Forum Post: Money, drug or medicine?
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 10:16 a.m. EST by wcnewby
(1)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I have slowly been gaining interest in the OWS "movement," I put that in quotes because it doesn't seem to have a chance to move. Sure, it may be growing, but trees grow, fungus colonies grow.... when they move it is because they are simply taking up more space. In order to have movement, one must have direction.
I like the anti greed thing, but realize that corporations are not greedy, they can't be, they are inanimate structures. The people within them can be greedy though. If you are going to take a swing at corporate greed, you must be specific or your just wasting calories.
What OWS seems to be championing is better morality and less personal greed. That makes this a religion, not a movement. The goal seems to be more along the lines of getting along with others, taking interest in your fellow human. Actions make you what you are, not words about actions.
Finally, is money a drug or a medicine? I believe it is both, it depends on how you use it. The problem is that it is addictive, no matter what, and it is so easily misused. Is a person in the throes of an addiction greedy? What if we were talking about heroine? So we all gang up on an addict and call them weak and greedy. Do we point at them and try to shame them into behaving? The answer to making a person quit an addictive drug is simple. You can't. They have to want to quit. Or you must force them into a position where they can't feed their addiction. And there it is... force... to inflict your morality on the life of another. Isn't that what all the vetching is about anyhow?
Our social condition is down to human nature. OWS, the movement, has no leader, no goal, no direction. What it does have is an idea that something is wrong. Something is wrong, that is true, but we humans, our nature... that is the base of the problem, not the places we give money to, not the drugs we use (money included) but how we use them. Take an aspirin for a headache, not for boredom. Spend money on needs, not wants. Stop being an addict, and the success of your life will inspire others to emulate your decisions.
Use money like a medicine rather than a drug.
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I watched the youtube, which was very well done, and yes Mr. Zeitgeist it shows the problem. Unfortunately, that is the easy part. For example, if your problem is that your clothes are on fire, you hardly need anyone to point it out. You need a solution to the problem and history clearly shows that it is easier to use your hand for pointing than for digging. The problems that this movie exposes are our fault, all of us, every person who opposes something with their mouth and not their hands is a contributing factor. We are part of the problem or part of the solution. It is easy to yell about greedy people who take our money but for some reason we fail to realize that we chose to give it up. We choose how to spend our money.... Right? Well partially. The money we choose to spend is far less than the amount extorted from us by our government. We have no choice, or do we? Why can't we have the nuts to say "I will take that money, I earned it." Instead, we act like a bunch of cows and give it up. That money goes out in the world murdering people who don't agree with the powers that be, and we sit by with our thumbs in our asses muttering about how it isn't our fault. Who's fault is it then? Who is responsible for the US spending more than a billion dollars per day on defense? It is my contention that we all are... every person who allows their money to go for murdering members of other countries bears responsibility. When we realize that, we will start to feel guilty enough to use our hands for digging rather than pointing fingers.