I’ve realized one thing, from a life of selfless servitude. Nobody, not even me, is a good person, not whole-heartedly. In fact, according to my definition, which I shall enshrine further below, in this essay, I claim that not one in a hundred people are good. Good people are so rare that they no longer occur. The vast majority of people are evil.
You can see this all over the place. I don’t just mean vigilantes robbing, shooting and stealing for pennies on the dollar, or for no damned reason at all. I don’t mean senseless and violent crime.
I mean run of the mill, you and me, “good” people, acting in selfish and morally detestable ways.
Perhaps the entire boomer generation was evil. Perhaps younger people are more sensitive to the issues at large, and will elevate themselves to a selfless trajectory, one which does not doom all of mankind to a violent end. I’m talking, of course, about environmental issues, which many young people at least worry about.
Here’s my definition of a baddie or evil person. Someone who wants to acquire wealth. That’s it. That’s all. Want money? Then you’re evil.
Money is evil, friend. And wanting money is inviting evil into your life.
Instead of wanting money, I propose a new way of thinking: Living selflessly, and moderating wealth until you have little or none of your own.
I myself live off the very lowest amount that I can live off of. About 10-12k Canadian per year. This places me, according to statistics and the government, well below the poverty line in Ontario, Canada.
In addition to part-time work, I also take care of two elderly people at home, for which I am not paid. My family, in turn, takes care of me. I live in a selfless vacuum, in which several moderate people help me, and I help them back.
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But wait a minute, you think. Money can buy you a lot of convenience, and liberate you from work, and buy you life-saving medications and healthcare services. Money can save your life. Just how and why is it evil?
To this I respond: Make as much as you need, and nothing more. Take the very lowest amount back for yourself, and leave the rest to others. Live selflessly.
If all of us lived off the lowest amount necessary, all of us would be rich. Instead one person has more than 100 billion dollars, and the rest of us are poor.
And don’t believe the fairy tales, carefully crafted and marketed, that that person is a self-made man and that’s his own wealth. If you believe that, perhaps you’re a little too naive for your own good, friend.
That’s where government comes in. Why do we have one, if everybody is broke, rent is too high, and wages are too low? And the last thing we need is another space bail out or car company tax relief. Down with government I say, and yes to post-left anarchy. Let G-d sort out all these politicians. Why don’t they earn minimum wage, the way you and I do?
So, my friends, we’re at a crossroads. And we need to live selflessly, and care for one another. Two examples. One is our aging population. Who will take care of us in our ripe old age? The numbers don’t lie. The way things are going, every young and able body should be assigned an elderly person to take care of. And even that might not be enough. For, elderly people will far outnumber young workers in the years to come. I myself already take care of two people who are in retirement, and might take care of several others after them, if I am still able to. (note: They take care of me, too!)
The second is the environment. These billionaires want nothing but more wealth. For, you see, my friend, wanting wealth is a tell-tale sign of being or becoming evil. And the more you have, the more you want, the more you lie, cheat, and steal your way to the top. What do you think they teach at these business schools? It’s not Shakespeare, it’s things like Machiavelli’s The Prince. They teach you to be cold, callous and calculated. If you could eat your own head or that of your child’s at a profit, then you would probably do so.
But that’s exactly what the environment is. Betting against the future of civilization, the end of young people’s right to life, for a sizable sum to a private individual(s) who probably do not even need it.
Just how much money is too much? If you have a second home you don’t live in, you’re part of a growing problem. Many people don’t even have a first home. But before they buy one, it’s already been sold by several enthusiastic bidders, who have wealth. By the time you buy your condo or home, it’s already been bought and sold at a profit and the price upped by a sizable chunk. Why? Because somebody profited at your expense… because money is evil.
So what’s the solution? Just buy several homes if you have money, and who cares about the little guy, trying to put a roof over his head for the first time. And then they claim that I am ill, and you are sane. Though I do remain, your paranoid schizophrenic friend, I do not even own one house, in this market of million dollar, fifty year old bungalows in the ghetto, I cannot, and will not accept ever owning a home, which is a luxury I cannot afford. I also never drive a car, partially because of my disability but also because of preference. And I recycle everything, keep a low carbon footprint, and want to offset my emissions with life insurance when I die. Perhaps, you might claim, I am selfless. But no friend, I want money just as much as the next bloke, I’m just not very good at making it. I’m a writer, and instead of becoming commercially viable, I post my rough drafts in the public domain, and do myself a disservice. Why don’t I chase the bag, so to speak?
Well, I leave that to your intuition.
Best of luck with that. And no to money from me.
I’m poor and live with a disability.
I’m a bum. I’ll always be a bum. And that’s alright with me.
“Steve Mini from the 6”.
note: This is a rough draft and/or notes updated sometimes. It’s just an idea.
I’m inspired by the likes Johnathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”. None or all of this is fiction and sarcasm. Leave me alone.