Your advise to the younger generation

I think the word was "viable". It's a coin-word that came into great popularity during the early 70's. Viable means being able to sustain Life.

I think you went a whole 'nother way with this, Mark.

As for the paper chase, well... some of us had to pursue a way to earn the things, like a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and transportation into and out of the Sticks by using our minds. Some of us weren't blessed with bodies that could do carpentry, roofing, or other things that required using your back. So, many of us went to college and used the good brains we were given to provide for our families.

We didn't start out to make a million, only a living. We didn't have any intentions of turning the world upside down... we simply wanted to survive without having to hold our hands out to the man for our daily bread. And somehow, someway, after working at what truly made our souls sing, for some 35+ years, and doing a good job at it... we found that we were rewarded for our labors by earning a little more than minimum wage.

I hope that you know a little more about the needs of animals than your statement implies....

An animal needs:

*Sufficient shelter and an outside area to walk around in, and to have their quarters kept clean and healthy. Have you looked at the price of lumber lately?
*food... hay, grain, straw, supplements, 50 lb. of grain = $12.95, one 100 lb bale of good hay runs $8 - $15, straw is going for $3 - $5 a bale, and supplements are out of this world, but with the tampering we've done with domestic animal genetics, they do require them to remain healthy.
*water, and lots of it, in a clean container, changed many times/day - this means having a very good well.
*vaccines, medications when ill, regular visits from the Vet - which is required by the powers that be, like Animal Rights and the Humane Society.

Now you can try to do this without money, and I've seen the results. Diseased and unhealthy critters, premature death and suffering in an unhealthy environ.

I see that you're in your 40's so I'll not hold your Not understanding the need to be left alone. But, many of us older freaks have found a way to buy a piece of property out in the country, and we Want to be left alone, be it from the Vietnam War, or the more natural way in which we live our lives. Did you ever notice that "Organic" foods and things cost more than your ordinary things? Reason being that it takes more time to do it without the aide of standard agricultural methods.

But I digress. What I really want to say about land ownership is this; No one can truly own land. I'd like to think of the legalities we have go through to have a parcel of land put into our names as "Paying for the Privilege of being a Steward for The Mother", and doing our very best by her.

People look at what we've done with our little bit of land and say: "Oh, you must be rich or something." Not true... comfortable, but not rich. What we do have is: vision, good taste, and very tired bodies from the work we've done here for the past 14 years.

The "Respect" part comes this way; Do a good days work. One that You are satisfied with. No one else matters in this. It's how you feel about yourself at the end of the day when you lay your body down to sleep.

I remember being in my 40's. I remember thinking that I understood what I read. I remember being a little rigid in my opines, like you. I hope that when you're nearing 60 you'll understand a little bit more deeply, and perhaps be not so judgemental.

 

Hummm, I've read and reread my post on the forum, and I can't really find any "judgment" in it. I didn't say, " don't get a career....don't go to college. Don't do well, you'll be unhappy. I think we are on the same team Sam. You just don't know it. I could be wroung, but I see ( since you singled me out) that you are assuming things about me, or you are putting me in a postion of ....what ? Something inferiour?
By using the phrase "some of us", had to work, or go to college, you automaticly put me in the postion of someone that didn't have to do these things. WRONG
I have a B.A. in english. I'm a homeowner too. Yes, yes, I'm shamlessly defending myself. But what do you expect? The english degree taught me how powerful words are. So i'm very careful of what I say to others. I'm not trying to cut others down, so I can feel "superiour" to them. I mean. if you tell someone they are being judgmental, aren't you being judmental by saying that? Kind of shooting yourself in the foot, isn't it?
I'm happy you grow your own food and raise your animals. Good for you!
As for the age thing, I'll never see 60.
I just disagree. Doesn't make me wroung, or you right. I just find the idea that "i'm going to buy me some respectability", and " here is a dollar ....get away from me you horrorable human!" a rediculious idea.
If I offend you in anyway I apoliogise. At least I'm man enough to do that.

 

Good Morning, Mark,

First of all, let me apologize for misjudging and making assumptions. Secondly, for misremembering your age from your original reply. I am sorry.

One thing that I have become sure of in my life is this; the things that most annoy you about another person are most likely the things you yourself are guilty of. I'm speaking in the first person here, and yes, you're correct about the judgement thingee and I'm humbled.

It's only one of the personality quirks of mine that I'm trying hard to improve upon. The carrying-over of daily frustrations into relationships and treatment of others, something that I know is wrong from the get-go, is another aspect of my personality that I'm working on improving. At this stage of my life I truly dispair of succeeding, and therein lies the seed of my pissiness. I apologize for this one also, because you're correct again; we are on the same side.

I have to tell you that I have no feelings of superiority towards other living beings. A sense of being different, in many ways, from others, yes. But Superior, No. I'm sorry if I come across that way, thank you for bringing it to my attention, I'll be working on this one too.

Again, let me repeat, I don't feel one can buy respect, self or otherwise. Selfrespect happens when you lay your body down at night and review the day's work you've put in. Respect from others doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Maybe it should, and I'll take this into consideration as well.

Nah... no offense taken in this most excellent conversation.

I'm also sorry that you won't see 60. When I was 48 the Docs gave me two years to live. I believed them for awhile, but I truly did get mighty tired of dying. I'm two years shy, but I hope to live to blow out all those candles on my sixtieth B'day cake. That should be a total meltdown, I'm sure.

Please take the following with a large grain of salt: It really isn't; "Here's a dollar, now get away from me you horrible person." It's; here's $350.00, how long do I have to wait for the paperwork to go through before I can pick up this 30-30.

You're right, words are very powerful tools. I should be more careful with their usage, but I'm not. And as I said above, at this stage of the game I dispair in not only being "should upon", but in being able to be consistently perfect in my behavior.

You Have a Good One,

Sam

PS: I read your reply yesterday and almost had my reply written when my telephone line went down for a few hours. By the time it came on again I was unloading grain bags from my truck, mucking out Raven's stall and bringing him in from the pasture, shoving bottles into my kids little faces, pulling teats, spending some time with my critters and hubby, then reviewing my day's activities before falling asleep. No need to tell you that this conversation weighed heavy on my mind.

 

Just a brief response to Mark N - "respectable" is somewhat of a sham - we all know this, it is one of those words that nobody can define exactly yet everyone knows what it means. You can be whatever you want but it sure helps if a lot of other people do not pay much attention to what you are doing because THEY think you are "respectable" (or, as we used to say in the 60s, a "citizen"). Yeah, yeah, that is somewhat hypocritical - but if you know you are a part-time hypocrite, and why you are, you are pretty safe from the worst ravages of hypocrisy. It IS important to be yourself, no doubt of it, and I think solid finances HELP you do that.


Here is a real simple example of money getting others to leave YOU alone - apparently you never had financial reverses and got stuck with some bill you could not pay for awhile, and got constant calls, letters, etc. from bill collectors. Now maybe that doesn't bother some people, but I sure as heck don't like it. I could use up all the space in this forum finding examples.

I am sorry, I cannot resist quoting the character Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, of course, he was notoriously cynical and maybe not someone to admire, but when Scarlett self-righteously informed him that "money cannot buy love", he said, "Maybe not, but it can buy some remarkably good substitutes."

 

Sam & gyspy,
You are absolutly right about getting angry when I see "defects" of caracter in others that I myself posess. We all have these defects. It's part of the human condition that is unavoidable. Without a vigilant self examination of motives, I could blow myself up to become God-like. (turn on the news, its full of self proclaimed gods). I want to thank you both for providing a catylist (sorry about the spelling) for me to exam my own anger. I am humbled as well. It is only through this process that we can sit at the table as true brothers & sisters. In other words, now that we have introduced ourselfs and realize we are all full of shit we can talk.
Gyspy, as a "son of the south" I can relate with the " Gone with the Wind" thing. Although I'm probably closer to Scarlet's dad, that crazy old Mr. O'hara, than I am to Rett Butler.

Now, what was the name of this forum? Oh yeah advice to the younger genaration. I have 2 sons. One 16 and one 20. My granddaughter was born 8 days ago, so I admit that I have personal reasons for wanting to see real change in how this world is turning. Age has provided me with a more empathatic, or a larger view of the world. ( seeing the big picture). I think the first problem in general is apathy. But looking at the world today, (a fast-food, flash bang, media driven commerical) I can relate that the young folks are overwhemed. The Iraq thing, along with a long list of " wroung turns" has stired up those old 60's feelings in me. If the motivation for change is anger, than lets get the kids MAD. But that's just my 2 cents. I'm sure there are other methods for change.

 

Anger is a good tool, Mark. It gives us a chance to rechannel all the useless energy we tend to roll around in our brain boxes. I'm finding that the Vortex I am blessed with living on is a good place to channel these energies. When I first went in to clean it up I discovered, when it finally stopped acting like a tornado, that I could remove a bricklike structure that went in The Nothing and I put the negative energy in there.

It's sort of like REO Speedwagon said on one of their live concert CD's: "Emotions are good to show and release. You gotta get rid of the old ones so that new ones can come in to take their place." Roll With The Changes, Baby.

Congrats on the branspandy new Grandchild! Grandkids are truly a gift. My Grandson was just a year old in Nov. of 03... My Step Daughter and Son-in-Law live in CA... but I'm thinkin' of getting a pony for him to ride when they come out here to visit.

Good to hear you say we're all full a shit. I know I am... it was independently confirmed on X-ray when I developed a megacolon...

Stay Cool Mark...

Sam

 

The only thing you can do to make the world a better place is to become a better person.

Eliminate all traces of greed and hostility from your life. Live every moment with love. Selflessly help other people. Be kind to all life.

Let your life be an example to others. Stand up for what you know is right, even if you suffer for it. Eventually, the tide will turn.

Your attitude is everything. If you think you are not happy because you need something, or need to change something, you will only chase happiness, never achieve it.

You can't control much in the world, besides your attitude. One of the greatest sources of negative feelings, and conflict with other people, is the belief that you can control much beyond yourself.

The universe is much bigger than you and your life. Stop focusing on yourself. People who focus on their own problems only see problems. All of mankind is insignificant on the universal level.

Live in the here and now. Do not dwell on the past, nor have strong expectations of the future. Float along, be amused by the insanity around you. Try not to think at all.

Accept things, don't fight them. Things around you will change.

Remember that the manmade world we now spend most of our lives occupied with is mostly stupid and often wrong. Try to see more of nature. Spend quiet time listening to birds in the woods. Love the life around you.

 

It's a pity WhatIs...people seem to let your wisdom slip right past them. You seem to have a pretty close to perfect idea of what's what. Keep posting.

 

Learn to speak Chinese. You are all in trouble.

 

I can only speak to my own time and place - I went to a small Christian college in Canton, Ohio in the late 60s and early 70s - but what made us different was the belief that we were all there for each other, that we were all in "this" - whatever "this" was - together.We were all individual parts of a whole and we needed each other to function as a whole.
This issue today is not the problem of "individualism" - we were all individuals - but the mind-set that the world begins, ends and revolves around me.Somewhere somehow the concept of being part of a group has been lost. Caring for others seems to have been lost too. I don't know how to teach that to a younger generation other than by example. Maybe the time has come for my Boomer Generation to shake the dust off and, instead of living in the past (like I do most of the time), reclaim that lifestyle and belief in the differece we all make when we all get together.
peace