Friday, March 19, 2010

Dear Kymmenen #3, Capita-what?

Hi folks,

New email in the bank. Roman, from the sweet South, writes the following:

Dear Kymmenen,

My two first questions -two becose i always like to give options to the
people, but feel free to answer both if you want - :


- How can i pull down the capitalism?

- What are de top 10 books you recomend (to me)?

Thanks for having your own point of view and thanks for spendig time sharing it.
Excuse my poor english, i learnt playing video games and there is too much
time since i didn't practice it.

Hugs

Well, well, thank you very much for your email and questions, Sir Roman. It has taken me a while to answer because, unlike you, it hasn't been a while since I last played games.

But let's get to it and start by answering the easy one:

Capitalism, uh? Well, before offering you suggestions, I would need to know what exactly is for you the problem with capitalism.

Many people both attack and defend capitalism but I get the feeling that sometimes they might be referring to different things by the same name, or, worse, that they are not really referring to anything except of a name.

I start, but everyone is invited to share what they don't like of it.

What I personally don't like of capitalism is the use it makes of money as the primordial reference and measurement of value, success or convenience.

And it's not only from an economic point if view (which also) that I speak; it especially troubles and annoys me, the tendency of transfering such use of money as a referent to other spheres of life such as the state and the public sector or the current debate introduced in higher education.

It has even reached the point of substituting religion in the sense that money nowadays works for a lot of people as an anchor they can always hold onto not to get lost, or as a barometer through which they can measure the appropriateness and validity of their life style. And since most people effectively regard money as such an important and objective reference, and they value it so much, they succeed at reassuring each other continuously about it.

But that's bullshit. There is a fucking cosmos spinning above our heads.

For this, the very first thing you can do is to pee on money.

And I don't mean peeing for real on money. (Don't do that. I did it once and it gets very sticky).

It probably hurts a lot to it, if you can get people together. It can be for a social club, a study group, a neighbours assembly, a "let's get together and talk" thing, you name it. I think it is for a very good reason that our societies are built in a way that promotes individuality above communality, and I'm convinced that reversing that, is probably the most effective way to start making a significant change.

This might sound vague, but it is not as vague as it sounds. I think it's important to know the names and faces of the people with who you live, and to greet them when you see them. It's a start.

Also, I guess, being very selective in the way you spend money, and not tot spare an occasion to let other people know why you are doing it. The planet agonizes, lots of people are aware of it now, and still, lots of big and strong corporations keep on squeezing as much money as possible and as long as they can, because profit is what matters. This is disgusting and it's important saying it clear.

"Woha, a kit-kat in your shop? That's disgusting. The world is on fire and they keep peeing on us."

*yawns*

Well, this is getting boring. I guess the main point is, keeping in mind that never in history so much people has been so aware of so many things and are wishing to make a change. The time is coming.



Oh, and I will think about the books.



Thanks for reading this week's answer!

And remember, every Sunday a new question will be answered, creating the opportunity for some discussion. Come on in and send yours to:

dearkymmenen (at) yahoo.com

1 comment:

  1. The good thing about the value-money thing, is that you can most of the time get things that you (I mean, I) value on the cheap.

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