and Z in order to meet "character standards" in my job. And, sure, I can spend all my money on Cheerios and duct tape, but then I won't have money left over for retirement or to pay taxes. I am a slave to frugality. I don't make enough money to have health insurance and pay for school and buy a house and have a car, so I have to pick and choose to get the kind of lifestyle I want. As mentioned in another thread, this is often referred to as the Paradox of Dispossession (William Ker Muir). The idea is that the things you own begin to own you. The more you have, the more you have to lose and thus the less you'll deviate from norms and/or demands to maintain and protect it. ... To suggest "total freedom" is to be a teenager with an anarchy symbol on the back of his leather jacket: self-centered, myopic, zit-faced. __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake." Last edited by Plan9; 11-03-2010 at 04:23 AM..