diary

Din din was delish delish

And the evening is cool. Or at least not hot. The AC is on, too, but I am keeping the slidinng glass doorcracked because I enjoy the fresh air. I did this a lot last month and my electricity bill was still under $50. Lucky, I guess.

Tonight marks 48 hours since leaving Twitter. Happy for myself. I have been spending most of that time here, blogging. And also a fair mount of time on YouTube, watching not vlogging. Spotify is also my friend.

“I Need That Record”

...is a fabulous documentary. Yet, i don't know what to do about the music scene. Or what to do about my music scene, I should say. I mean I do pay for new music directly from the artist/bands website when it comes out (sometimes) and 9/10 times I even get the deluxe version. So I suppose that is supposed to make me a good person? The bands are really losing money with all the streaming services. I mean the “big” artists are not losing much, but fuck them. I am referencing the small artists. You know, the good ones that people just need to HEAR. They are losing the most in this current model of streaming, no record shopping, smaller online following....bit.

idk

i have coffee going

i took two naps today and i find that to be a little excessive. But, I feel better from it, so it isn't that bad.

And i think i am going to make plans to do laundy this Tuesday at the 'rents house because i have nothing better to do + need todo laundry + need to get an envelope to mail away this paperwork + get stamps, so...yeah.

The sunset is delightful here

A Word On Debt

Have you heard of Dave Ramsey? He is a guy with a radio show, or podcast, or both (I am not sure) who makes a profession of telling people to pay their bills. Now, some people need help with that concept, but overall his message is: pay your bills, if a debt collector is one of those bills, pay that one as well. That's about it.

If you are someone who is suffering through debt, college debt in this example, realize thatafter you earn your degree, learning doesn't just stop. Knowledge is power and not necessarily the same knowledge you regurgitated to a college prof in order to earn a piece of paper. Learning, and higher consciousness, is the way to prosperity. Even if you are seeking peace of mind through another medium than “oh my loan is paid off, Thank God”, you are still seeking peace of mind through another avenue.

Preventative medicine is, in fact, the best medicine. So, how do you avoid going into a college debt trap (and it is a trap, in every sense of the word)? The answer is simple: seek knowledge elsewhere. Libraries are free, most people have access to the entire Internet, and traditional education (though not a degree-seeking type) is readily available through organizations like Kahn Academy or EdX.

Are you attending college for a degree, or an actual education?

This is the question you must ask yourself BEFORE enrolling in a University. If the answer is a degree, well...that comes with debt and the debt trap is guranteed, and you will be paying it off for a good period of time, and since you don't already know; college doesn't necessarily make you smart and not all smart people go to college. So, unless you're super-jazzed about eating ramen noodles and seeing your hard-earned dollars going out the door month after month for decades: don't get a Uni degree. It's a trap.

However, if it is an authentic education you are after (or if you are simply trying to raise your IQ, amuse yourself by learning about your interests), great news! That costs nothing. Thinking for yourself costs $0. Learning about your interests is totally free. Learning a new skill and adopting new habits have no price tag. There are a number of ways of pursuing interests, creating new habits, etc., but, you probably have a good idea of how to do these things. Because you're smart. You chose the latter option.

Cogs in the machine are not meant to improve the life of the cog, but to be ground into uselessness for the benefit of only the machine.

Listening to mmy “darkness” playlist

it is composed of Black Metal songs. There is currently only 10 songs on it right now. I need to (want to) work on my playlists today.

that's all

Ahhhhh

Something about sleeping with the windows wide open that always improves my sleep. I feel 110% rested and life is good. Dreams seem “new”, too (hard to explain).

hi

Welcome to July 8, 2018 – 12:11 AM

The world seems to be on fire (as far as American Democracy, climate change, and freedom, itself, is concerned), but I am oblivious to all of this. I left social media about 30 hours ago, and when I checked Google News, I ignored all the terrrrible stuff occuring in the headlines, closed the app, and I was happy again.

You see, I hate social media. All of it. The only thing keeping me “in the game” was a psychological addiction to Twitter. Well, i downloaded all my data (idk why) and closed my account. I look forward to it being totally deleted altogether. But even if it didn't delete at all, I would still not use it because when I quit something, I mean it.

Social media is a bubble. Smartphones are a bubble. The Internet, itself, is a bubble. Meaning an economic bubble that is bound to pop when the first signs of a bad stock market show up. You see, regardless of the advancement of civilization, the intelligence of humans, the capabilities we possess, all of these things take a back seat when it comes to money. Now we could simply build a society that rewards creativity, abundance, good health, and free-thinking. Do these things instead of having a money-system, and all would be at least better, imo.

But class. Class is the most important things to those who have never known otherwise. And they are the ones calling the shots. The people who are voted into office, elected members of corporate boards, the ones making the system function as it currently is. They are the ones all the “wanna-be-rich” status quo folks vote for, to protect their own meager fortunes.

But all of this actually plays a second fiddle compared to one other thing: power. Money, class, status; all these things are mearly parts of the overall end-gae which is, to have as much power as possible. You get money, you feel like you have more power. You already have money, you already have some power. Class and status are mearly the level of power you have. Now, this isn't to say that power for these people, this small group of humans who have concentrated wealth, is inevitably theirs. No. The majority of these people (be they corporate billionaires or politicians) rely on the vote of the average citizen. But people decide tovote the lesser of two evils (whatever that means) into office time and time again. Because the majority of the American population is terrified. What they fail to realize, is that no one can take power away from you (an American citizen). You can only forfeit your God-given power to the people who are claiming to be representative of you in the world of law-making. To go about your time, and not vote, and to ignore their influence, to take every opporunity you have to criticize those seeking office, to build stronger bonds within your community and use YOUR influence to make your own world better, IS power. Your power. Not someone else's.

These are (some of) the reasons I am an anarcho-primitivist. We can go about doing what we do everyday, without “radical” change, and retain our own power, our own integrity, our own lifestyle, without having to trust (foolishly) a law-maker to make decisions for us on the most relevant issues of our day.

If people stopped being terrified. If they stopped rejecting rational thought. If they stopped forfeiting their Earthly rights to strangers of influence. If people chose love over fear, we would see a radically changed world overnight.

Decluttered (a little)

cut-off chino pants: gone

several (torn, unnecessary) pocketed white shirts: see ya

M-65 military jacket: getting donated

these are a few things i decided to rid myself of tonight, because they were serving me no purpose. I got several (really good) t-shirts. non-ripped, even. I have more than enough bottoms. the hippy-dippy military jacket had to go (mostly because i am a far ways away from winter here, and there are more minimal options out there). And next will be the cross trainers (they kill my back) and after that, the regular shoes. I will not be barefoot, mind you, I will get one, GOOD pair of shoes to replace both.

So these are some of the things I am doing.

I stress, minimalism is not about the stuff you own or stuff you don't own. It has veery little to do with “stuff” to begin with. It is the mental clarity you find (and freedom/independence you achieve) through not owning a lot of things. At least this is how I approach it. Very rewarding.

Less (Way Less) But Better

I should really dig up (somewhere on this blog) the post I made about “dogmatic minimalism”. That is to say, the most essential items in your inventory of things (w/o an arbitrary number attached) that make your life functional + give your life meaning + that you use every. single. day. This would be a very scant number of things for most people, believe me. The idea of “it's nice to have, it's nice to have” is true, no argument there, it is nice to have certain things, but that is not “dogmatic minimalism”. Dogmatic minimalism would be more in line with, the limited wardrobe (the clothes on your back, same clothes, that you wear everyday) and a simple EDC (Every Day Carry). Nothing more. This is at the far fringes of what people refer to as “minimalism” these days. It may be impossible for some people to achieve, but, is it achievable? Yes. Of course it is. I could probably go with a LOT less than what I currently own at this moment. I do not use everything every day. So, why own it? (unless it is in storage for winter necessities because I live in St Louis). This method of minimalism is not exclusive to people who are nomadic, either. Anyone can practice this level of minimalism should they choose to do so.

Something worth considering.

Let Me Say Something About Minimalism

Or about the content people are putting onto the Internet who “claim” to be minimalists:

If you are name-dropping a brand every five seconds in your video, or talking about “how much you looooove your (fill in the blank)”, just...STOP! I am not saying these people are not convinced that they are minimalists. They might be totally sincere. But minimalism isn't realllllly about having the latest and greatest gadgets, high quality everything, and being more suckered into consumerist logos and brand names than even the biggest of hoarders. Minimalism is about clarity of mind. Clarity of mind through less things. Why do you have to mention the name of each item (and your admiration of it) just to make a simple video?

This type of content is following a model of advertising. And then they will “drop a link below” to the item on Amazon (whom they are more than likely affiliated with). That is advertising. That is consumerism. That is the opposite of minimalism. Plain and simple.

This is just how it is.