a distinction between earning money and earning a living

We find ourselves living in a market place. We are expected to earn and purchase the necessities of our lives. Food costs money, clothes cost money, housing costs money; even knowledge and freedom come with a price tag. Am I suggesting that these things should be free, that is to say, their price set to zero? No, I am suggesting that they should not be included within the realm of things that prices can even begin to be applied to. Some people are suggesting that we should add a price tag to air! ‘Would you like some bottled air with your bottled water sir?’ No thank you, I should prefer to suffocate than live in such asphyxiating conditions.

Of course, we need to earn a living, for ‘food does not grow on trees, and fresh water is not just falling from the sky.’ Even so, I insist that each and every one of us must earn a living. The fruits of the trees do not pick themselves; the rain does not put itself into your cup. If you pick the fruit and collect the water, then you are earning a living, and it is noteworthy that in earning such a living you need not be earning money.

Such a distinction allows us to accommodate Thoreau’s claim that “The ways by which you may get money almost without exception lead downwards… You are paid for being something less than a man.” with his remark that “there is little or nothing to be remembered written on the subject of getting a living; how to make getting a living not merely honest and honourable, but altogether inviting and glorious; for if getting a living is not so, then living is not.”

The futile advertisement

Young philosopher and cat accomplice seek board near to the University of Canterbury: Ideally, I would like to live with a friendly vegetarian family in a cosy home. I require a small room to keep my bed and personal belongings in, a space for my computer, and a vegetarian diet. Lakshmi (the cat) loves the wilderness, so a backyard is a necessity for her. Because of my limited means, I would be willing to tutor the younger members of the household to help earn my keep. Please leave your contact information below.

Grow up!

I have been thinking a lot recently about what it means to grow up. “Grow up!” they say, “Give up!” I hear. Give up, make yourself acceptable and perchance sell your soul to become accepted. Shoulder your new responsibilities as Atlas shouldered the weight of the world. But the responsibilities by which humans flourish, those responsibilities that burden us with the weight of the world are dead to us; replaced with the responsibility to do whatever is expected of you. Surely the weight of the world is the greater burden of the two, but I would be crushed, as were some of my peers, under the weight of living according to expectations. Why should we not live as innocent children? Always living as if it were dawn, rubbing the sleep from our eyes while basking in our dreams. Looking around you see people asleep at noon, determined put that sleep back into their eyes, seeking ignorance to replace the innocence they have lost. “Grow up!” they continue, “Go back to sleep!” repeats a hollow echo.