//time moves at different paces depending on where you are in the world. anyone who's lived in a big city and has travelled to the country-side will tell you this. it's one of the first things that people from the country come to the big cities complain about, "everyone's in a damn rush." so we certainly both experience time in much different ways, but who's is better? most would say that the answer to this question is subjective, but i don't really think so.
for instance, when people from new york city take a trip to a rural part of the country or europe, what do you always hear them say? "oh it was so nice to finally slow down, relax, it was a beautiful change of pace." however, when people who have never been to a city finally go to one, you usually hear them talking about how everyone is rude, everything is expensive, it smells bad, there's homeless people everywhere, there's dangerous criminals everywhere, you can't take your eye off your kids for even 2 seconds, you get the point. another thing to note is that people don't vacation in a city, they just visit, more or less to see what it is like in that city. no one says "i took a vacation over in chicago." that's insane. people take vacations in areas where the pace is slow, and there aren't many people around. these are the two main prerequisites. the weather does't even matter, as long as you will be comfortable wherever you go. some may vacation in the swiss alps like i have, or go camping. it's ironic that what was once the thing that all people did from birth until death, is now a vacation or hobby for "outdoorsmen," because you know, we need words for people who go outside now considering how uncommon it is becoming.
so why am i bringing this up? everyone knows that people like to relax and enjoy nature, what's the big news? i'm talking about the relatively new idea of "wasting time." i spent the overwhelming majority of my life with this concept in the forefront of my mind. to me, wasting time was like slapping God - the mindset of a true new yorker. things had to be done, and they had to be done now. why? well because then someone else might surpass you. there might be people your age doing "better" than you, truly the scariest thing of all.
some people are driven by a passion they have, and this is what propels them to work, and you'll notice that these passion driven people, they're never rushing. they're usually taking their time, enjoying what they're doing, and learning everything they can in the process. however, this is not the modus operandi of the modern man. the modern man has to compete with other "men" on instagram to see who can look the coolest and richest, while also being the most nonchalant about it. this peacocking through social media is the newest and most prevalent mating strategy amongst people. it is a race to see who can become the richest in the shortest period of time. if you're a person obsessed with more, more money, more stuff, more women - this leaves very little breathing room for rest and relaxation. "because while you're doing that, someone else is outworking you!" we all know someone who spouts that bullshit, because i used to, and when i did, pretty much everyone nodded in agreement.
the thing is, unless you know you're goin to die soon, or you have some sort of other extenuating circumstance like if you don't make rent you'll be homeless, there's no reason to rush anything you do. all a person needs is food, water, and shelter, so anything more than that is simply for fun or pleasure. american consumerism is a disease of the mind no different than addiction. we are tricked into believing we need all the stuff, and if we don't that means we were not "successful" in life. this is a whole system designed to keep us enslaved. we have to keep working and paying income tax, so we can buy the new shiny toys (and pay tax on that) to impress our neighbors who will hate you for having more than them. but don't relax just yet, because they just announced that in 6 months from now, a newer, shinier version of the thing you just bought is coming out, and your neighbor might just get his hands on one. they don't call it "the rat race" for no reason.
if you scroll through any social media, as a man at least, it's impossible to not see hundreds of different dudes trying to sell you a course on how to get rich. they all advertise it in different ways but they're all doing the same thing, which is capitalizing on the fact that the american dream has long dead, but there's billions on this planet who still believe in it. so what we're told is that we need to work 90 hour weeks if we want to have half of what our parents had for working 40, and by the way, your wife will need to work too. these boomers lived and thrived through the best economy of anywhere in the world, anytime in history, they all bought houses in their early twenties that have went up 30,000% in value which they refuse to sell for $10 under market value, they told us all to go to college which did absolutely nothing for us besides straddle us with monstrous debt, and after all of this they have the nerve to look us in the eyes, call us "entitled" and tell us "pull yourself up by your bootstraps!" - a phrase which originally meant something that was impossible to do, now is the bare minimum expectation of us. so i think it's time we all drop out of this absurd system that was designed exploit us. these people up at the top, would suck the blood out of your veins for a few extra dollars, and every day millions of people slave away to pay them taxes that they don't deserve and won't do anything that we want with it. it's completely sickening, and every year, they tweak the system in such a way to squeeze just a little more out of you. whether it's raising income tax, speed cameras, parking meters, tolls, inflation (the invisible tax which occurs when they print money,) business taxes, licensing fees, insurance, property taxes, luxury tax, carbon taxes, capital gains tax, it is fucking never ending. it costs $25 a year to renew your fishing license in new york state. whoever came up with that idea should have a giant hook jammed into his head and hung from a post. that's what the founding fathers would've done anyway.
when i started my business, the amount of taxes i paid went up so much i couldn't believe it. i was already paying $900 a week out of my paycheck, but when i saw how much taxes i owed in april, my jaw dropped. and if you try to make more money, they just take even more, and the more employees i have, i have to pay more. more, more, more. it doesn't incentivize business, and anytime you make any significant progress, you are knocked back 20 steps at tax season or whenever your licenses have to be renewed. it is a system designed to keep people slaving at their 9 to 5, and churning out those paychecks for uncle sam. so the idea that the unemployed in this climate are the losers, is no longer the reality. i had already lived my life jealous of the birds and wild animals, but it was getting to the point where i started to be jealous of homeless guys. "those men are truly free." you could see it on their faces when the police threaten them. "put me in jail, so what?" some may look at the homeless and see someone who will never own anything, but neither will we. even if your house is paid off, try not paying taxes on it and see what happens. see how much you really own your house and not just renting it. in a year our phones will be obselete, our car won't pass emissions inpsection, there will be a new streaming service to add to the list of subscriptions you pay every month, and you will be unhappy, just like now. so no one owns anything. we rent everything we touch.
in scripture, the only time you will hear about expedience is if they're talking about you stopping your transgressions. there is nothing holy about participating in a jewish/satanic system of debt, usury, and taxation. Christ said give Ceasar what belongs to him, and give to God what belongs to God. the surrounding context of this was that people were questioning whether or not paying taxes was sinful, since that money could be given to the church. so what i believe Christ meant by this was that your money doesn't matter to the church, but your soul belongs to God, this is the only thing that is required to enter the Kingdom of God. He doesn't care with what you do material-wise here on earth, even the notion that he would would be absurd to anyone. so when you work, you are giving your time and your vitality away, you are essentially giving your body, your flesh, to a corporation. for this sacrifice you deserve to live a life with a roof over your head and your belly full. but these days the average person has to work 80 hours a week to achieve this, and this is no way to live. the problem is that continuing to feed this system will only perpetuate it's existence for even longer. and we act like we don't have a choice, but we do. it doesn't mean quit your job and become homeless today, but to continue the rat race and claim there's nothing we can do as individuals or as a group, is a level of cowardice i didn't know humanity was capable of.
so, for the last 6 months, i've been doing nothing but hanging out, writing, learning new things, getting into new hobbies, pursuing said hobbies, consuming stolen entertainment, learning new skills, and most importantly, i've been feeding the wildlife in my backyard every day and night. i've completely dropped out of this arbitrary competition. i'm off social media, i have no stake in anyone's life but my own and the people around me that i decide to talk to. no one ever thinks about me, just like they don't think about you. and if they did, it wouldn't bother me at all. i have been collecting many tools and sharpening my skills to the point where if i had to, i could go live out in the woods on my own, but with some other people it would be a breeze. i've also been learning computer programming and the basics of electronics, so if i had to deal with something on the tech end of the spectrum, i'm primed for that as well. it's getting to a point where i feel like besides lifting 500 pounds, there's not a whole lot of things i'm not able to do by myself. it's one of the best and most distinctive feelings in the world, and i've never felt so confident. so yeah, compared to other years of my life, i've made almost no money, but i really don't care. i don't even have a cellphone plane, i don't need anything. i have what i need to survive.
as for the wildlife in my backyard, there are 4 different cats, about 5-8 racoons, 1-2 red foxes, chipmunks in the warm months, and many different birds. i feed them whatever scraps and leftovers we have in the house and watching them eat brings me immense joy. there's a small brown bird, and a medium sized gray bird who have both seem to have taken a liking to me, the brown bird has even flown into my house 2 separate times. one of the cats seems to be okay with my presence, last night he stuck the top half of his body in the house. one raccoon has already done this, and while i love the raccoons and we hang out outside sometimes, i know how crazy they are, so i did not allow him in the house. the cat however, i have been begging to come in the house, maybe one day soon he will. get to know the guys living around your house. it's 2am right now and as i'm writing this, my favorite raccoon is about 10 feet away from me chowing down on cat food, he is no longer afraid of me unlike the cat, it's quite amusing. he walks right up to me and accepts treats with manners and respect, raccoons are extremely gentle and polite. i have no idea where their bad reputation comes from. maybe it's because they creep around at night and look like bandits.
anyway, whether it sounds like it or not, i've been having the time of my life. sure i want to buy a lot of new shiny things right now, but even when i was hustling my ass off 24/7, i felt exactly the same way - like i was missing something. i have come to terms with the fact that i'm always going to want something shiny and new no matter what i have in my hand right now. that's just how most of us are wired, at least i for sure am. the difference is that right now, i'm using my time and vitality to enrich my mind, body, and soul. entrepreneurial minded people like myself may see what i've been doing for the recent months and think to themselves that i'm wasting my time, so it's a good thing that it was my time to waste. i think that living to pay taxes and buy the new iphone once a year is a waste of a life, thank God, it's my time to waste.