work ethics are ridiculous

I am in utter disbelief that our system is naively accepted by all its sheep. Why do people accept to be treated as slaves? It must be that people are too busy to stop and think. Think about why they do what they do. Why we work harder than we ever did even though we are more efficient and productive than ever in our history, and should only have to work a fraction of our ancestors for the same yield. This is one reason.

Another reason: the human memory is shorter than we know. We can't remember how we were and felt just a few months ago, or a few days ago. The memory of an emotion is brief.

We barely understand how we feel now, let alone decades ago. But decades ago people were happier, they worked less and had more time for things that matter: family, friends, reflection, and appreciation of things around them. People were alive, had personality, and were not part of a rat race.

We are in a cage of modernity and have no idea how restricted the lives we lead are. Just like a fish does not know it is wet.

We are socialized from a young age with more rules than my harddrive can store. We are constantly trying to do what is appropriate, right, and in adherence to social norms, etiquette, and laws. We are bombarded with voices telling us to be a model citizen, to work hard, be successful, progress.

Children are happy, because they do not have these restrictions and speak, shout and live freely. They eat with their hands, fart, cry, shout and say "inappropriate" things. They do not carry the burden of being "successful"


Most of our problems could be solved if we worked less. The environment would be saved, because no longer do people feel a sense of entitlement to wasteful consumption simply because they work so hard and deserve it. We would buy things we need, and the list of what we need would be a fraction of today's list.

My generation has not experienced the 1960s, or the 1860s, or the 560s, to know that all our luxuries do not bring us happiness. What brings us happiness is good weather, socialization, and the arts. But today we live in shit weather with little socialization and little time for music and art. We have no time for our friends and children. We have time for our managers and bosses.

Our cities are polluted with the smell of exhaust rather than enriched with the smell of fresh bread coming from the local bakery down the street. We do not sing, dance, or play. We do not laugh. I do not hear laughter coming from my neighbour's house. They are alone on the computer, or with their partner watching a shitty reality show on television. People do not interact on the street with each other, but rather with their blackberrys, iphones, and ipods.

Our meals are not eaten at a human pace, but rather scarfed down like a whale.

We are losers. We are suckers.

It doesn't have to be this way. The solution is simple. We need to break down the capitalist system by slowly transferring our taxation to local municipal governments. It is national governments that sign trade agreements, start expensive wars, and make us work to pay taxes. The compete with other countries for a larger gdp.

But local governments are indifferent to the global rat race. The global race to the bottom.

Local governments are concerned with their environment, transportation, and good access to health care.

We need to stop buying junk we don't need from dollar stores, wal-mart, hardware stores, and the like. Once we only buy our necessities, such as food, shelter, public transportation, and health care, all other ficticious industries will simply collapse.

Once we stop competing at a global level, the capitalist system will fail and we will be free to spend time with people we care about and have conversations that are meaningful.