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Salvation is Free

Started by AFK, April 12, 2012, 02:09:32 PM

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Don Coyote

This feeds into some stuff I've been reading in my classes.
Isolated, but possibly related things.

In Japan, there is higher rate of suicide and death by overwork (seriously?) amongst salarymen, or white collar workers, than among blue collar workers, presumably because of the stress placed to make MORE MORE MORE MORE at the expense of your family life. Which resonates with my experience. The times I look back the most were BEFORE I joined the Army, had a low paying job with no benefits, but I LOVED that job, unlike the glories of being an armed office worker in a cubicle.

On another tangent, the fact that the sum total of goods produced by a nation or group is the primary determinator of how well it is developing, without taking into account quality of life or equanimity of the spread of this stuffwealth.



HOWEVER, salvation may be free, BUT monkeys don't value things they don't pay for. They gladly pay for bullshit "knowledge" from bullshit artists, than take free knowledge. Look at all the newage woowoo books that get published with basically the same crap in them.

Anna Mae Bollocks

Scantily-Clad Inspector of Gigantic and Unnecessary Cashews, Texas Division

Deepthroat Chopra

Quote from: Anna Mae Bollocks on April 13, 2012, 02:15:54 AM
It'll never happen here dept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness

It will when the money's gone. Bhutan never really had any in the first place.
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Kai

Today's IOZ is relevant.

QuoteI've been told that, although an atheist, I am a religious man.  I accept that.  It seems to me that the majesty of existence is somewhat . . . um, reduced by the evident conviction that there is no activity which cannot be accounted for, literally accounted for, in monetary terms.  Like, euh, you may think I am heartless, but in fact, my first relationship was worth $1.37, so obviously, like not. You do not have to imbue motherhood with any particular mystical earthgoddess hokum to see that its particular value is precisely in its valuelessness; it is an essentially human activity; it is immune to price.  It isn't a fucking job.  It isn't work, although it's labor.  That's not a fucking demerit.

As a merely practical matter, I have a goddamn job; I even sort of like my job, sometimes; it ain't all that bad.  But I'll be doubledamned if I have to start thinking of the feel of the garden soil between my fingers, the sunshine on my face, every kiss and blowjob, the dog curling into the bend of my knee when I take a nap, laughing with my uncles, visiting my parents, hanging out with my cousins, joking with my friends, getting sick and healing and getting well again, feeling sadness and feeling joy, sleeping and waking, breathing and living as quarter-hours on a daily calendar with a wage-rate attached.  "Salary.com says that standing next to your boyfriend at the sink and doing dishes together after the guests have gone home is worth upwards of $25.45/hour, or nearly $30.00/hour if the dishwasher is already full."  No, you fucks, no.  That isn't it at all.

People should judge themselves by whether their life is well lived, not how "hard" (=/=efficient) they work or how much currency they receive. That was the purpose of a college education, to figure out how to live life well, before it turned into trade school. It's the only tape measure that really matters, and the individual in question is the only one who can read it.
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Mesozoic Mister Nigel

I keep thinking the title is "Salvation is Freeky".
"I'm guessing it was January 2007, a meeting in Bethesda, we got a bag of bees and just started smashing them on the desk," Charles Wick said. "It was very complicated."


Freeky

Quote from: Nigel on April 18, 2012, 06:19:00 AM
I keep thinking the title is "Salvation is Freeky".

Well, in a sense I am salvation.

Why no, I'm not egotistical at all. :lol:

Anna Mae Bollocks

Quote from: The Freeky of SCIENCE! on April 18, 2012, 06:37:03 AM
Quote from: Nigel on April 18, 2012, 06:19:00 AM
I keep thinking the title is "Salvation is Freeky".

Well, in a sense I am salvation.

Why no, I'm not egotistical at all. :lol:

It might be fun knocking on doors.

"Hi. Do you believe the world can continue under the current wicked system of things? No? Well, you're absolutely correct. I'm here to tell you about Freeky. Did you know that Freeky is salvation? Here, I'm going to give you some literature..."
Scantily-Clad Inspector of Gigantic and Unnecessary Cashews, Texas Division

Triple Zero

Loved the OP, RWHN. Also the bit you quoted from the PD is one of my favourite bits (though there are many other favourite bits. KING KONG DIED FOR YOUR SINS is a favourite for no apparent reason as well)

Quote from: Reverend What's-His-Name? on April 12, 2012, 02:09:32 PM
Let them know that it is okay to be Weird.

On this subject, an article I came across this week:
http://joethepeacock.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/thats-why-you-dont-have-any-friends.html




Quote from: Guru Coyote on April 12, 2012, 10:57:30 PMHOWEVER, salvation may be free, BUT monkeys don't value things they don't pay for.

Interesting thought I just had, re:this. I remember Nigel posting a while back on how you need "struggle" (she had a different term iirc) to get real happiness, because without having to work for the good things you get, you merely get "comfort", but not happiness.

Could it be that people have some instinctive sense of this "law of happiness" and therefore have a harder time appreciating things that are free?

On a related note, I'm reminded of an offer I recently got via the Young Researchers centre, a parent mailed the staff whether maybe someone (me) would be willing to "explain" some "basic things" about creating a website using the Joomla CMS framework (at their home). She also said financial compensation would be an option. I refused not only because I really have better things to do, but because a proper freelance hourly consulting fee would be way too much to ask them (nor do I want the responsibility that would come with it), yet going with a greatly reduced rate will give them the idea they can make all sorts of demands because they're paying me (I know how those things go) at which point I'll have to explain how little they're paying for how much they're asking, then they end up none the wiser without the concrete ability to deploy a Joomla website for (say) 75 euros and nobody is happy. (I know this because if they can't figure it out by getting a book about Joomla from the public library, there's no way I can get them as far as they have to in merely 5 hours).
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Placid Dingo

That link is phenomenal.
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