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Once again... I'm not concerned with religious debate. Religion is a great and powerful thing. So I don't want anybody to think that I'm criticizing religion here. I absoloutley am NOT. I am however trying to convey a story... In a funny and exagerated way. I like to entertain.
Moving on. So here I am.. a young gangster wannabe of the 90's and I start doing my teenage thing so... Long story short... I have a son... Who is the most talented kid I've ever met by the way. I may be a little biased... But you know...
I do what I think is right and I get married. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how this ended... How most marriages end.
I only bring all this up because I want you to see how I formed the opinion... That again... MONEY ISN'T SHIT.
So.. Time passes and I pass my time doing different things. I start up a rap group. Start picking up work like all my friends at the time in and out of factories. A CF Gomma here, a little Dekko there, Then I finally find a job that I like. I took pride in my work too... I was a rewinder operator... It's silly I know... But my options at this point are severely limited.... They fired me. Yeah they fired me at the end of a 12 hr. shift... for leaving 10 hrs. into my shift the day previous. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I took what little money I had and I invested $600 into a poker site called Full Tilt. I had a small interest in this game from when I was younger. My dad taught my brothers and I 5 card draw. We had dealer call home games a lot. There were all kinds of silly games we played... My favorite was "7 card no peak". It was funny as hell that game.
I hit the books... I mean... I've studied poker more than anything else in my life. My roommate is the infamous "ScoopTheLoop" on Full Tilt. I play by the name JCROBERTS. We sat and studied this game up and down. I know that I'm not even very good at this game and I still have a lot to learn. But from what I have learned... money is just numbers. It's easy to accumulate. It's worthless. And you trade your soul for it. Is that crazy? Am I crazy?
I'm lucky. I love poker. And not just for the money. I love the game. I don't make much.... I don't try to hard. But I don't depend on any other man for work. And that makes me happy. I see the war around me over this worthless object. It makes me sad. I have so much to say... I'm here to give my opinions. I'm here to incite a dialouge between people. I'm here to be criticized... So go at it if you feel the need. I like talking to people. Log into Full Tilt and say what's up on the Rail. And anybody that would like to help make me better at this game of poker or life.... Your advice would be appreciated.
Funny thing about money. I have never tied my job to what I make. Whether I was in a factory, or making really good pay, it was about the people around me. We all live to acheive different objectives. I think sometimes people think they are a victim of "the man" and the "machine" but in reality most of the time we are where we are because of the choices we have made and most of us make choices based on what we know and by extension, what we've been taught, whether of familial or educational or experiential origin.The downside of this is that we also form opinions and our paradigms are formed by what we know and/ or learn.
ReplyDeleteYes, people need to make money to survive, but most of us can do that without selling our soul because the money we earn is there as a means to an end. Whether that end is the ability to spend time as a family doing something we all enjoy, or traveling to another part of the earth to see history come alive, earning and pursuing a way to have that money does not mean we are trading our souls for it. Most people who earn money trade a reasonable product or service in return for a reasonable wage. In your case, you do neither. Does that mean you are of no value to the socio-economic culture to which you belong? NO. Because the wages you earn in turn provide your needs and return to the economy which needs the money you spend in order to thrive and grow. Now, because another person DOES provide a reasonable good or service in return for a reasonable wage, does this mean that person is selling their soul? No, it means they are doing what is necessary to acheive certain objectives. Whether those objectives are good or evil are relative and unrelated to the subject. I have to be honest the only people I've seen who sell their soul for money are those that do so in a way that truly corrupts their person or their society. For example: preachers who launder money and exploit others, crack/meth/heroin and other such dealers, and ticketmaster. Okay the last one was somewhat tongue in cheek. Again, we can argue the socio-economic causes of the crack dealer, but let's just say that not everyone who lives through a certain checklist of misfortunes turns out to be a crack dealer, while another does. We all have a choice in life and it sounds like you have made the best choice for yourself.
I have made the best choice for my life I think. But when I talk about selling souls for money.. I'm not talking about the workers themselves. People do what they have to do out of nessecity. And you are right. It's not that a person is selling their soul.. It's more that their soul has been sold out by other men. That's the war over money. Profit, profit, profit. And at the same time the prices go up around us all.. But the wages remain the same. You make a valid point that the economy needs our money to thrive and grow also... However, A little research will show you that the real economy hasn't thrived at all. Wall Street has. That's not a real economy though. That's poker. And I heard somewhere that money is the root of ALL evil. I think I believe that. I am certainly not the victim. I control my money supply and I live a very simple and cheap life. But rather I feel empathy for those victimized over profit.
ReplyDeleteThe statement is not that money is the root of all evil, it is "the love of money is the root of all evil"
ReplyDeleteWhich describes exactly what you are talking about: economic victimization.
I'm sorry, John, but unfortunately it's a whole lot worse in other countries. African countries have been raped of all of their natural resources and the governments continue to do that.
In other countries, there is absolutely no welfare system and hardly any medical care whatsoever.
Sometimes we forget that we are spoiled enough to even think this way!
We should not forget that abuse (including economic) is a cycle and it is worldwide.
The cure?
To love one another and to do unto others and you would have them do unto you.
Of course we don't always live by that because often we are as selfish as the corporate hogs. Unfortunately, very often, when put in the same position, we would make the same decisions.
We don't know that because we've never been there.
We've never had to prostitute our children, either, out of the simple belief that at least they wouldn't starve to death in that situation.
We don't understand what we speak of when we think of the inequalities of the world. We don't understand that we've made bad decisions in our lives and it is the same error that causes suck victimization on a grander scale.
We want to believe we are good people, but most of us, who are honest are willing to admit we make mistakes, and some of them of grave moral error.
Again, the cure: love one another and do unto them as you would have them do unto you.
Have a good night cuz!