Today has been a mixed bag - the weather is gorgeous. Just utterly, awesomely, beautiful out.
But when I read the news, it feels like the world is on fire.
I see that dichotomy in other things, as well. Like - I have a job, and it pays well enough that I'm paying off some bills and other things, but then there are other things I want to buy and am holding off on, because it's not quite in the need department. Like a new couch - mine's a bit broken, but it's possible I'll be moving within a year, so if it can last until then I'd rather just get rid of it here and get a new one at the new place - or replacing the over-the-range microwave now that the handle broke off. (Or maybe I can repair it? I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice to get some new appliances, but I it's more of a 'nice to have' then a true need, I suppose.)
I think the hardest part, though, is that feeling that it's all futile, sometimes. Like taking one step forward and two steps back, or vice versa. Things are better, but then there's always some unwanted expense somewhere. Whether it's furniture, appliances, dental, replacing a roof (I think it's okay for now? but probably needs replaced soon-ish.)
I don't know whether it's better or worse to imagine being in a place where none of that is worrisome. Like, how awesome would it be to have the resources to just do whatever? Replace the roof - and add in solar panels like I want? Get the new appliances, and not just whatever is a reasonable expense... go for the really fancy refrigerator with the door-in-a-door and built-in computer where you can have a family calendar and whatnot. Get the couch with the built-in USB charging ports...
Someday, I say to myself, as I do the responsible thing and convince myself not to spend money I don't really have. Someday.
But that's not why I started writing this post. Because I know that 'someday' isn't just wishful thinking. A lot of people tell themselves that, and that 'someday' never happens, but... eh. Well. Tech pays well enough that I'm fairly sure it's just a matter of time. For me, at least, and for such modest wishes. (Not so much for the 'someday' on my dreamhouse, ofc, though who knows? Life's been a bit of a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet.)
I started writing it because - well, because the world does seem like a raging dumpster fire, and it's hard to feel like anything I do or say matters in changing that.
There are so many things I could rant or rave about - domestic politics, our betrayal of the Kurds (again), the Hong Kong protests - it's like we're just overwhelmed with awfulness, everywhere you look.
But this time I want to rant about something different, because the world is full of people speaking out about all that other stuff (though whether it will make a difference is another story entirely).
When I was on my modern slavery kick, they were talking about how economic slavery happens today. With charcoal makers, brick makers, and more...
And it's not something new. We've seen these tactics before, with company towns and company stores, for example. Basically, you pay people a pittance, and then you offer a way of covering all the unexpected expenses they can't afford on their pitiful wages.
Charge them for transportation to remote charcoal making locations, and an arm and a leg for the food they eat there... and then pay them so little that they wind up owing you.
Or 'generously' offer to give them an advance - to help pay for a sick family member, or to pay for a wedding - and then trap them in debt that they have little chance of ever getting out of. Oh, and pass that debt down generations for good measure.
Lo and behold, soon you have a group of workers that you utterly control, that's dependent entirely on you, and the dark side of human nature tends to rear it's ugly head.
I think, sometimes, that this is why our Founding Fathers valued small independent farmsteads so much. (And I wonder, sometimes, if the term 'wage-slave' says something about the loss of independence and freedom, as more and more of us are dependent on corporations to make our living... and makes it harder to take time off to protest or speak out.)
Some people note these things, and seem to think it's all deliberate. That, for example, student loan debt is a way that the rich and powerful keep students (historically the most likely to protest) too afraid to speak out. Or that healthcare, for example, is tied to your place of work so that they have another way of keeping you in line if you try to hold a strike for better wages.
I... have a hard time believing it. Not that the end result isn't the same, but that the rich and powerful really came together and said "you know what would be a good idea? Forcing people to go into horrendous debt to get college degrees. That'll keep 'em from causing trouble"?
I just- don't really see it. It's like... when you get large and complicated forces at play, you can get unintended consequences. When it works to our benefit, you can call it Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', but it doesn't always work to our benefit.
This is part of why I like studying all this weird and complicated stuff. I like trying to make sense of this complex, interrelated world, and get a better sense of what's connected where. The modern world is a 'wicked problem', and if you ignorantly go mucking around with it you're not going to get the result you want. (Like Trump, who famously doesn't study any of it, and then goes and creates the current disaster with the Kurds, and Turkey.)
Alas, even though I've amassed a somewhat decent-sized knowledge base, I haven't exactly found a market for it. Again with the 'does it even matter what our opinions are these days? Nobody seems to be listening... ' feeling. Cue fiddle playing, as I dramatically press my hand to my forehead and sigh. "Woe, woe is me!"
Sometimes, though... sometimes I just wish... I don't know. That it didn't seem so damn inevitable that The Powers That Be would grow out of touch and corrupt.
Those examples of modern slavery, with the charcoal and brick industries? I sometimes worry that that's exactly what we're coming to, as wages fail to keep up with inflation and our system continues to help the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer.
It seems less a sign of a conspiracy, and more just people just doing what seems natural given their circumstances. It's just the circumstances of wealth and power always seem to lead to the same problems, eventually.
The Bible has a lot to say on that, btw, which is also why it's ironic that those who claim the loudest to believe in the Bible all too often support policies that go against it. Like that whole "Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and the stranger". In other words, don't try to take every last cent, but leave a portion of your profits for those in need and foreigners. (Actually, there's a whole lot in the Bible about being a 'good shepherd'. I've even thought about posting a bit about the term 'husbandry', with it's implication of care and cultivation, and what it means to 'husband' something... and how we seem to have fallen away from all of that. Husbandry is nurturing, you know? And I'm fairly sure the term 'husband' has something to do with this, which means its supposed to be about caring, cultivating, and other nurturing activities.)
But anyways. The inevitable decay of the upper classes tends to resolves itself. Eventually. The question is just "how messy is it going to be?"
I just wish... I dunno. Wish the people currently benefiting from the system were wiser, and didn't keep pushing things to the point where things inevitably get messy.
But when I read the news, it feels like the world is on fire.
I see that dichotomy in other things, as well. Like - I have a job, and it pays well enough that I'm paying off some bills and other things, but then there are other things I want to buy and am holding off on, because it's not quite in the need department. Like a new couch - mine's a bit broken, but it's possible I'll be moving within a year, so if it can last until then I'd rather just get rid of it here and get a new one at the new place - or replacing the over-the-range microwave now that the handle broke off. (Or maybe I can repair it? I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice to get some new appliances, but I it's more of a 'nice to have' then a true need, I suppose.)
I think the hardest part, though, is that feeling that it's all futile, sometimes. Like taking one step forward and two steps back, or vice versa. Things are better, but then there's always some unwanted expense somewhere. Whether it's furniture, appliances, dental, replacing a roof (I think it's okay for now? but probably needs replaced soon-ish.)
I don't know whether it's better or worse to imagine being in a place where none of that is worrisome. Like, how awesome would it be to have the resources to just do whatever? Replace the roof - and add in solar panels like I want? Get the new appliances, and not just whatever is a reasonable expense... go for the really fancy refrigerator with the door-in-a-door and built-in computer where you can have a family calendar and whatnot. Get the couch with the built-in USB charging ports...
Someday, I say to myself, as I do the responsible thing and convince myself not to spend money I don't really have. Someday.
But that's not why I started writing this post. Because I know that 'someday' isn't just wishful thinking. A lot of people tell themselves that, and that 'someday' never happens, but... eh. Well. Tech pays well enough that I'm fairly sure it's just a matter of time. For me, at least, and for such modest wishes. (Not so much for the 'someday' on my dreamhouse, ofc, though who knows? Life's been a bit of a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet.)
I started writing it because - well, because the world does seem like a raging dumpster fire, and it's hard to feel like anything I do or say matters in changing that.
There are so many things I could rant or rave about - domestic politics, our betrayal of the Kurds (again), the Hong Kong protests - it's like we're just overwhelmed with awfulness, everywhere you look.
But this time I want to rant about something different, because the world is full of people speaking out about all that other stuff (though whether it will make a difference is another story entirely).
When I was on my modern slavery kick, they were talking about how economic slavery happens today. With charcoal makers, brick makers, and more...
And it's not something new. We've seen these tactics before, with company towns and company stores, for example. Basically, you pay people a pittance, and then you offer a way of covering all the unexpected expenses they can't afford on their pitiful wages.
Charge them for transportation to remote charcoal making locations, and an arm and a leg for the food they eat there... and then pay them so little that they wind up owing you.
Or 'generously' offer to give them an advance - to help pay for a sick family member, or to pay for a wedding - and then trap them in debt that they have little chance of ever getting out of. Oh, and pass that debt down generations for good measure.
Lo and behold, soon you have a group of workers that you utterly control, that's dependent entirely on you, and the dark side of human nature tends to rear it's ugly head.
I think, sometimes, that this is why our Founding Fathers valued small independent farmsteads so much. (And I wonder, sometimes, if the term 'wage-slave' says something about the loss of independence and freedom, as more and more of us are dependent on corporations to make our living... and makes it harder to take time off to protest or speak out.)
Some people note these things, and seem to think it's all deliberate. That, for example, student loan debt is a way that the rich and powerful keep students (historically the most likely to protest) too afraid to speak out. Or that healthcare, for example, is tied to your place of work so that they have another way of keeping you in line if you try to hold a strike for better wages.
I... have a hard time believing it. Not that the end result isn't the same, but that the rich and powerful really came together and said "you know what would be a good idea? Forcing people to go into horrendous debt to get college degrees. That'll keep 'em from causing trouble"?
I just- don't really see it. It's like... when you get large and complicated forces at play, you can get unintended consequences. When it works to our benefit, you can call it Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', but it doesn't always work to our benefit.
This is part of why I like studying all this weird and complicated stuff. I like trying to make sense of this complex, interrelated world, and get a better sense of what's connected where. The modern world is a 'wicked problem', and if you ignorantly go mucking around with it you're not going to get the result you want. (Like Trump, who famously doesn't study any of it, and then goes and creates the current disaster with the Kurds, and Turkey.)
Alas, even though I've amassed a somewhat decent-sized knowledge base, I haven't exactly found a market for it. Again with the 'does it even matter what our opinions are these days? Nobody seems to be listening... ' feeling. Cue fiddle playing, as I dramatically press my hand to my forehead and sigh. "Woe, woe is me!"
Sometimes, though... sometimes I just wish... I don't know. That it didn't seem so damn inevitable that The Powers That Be would grow out of touch and corrupt.
Those examples of modern slavery, with the charcoal and brick industries? I sometimes worry that that's exactly what we're coming to, as wages fail to keep up with inflation and our system continues to help the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer.
It seems less a sign of a conspiracy, and more just people just doing what seems natural given their circumstances. It's just the circumstances of wealth and power always seem to lead to the same problems, eventually.
The Bible has a lot to say on that, btw, which is also why it's ironic that those who claim the loudest to believe in the Bible all too often support policies that go against it. Like that whole "Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and the stranger". In other words, don't try to take every last cent, but leave a portion of your profits for those in need and foreigners. (Actually, there's a whole lot in the Bible about being a 'good shepherd'. I've even thought about posting a bit about the term 'husbandry', with it's implication of care and cultivation, and what it means to 'husband' something... and how we seem to have fallen away from all of that. Husbandry is nurturing, you know? And I'm fairly sure the term 'husband' has something to do with this, which means its supposed to be about caring, cultivating, and other nurturing activities.)
But anyways. The inevitable decay of the upper classes tends to resolves itself. Eventually. The question is just "how messy is it going to be?"
I just wish... I dunno. Wish the people currently benefiting from the system were wiser, and didn't keep pushing things to the point where things inevitably get messy.
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