What Real Wealth Is: An uncut diamond

"Don't participate in the economy unnecessarily. Buy as little as you can" (Dmitry Orlov)

This may sound like the advice of a miser, but more and more it becomes obvious (to this writer) that these are the words of wisdom.

When a person wants to buy a house or a car they usually make payments upon it, rather than paying in cash. But before the loan can be gotten one must first hand over a percentage of the cost of the item, which is called a "down payment."

The loan company gets cash, tens of thousands for a home loan, then the buyer feels happy that they have an instant roof over their head and get to pay off the loan, along with taxes, and repairs, and interest for up to 30 years of their life.

Hopefully, the person paying the loans and taxes is healthy as an immortal god, never gets struck in a car accident, and always has an income. If they show signs of being a mortal human the home/car will be taken back by the bank, or the government if they're unable to pay the taxes.

Meanwhile, the generous entity that gave you the loan has had fun with your quick cash/down payment, and interest without ever investing into maintaining the item. They don't repair its oil leaks, they don't mow the lawn, they don't paint.

Debt makes some people rich.

Earlier this year many people fell for the debt scheme called "Cash for Clunkers." The government "gave" the people and dealerships a small amount of money in return for their hard asset -- a hunk of valuable metal on wheels and years of payments with interest. It's not the person buying the new car that got a deal, but the government, those that gave the loans, and who ever got the old car.

Perhaps, it would have been a good deal to those few that took advantage of the incentive and paid cash for the car.

Then, there is the First-Time-Home Owner's incentive, which ends soon. This "gives" an new home owner several thousand dollars to buy a house. This $8000 benefits no one but those that have their hands out, and it's amazing how many there are when one is buying a home.

It's amazing how much greed is involved in the business of homes. If one wants to avoid a great deal of it they must behave and think more like a millionaire, which means having as much cash on hand as possible. Cash is power. A loan is slavery.

If more people would wake up from their pride they would see that they don't need a new car, a palace, or a perfect life for their children. It's okay to be mortal, imperfect, and have no debt. We don't need to prove to the world that we are successful with the shiny and sparkly new things.

We can't have it all, but we can have more freedom and joy by rebelling against the lie of perfection and entitlement. The world is not fair, and until we accept this we will never have true wealth.

"*To a society in denial, collapse invariably looks like personal failure, whether one survives it or not.

*Collapse without preparation is defeat.

*Collapse with preparation is an eccentricity.

*Collapse-avoidance is shame-avoidance"

And finally, my favorite part:

"Collapse-proof personalities: indifferent, determined, self-resilient, unreasonable" ("Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisation," Dmitry Orlov, 11 June 2009)

image: Quilting Bee, Grandma Moses

Socially Solitary, Free Range, and Feral

"There are two components to human nature, the social and the solitary. The solitary is definitely the more highly evolved, and humanity has surged forward through the efforts of brilliant loners and eccentrics. Their names live on forever precisely because society was unable to extinguish their brilliance or thwart their initiative" (Dmitry Orlov, "Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisation," The New Emergency Conference, Dublin, 11 June 2009)

"We have a huge surplus of 'factory-farmed humans and a shortage of free-range humans'" (Dmitry Orlov, "Definancialisation")

Image: Marc Averette, Free-range feral chickens in Key West

The Singularity of The Storyteller

This is an old post that never was posted (but is now!), and often contradicts itself:

"Homer shows that, as genius ebbs, it is the love of storytelling that characterizes old age" (Longinus)

Does this indicate that genius is only youthful emotion and passion? And if storytelling is a sign of the aged genius, then does that mean a population that does not age or respect age does not have stories or listen to stories? Does this mean that fishermen (those that tell tall tales) are old men at heart?

When old men tell stories they usually recount events of their youth, the stories of their actions and genius. Perhaps, old age is the reliving of the events without the physical aspect.

Could we say that our modern culture is old because it wants to live in its virtual memory, rather than participate physically? Is it possible to begin backwards without first having physically made the story? Is this why we have few stories these days, because we have not lived a story, which makes our virtual reality a nowhere and a never been?

And where are the youthful geniuses? Does a time see its genius, or does it require the old men to look back and see them, remember them?

Ah, but did Homer live the stories he told? Does the teller live the story or only tell it?

And furthermore, if our genius is stored in technological databases who will tell the tale? A computer, a robot, an avatar does not tell stories no matter how advanced. For what does a computer have to overcome if they are not flesh? Even technology, is not above the human desire to overcome the flesh, even it is ruled by this compulsion, for this is the achievement that preeminent "singularity" preachers hope to attain.

Those that desire to twine technology into the human body desire to overcome the earthly rules of flesh, to resurrect frozen fathers, and live forever. They are not so much conquerors, but fearful of the end of the story, afraid of the great Bema in the Sky. Afraid of the moment when they must stand before the witnesses who tell their story for them. At that moment all technology will malfunction, and be overcome by the flesh. The story will win, while the wires wither.

"Everywhere I go I see people poking away at their little mental support units" (Dmitry Orlov, "Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisation")