I Dream Of Being A Drop Out

Throughout my life I have battled with my nature and the way I am "supposed" to act and live.

Most people want things--material possessions and base their lives on getting a college degree, a JOB (they call it a "Career"--face it...it's a fucking JOB!), and live in little boxes on the hillside made out of ticky-tacky.

Well, I hate that.

Not for them, mind you. Let them eat cake if they want...

But, that shit is not for me, man. I don't want to go through my life breaking hearts and breaking balls.

I refuse to do so.

I refuse to climb the "ladder of success."

As a Hedonist I believe that PLEASURE and HAPPINESS comes through peace, love, knowledge, and physical pleasure. That's my goal in life.

I have come a long way. At one time I was the Manager of a newspaper, making a nice salary, the typical two-car, two-kid, two-pet family. Nice short hair, little leather bible, nice tie & white collar, a "career", and a lot of things that I didn't need.

In 2003, I had an awakening of sorts or actually began a journey, by 2005, I had transformed as a person.

Now in 2007, I am an atheist. I no longer work for The Man. I have a part-time job that I am trying to get rid of. I have one car, no pets, smarter kids, no ties or collars, and hair midway down my back.

My wife quit her job after the birth of our little girl in 2006. She is not going back to work. She works at home and not for anyone or any company.

My old rock band is back together and we are actually making some waves (pretty big ones). I am happy, yet I am almost bitter at my former way of life.

I hate money and I wish we'd just abolish it or at least change the system to where "capital" wasn't what determined the value of human worth. It sickens me.

I dream of dropping out. And for those who share this dream with me... I'm almost there.

Keep up the hope... it CAN happen!

 

someone for finally saying that.
i hate being in a system that destroys us, and working for something i no longer believe in.
but i'm at a place in my life where i have to play the game, at least for a little while.
too many people are depending on me, so i gotta try to make it in babylon, at least for now.
but i don't believe it anymore.

i hope our day comes.
~ peace to you

 

Sometimes you DO have to make a sacrifice, indeed. I did it, but with a goal aimed at playing the game ONLY until I didn't have to.

Now, I don't. Now, I am almost done with it all.

Good luck to you. Keep the dream alive!

 

You're doing what I wish I had the guts to do, and I commend you for that!
Live and let live!!

Perhaps someday, I'll finally make the jump as you have...

 

Live the dream Libertine, live the dream
I think its great. Go for it.

 

its what im trying to achieve now. i recon i should take a leaf out of your book and go for it harder.

 

No shit,

This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. And here's the REAL KICKER... I have a family of FOUR (2 kids, my wife and I). And she stays home! IT CAN BE DONE!

So, if I can do it anyone can. Hell, maybe I ought to write a book!

The key is to eliminate debt, cultivate cheap hobbies, make the most out of simple pleasures, and once you realize you don't NEED half the stuff you think you do-- you're half way there.

Just get rid of that debt. I owe only 4 years and my house will be paid for. I've eliminated all credit card, loan, car payment debt and now I only buy what I need or save for those things I want.

It's hard in the beginning, but it gets much easier. And you appreciate and love life with very little stress.

 

That's awesome, man. I plan on doing something similiar within the next few years. good luck to you.

 

Tis the life to have.

I could never figure out why people strive to climb the ladder of the ugly corporate whore.
YET I've never really wished I were a drop out.
Knowledge to me equals power; not necessarily power of the almighty $$$ mind you. I love learning things. Of course there are other way, often cheaper ways, of empowering one's knowledge...
Glad you found happiness, though.


Off topic but I think it would be totally sweet to have a "career" as a dog walker.

 

Deep inside, all I truly want is to live in a forest with a nice group of people whom I love.

Yet, sadly... I simply cannot do that. Be happy that you are an American, system or no system... it still gives you the freedom to drop out.

I cannot drop out... as much as I want to, I cannot.

 

That is true for many people, BraveSir.

I am fortunate and I see that every day. I am very concerned that the U.S. is changing for the worst however and I believe that before long some "episode" (probably igniting by big business and big government) will fracture that dream and attempt to enslave those of us who have escaped on the "wooden ships" (so to speak).

 

Frieden, please don't mistake my "dropping out" as turning my back on knowledge. By no means is it that!

Knowledge comes from experience and the experiences of others. I have a "scholastic education", but the knowledge that LIFE ITSELF has given me makes my diploma just another piece of paper.

Knowledge is evolution and it doesn't mean just achieving a doctorate in some subject and then you have "arrived."

It is a continuous process that is ESSENTIAL to dropping out!

 

I once tried to ignore all the noise around me. I made judgements about what was good and what was bad and what didn't matter.

Problem is: If you shut out everything you think is noise, you'll inevitably miss information, experiences, and people that you've been looking for - thus you miss life. Besides, how would you be able to gauge the life you live now without the contrast of the past.

So yeah.. listen to Rubin... that silly hippie jew knows what he's talking about as usual.

 

America affords very few the freedom to drop out. It is not an overt fascism that forces people to work. Rather, it is designed to covertly do the job. There are so few people who aren't tied into the system's reality. None of them can drop out because they have "responsibilities". You illustrated this very well in your post, though unintentionally (I think).

 

Dropping out is not ignoring society or isolating oneself. It is merely playing the game by your own rules as much as you possibly can.

The system is set up to compel people to spend money that they don't have--to get into debt by purchasing THINGS and believing that they have to have the BRAND NAME THING too!

That they have to get a degree to continue to be an assembly line humanoid to go to work.

When I first entered college the counselor was so fucking pissed at me because I didn't want to major in BUSINESS or something "useful" (as she put it). No, I wanted to major in Philosophy. She said this was "useless." And she was right -- in THE WAY THIS WORLD IS OPERATING-- but I didn't care.

I got a "career" without a BUSINESS degree anyway. All they care about is a piece of paper--no matter what the major is--unless you want to go into medicine or law.

I see people everyday who have THINGS (more than I) and are stressed out of their brains. They are like automatons trying to keep up. It is painful to watch.

$40,000 vehicles, $300,000 homes, college tuitions, plasma tvs, jet skis, on and on the list continues... deeper and deeper and deeper...

Are these people REALLY "better off"?

I just know that I feel much better and healthier now than I did when I was in the rat race. That's all I'm saying.

 

i will one day become a mountainman

 

I commend you for how you have turned your life around.

I plan to do the exact. same. thing.

I've been saving for a year now. I have two years left to save, and then my friend and I are buying a bus, ditching the closed minded, material obsessed community we live in, and traveling the world, living in that bus, promoting peace. That's my dream, and in two years, it'll be a reality for me. At least I'm going to try my damn hardest, or literally die trying.

It honestly puts a smile on my face to know someone else sees what kind of a world we live in, and recognizes the wrong involved.

I wish more people could understand...if only they could see how corrupted their minds and thoughts have become, and how what their idea of 'happiness' is, is completely backwards. If only they could see...

 

This thread made me happy.

Postmaterialists unite!

 

Deconstructing materialism.

One piece at a time.

 

but materialism is so delicious....