From: Corwyn J. Alambar (nettiger@best.com)
Date: Wed Nov 15 2000 - 12:15:33 MST
*snip*
> >Why do I live
> >such a self-destructive life that I can't seem to find a way to escape?
> >Mainly because I'm a powerless, corporate pawn. I don't want the life that
> >I have- but I know no way out, at least none that looks very appealing the
> >minute I step out into the cold Minnesota air.
>
> Give some specifics, this is to vague for me to suggest any remedy for you.
> But I'll reiterate that I am subject to the same advertising messages that
> you are, but am in no way "enslaved to materialism". Everything I purchase
> is useful to me and purchased voluntarily.
>
Some specifics from this side:
I have attained a fairly reasonable level in my career (sysadmin/CM) and I'm
fairly well-paid. However, the work does very little for me other than
bringing in money to pay for the things that I need, but can't provide for
myself without the media for exchange.
I've got some money in savings, and I've been working on investing it slowly
to try and get a good nestegg going. However, it seems my savings are growing
slower than the cost of living.
I gre up rural - I know how to take care of things like animals and plants, and
I wouldnt' mind returning to that sort of a life partially - not a Luddite
hermit like the Unabomber, but a techno-hermit, with satellite uplink,
computers, generating my own power, taking care of most of my needs without
reliance on the outside.
But in the end it comes down to the tyrany of money. There is no place I
can live without either the fear of imminent confiscation by the latest
banana republic despot in the name of "land reform", or the need to have some
sort of steady income to pay the various property taxes.
So here is the conundrum. The land that is inexpensive enough to afford is
too far from the places I am capable of finding work (did I mention I'm a
widely-read, hopefully well-spoken high school grad? No college diploma
here, unfortunately - and that cuts my options down even more), and the land
close enough to be able to work reasonably is very expensive now, especially
for what would be needed for this sort of subsistence, and at the same time
it's also prone to the "divide and conquer" property tax progression - one
farmer sells out to a developer for 50 units, and they agree to add $5000
per acre in property taxes for new schools - after all, they're only paying
$500-$1250 at best for their share, but the farmer next door just got tagged
for $500,000 more per year, and is forced to sell to a developer, and it
goes on and on.
And my work does very little toward allowing me to pursue the things I hold
most dear - because I have to spend so much o my time dealing with traffic,
and working most of my waking hours to pay for the house I don't really want
and the gas I would like to not have to use to get to and from a job that
doesn't really line up with my personal interests. But it's the trap of the
moneyed system.
Yes, I understand a true libertarian society would have a different set of
problems, and I could find a place where I wouldn't have to pay property
taxes - but if you can show me a true libertarian nation I could move to...
There. Specific enough?
-Corey
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