"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."
Thomas Jefferson
There is no greater burden then debt. Most work for others, and pay for things that are beyond them and their means. We look to the fancy car, the big house with the white picket fence, and see these things as the American dream. How many work to pay debt rather look to pay themselves. This I believe is the heart of this great debate between the 99% and the 1%.
Yet we struggle to understand the anger behind the movement, and fail to understand how our consumer economy got us into this mess. Everybody seems to have their opinions on this and have their own set of facts to back those opinions up. I am leaning towards a more simple solution. How about this, if you don't have money for something and it is not a need, then don't buy it.
A need to me is something that can be defined as something that keeps you warm, dry, or full. So you may not love your house, but does it keep you dry? Your clothing might not fit the latest fashion, but does it keep you warm? Does your belly rubble? If it doesn't rubble long then you perhaps have enough food to meet your needs. So that 64" HDTV does what for your dryness? That BMW does what to keep you dry? That forty five dollar steak might take care of the full for the moment, but beyond that where are you?
You see we are the ones that gave the banks the power over us. We put the emphasis on material desire and excepted their lines of credit. We afforded them the opportunity to indenture us. Our labor is placed on a value based on currency. We are paid in currency for our labor. So by owing people money we owe them our labor. We borrow on future labor and offer a bit of ourselves to those that control our debt.
Banks trade the fruits of our labor to perpetuate that system because of course that system is what feeds their existence. Of course they are going to look to ways to increase your indebtedness to them. They want you to spend all your labor until the day you are unable to labor and beyond, because then the power lies with them. The most powerful tool to control a person is debt. Guilt comes with debt, and guilt will obligate people more so then fear.
Today people are judged by their credit score. It is your honor and identity so much that things that effect it are linked to identity theft? So we have allowed ourselves to be a number based on borrowed and future labor, and we cry foul when the system that is feeding on those principles goes bat shit crazy. This is what I talk about in personal responsibility and self government. This is what I talk about when I say that WE gave the banks the power. This is why corporate sponsorship of government representatives does not fit our best interest.
Our interest should not be interest. We as a people took those loans that led to the collapse of the mortgage industry. Those masses wanted more then they could afford because they where told they needed it. One child did not justify a four bedroom home. Why do we need a four car garage but to hold more stuff. This consumer behavior has become so ingrained in our culture we struggle to see it in ourselves. Look to your own possessions and ask yourself how often you used this must have item in the last year? Ask yourself did it meet or exceed your needs?
We are so wrapped up in labels that we pay three times as much for an item because it has logo on it that feeds our identity. We look to that number and gauge our value in society. So pull out your Mac books and go to free credit report dot com and see your value to our culture. Me I am gonna look to living by my means, and stop worrying about the value others place on me. This is my goal is to be out of debt, and not use a credit card. Eventually I would like to go back to cash only where realistic. If I don't have the cash for something I am not gonna get it. In regards to a home I am not looking to get the home with the largest payment I can afford, but rather one that keeps me warm, dry, and safe.
I toss or give away things I have not used, or no longer have a use for. I purchase enough food to keep me full. I am looking to occupy my own life. I do not need my government to tell me this. I know it is common sense. Greed kills more things then war. So I am looking to rid myself of greed and instead look to live comfortably within my means and nothing more. This is how we take the power back. We are not the sum of our credit limit. We are not the special visa card exclusive membership. We are not the hipster ipod touch generation. We are not defined by what we own, but rather what we do.
This is really how I feel, and I am working each day to be the change I want to see in the world. So instead of saying fuck corporate greed, I choose not to feed it. Instead of laying the blame of my woes on some reclusive old white guy that is so rich he is detached from society, I choose to be responsible for my own actions. I choose not to offer my labor to those that do not deserve. I refuse to be a slave to that system. If you own my labor, you own a part of me and last I time I checked we are in the land of the free, home of the brave.
Thomas Jefferson
There is no greater burden then debt. Most work for others, and pay for things that are beyond them and their means. We look to the fancy car, the big house with the white picket fence, and see these things as the American dream. How many work to pay debt rather look to pay themselves. This I believe is the heart of this great debate between the 99% and the 1%.
Yet we struggle to understand the anger behind the movement, and fail to understand how our consumer economy got us into this mess. Everybody seems to have their opinions on this and have their own set of facts to back those opinions up. I am leaning towards a more simple solution. How about this, if you don't have money for something and it is not a need, then don't buy it.
A need to me is something that can be defined as something that keeps you warm, dry, or full. So you may not love your house, but does it keep you dry? Your clothing might not fit the latest fashion, but does it keep you warm? Does your belly rubble? If it doesn't rubble long then you perhaps have enough food to meet your needs. So that 64" HDTV does what for your dryness? That BMW does what to keep you dry? That forty five dollar steak might take care of the full for the moment, but beyond that where are you?
You see we are the ones that gave the banks the power over us. We put the emphasis on material desire and excepted their lines of credit. We afforded them the opportunity to indenture us. Our labor is placed on a value based on currency. We are paid in currency for our labor. So by owing people money we owe them our labor. We borrow on future labor and offer a bit of ourselves to those that control our debt.
Banks trade the fruits of our labor to perpetuate that system because of course that system is what feeds their existence. Of course they are going to look to ways to increase your indebtedness to them. They want you to spend all your labor until the day you are unable to labor and beyond, because then the power lies with them. The most powerful tool to control a person is debt. Guilt comes with debt, and guilt will obligate people more so then fear.
Today people are judged by their credit score. It is your honor and identity so much that things that effect it are linked to identity theft? So we have allowed ourselves to be a number based on borrowed and future labor, and we cry foul when the system that is feeding on those principles goes bat shit crazy. This is what I talk about in personal responsibility and self government. This is what I talk about when I say that WE gave the banks the power. This is why corporate sponsorship of government representatives does not fit our best interest.
Our interest should not be interest. We as a people took those loans that led to the collapse of the mortgage industry. Those masses wanted more then they could afford because they where told they needed it. One child did not justify a four bedroom home. Why do we need a four car garage but to hold more stuff. This consumer behavior has become so ingrained in our culture we struggle to see it in ourselves. Look to your own possessions and ask yourself how often you used this must have item in the last year? Ask yourself did it meet or exceed your needs?
We are so wrapped up in labels that we pay three times as much for an item because it has logo on it that feeds our identity. We look to that number and gauge our value in society. So pull out your Mac books and go to free credit report dot com and see your value to our culture. Me I am gonna look to living by my means, and stop worrying about the value others place on me. This is my goal is to be out of debt, and not use a credit card. Eventually I would like to go back to cash only where realistic. If I don't have the cash for something I am not gonna get it. In regards to a home I am not looking to get the home with the largest payment I can afford, but rather one that keeps me warm, dry, and safe.
I toss or give away things I have not used, or no longer have a use for. I purchase enough food to keep me full. I am looking to occupy my own life. I do not need my government to tell me this. I know it is common sense. Greed kills more things then war. So I am looking to rid myself of greed and instead look to live comfortably within my means and nothing more. This is how we take the power back. We are not the sum of our credit limit. We are not the special visa card exclusive membership. We are not the hipster ipod touch generation. We are not defined by what we own, but rather what we do.
This is really how I feel, and I am working each day to be the change I want to see in the world. So instead of saying fuck corporate greed, I choose not to feed it. Instead of laying the blame of my woes on some reclusive old white guy that is so rich he is detached from society, I choose to be responsible for my own actions. I choose not to offer my labor to those that do not deserve. I refuse to be a slave to that system. If you own my labor, you own a part of me and last I time I checked we are in the land of the free, home of the brave.
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