I initially formulated it as "I thought I needed..." but then went for the "You" move (my hope in publishing is to reach a few people for which this is true)
This somehow reminds me of the story of Alexander the Great and Dandamis. The king offered him fuck you money/gifts summoning him to his court and the yogi refused and old Alex threatened execution. The yogi had such fuck you love that he refused and the king was so impressed he ended up coming to him in the forest! Money doesn’t solve things even if it makes it a little less stressful day to day!
the sub-heading really speaks to the insanity of the rich. at least some of the rich of days past used to go out do some insanely wild things like build absurd monuments or adventurise things with high risk of death, first-hand. now they set aside venture funds for the illusion of being pioneering and essentially live as paranoid, middle-class millionaires.
fuck you money does not make one any more themselves. it only widens the aperture of the existential donut and makes that hole more formidable to stare into. literally, only God can help them at that point.
I realized a few years back that after losing a corporate job I hated that the hardest part for me was giving up the little badge I wore around my neck every day and used to swipe myself in and out of the building. That stupid badge was proof that I was a somebody, worthy of access to a part of the world that most others could never access. I'd somehow grown emotionally attached to an RFID chip with my face on it. I wasn't particularly upset about the loss of the money the job provided, but of how I felt as if a part of my actual identity was taken from me against my will. I have never really cared that much about money once I had enough to live comfortably. Greed does not motivate me. But learning how to not tie my identity to my source of income has been way harder than I expected. The cultural programming that you are worthless without a high status job is so deeply engrained in my psyche that I still struggle with this today. Money is a means to an end, but the desire for status is a much harder beast to slay in my experience. The system finds a way to make you anxious about your work as it relates to the social strata no matter who you are. It's arguably the most insidious part of capitalism and the most necessary because it keeps most people from opting out of the system entirely no matter how miserable they are.
> This is the culture that has produced the phrase “net worth” for how much money someone has and people use it unironically
Man I've always been struck by the craziness of that phrase
Lovely essay btw
Banging 🧨
lovely piece 🐙💗🐙
💓🐙💓
my lord did you genuinely write that headline?
not sure I get the question? (yes I did)
I initially formulated it as "I thought I needed..." but then went for the "You" move (my hope in publishing is to reach a few people for which this is true)
ok understood so far....queued up to read
This somehow reminds me of the story of Alexander the Great and Dandamis. The king offered him fuck you money/gifts summoning him to his court and the yogi refused and old Alex threatened execution. The yogi had such fuck you love that he refused and the king was so impressed he ended up coming to him in the forest! Money doesn’t solve things even if it makes it a little less stressful day to day!
“Wagecuckery” ftw!
Real wisdom in this article. Not easy to earn. Thank you for sharing.
insane!
I’d like to record a podcast with you!
the sub-heading really speaks to the insanity of the rich. at least some of the rich of days past used to go out do some insanely wild things like build absurd monuments or adventurise things with high risk of death, first-hand. now they set aside venture funds for the illusion of being pioneering and essentially live as paranoid, middle-class millionaires.
fuck you money does not make one any more themselves. it only widens the aperture of the existential donut and makes that hole more formidable to stare into. literally, only God can help them at that point.
One’s relationship money is a reflection of those underlying desires. Great read!
I realized a few years back that after losing a corporate job I hated that the hardest part for me was giving up the little badge I wore around my neck every day and used to swipe myself in and out of the building. That stupid badge was proof that I was a somebody, worthy of access to a part of the world that most others could never access. I'd somehow grown emotionally attached to an RFID chip with my face on it. I wasn't particularly upset about the loss of the money the job provided, but of how I felt as if a part of my actual identity was taken from me against my will. I have never really cared that much about money once I had enough to live comfortably. Greed does not motivate me. But learning how to not tie my identity to my source of income has been way harder than I expected. The cultural programming that you are worthless without a high status job is so deeply engrained in my psyche that I still struggle with this today. Money is a means to an end, but the desire for status is a much harder beast to slay in my experience. The system finds a way to make you anxious about your work as it relates to the social strata no matter who you are. It's arguably the most insidious part of capitalism and the most necessary because it keeps most people from opting out of the system entirely no matter how miserable they are.
omg, I love your style! i guess I mean the things you give weight to. 🔥
Beautiful ♥️