LDR Simplified

This video came at the right time.  I noticed that I just keep reading and reading without actually producing something.  If I want to be successful then I have to produce!

Upon reading this article, I started thinking about how our society is so obsessed with deadlines.  I’m in the process of writing my first paper for my 4th year level University class and I am honestly stuck right now constantly thinking about the deadline and thus procrastinating like there’s no tomorrow.  This made me connect my thoughts about the whole notion of what “productivity” is.  At the heart of a capitalist society, the more one produces, the more economically well off they will be.  However, a lot of societies don’t even manufacture material goods anymore (think clothing factories, electronics, cars, etc).  We have shifted to a service industry where it’s just a bunch of businesses that serve the customer but do not manufacture the goods.  So what is the purpose of the companies that utilize their workers to work on rigid schedules while sitting at their desks all day doing God knows what?  I think they should allow their employees the freedom to roam around the city, away from the office in order to fire up their creativity.

They say that the basic necessities for human survival are food, water, shelter and clothing.  However, one necessity that is often overlooked is human companionship.  We are naturally a social species so we are constantly longing for connection with others.  I still remember the time when I was volunteering for a senior home.  I had the vision of volunteering with empathetic individuals who would help me grow as a person.  While there was one who displayed these attributes, she ultimately made the decision to take a leave so I was left with some superficial volunteers.  Despite being with people, I just felt a sheer sense  of loneliness because of the inability to connect with my fellow volunteers.  

In regards to my friendships, a lot of them have left for overseas.  Even when they were still here, it was still hard to find time to meet up due to the distance we would have to travel just to see each other.  When I was overseas living on campus, it was so easy to just call up a friend and then have lunch or dinner together.  We were essentially like family.  These withdrawal symptoms never went away since I came back two months ago.  The feeling of loneliness was amplified ten fold when I had to leave my girlfriend to return to my hometown.  Although it felt bad to return to my commuter lifestyle, I at least had my sister to fall back on so that eased the affects of my loneliness. Two months later and now see is leaving. 

This article got me thinking about the whole argument about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.  The response is normally followed by “No! The prices will just inflate heavily” or “Why do employers have to pay $15 to flip some burgers”....rabble, rabble, rabble.  What if we didn’t think about it that way anymore and thought about implementing an automatic living wage?

One of the comments I read in the article was:

“ No one goes homeless because they don't have a BMW. No one dies because they can't afford a BMW. People do die if they can't afford food.” 

This made me think back to my Neopets days.  For those who have played Neopets, your pet doesn’t exactly die if you don’t feed it because kids would be scarred for life.  That is besides my point though. In real life, people do die if they starve so they got to work to survive; as if they are getting a gun pointed at their head.  How unfortunate is that.  Fortunately I have never been below the poverty line but I can imagine the people who are stuck inside it because they are living paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet.  This means that they must give up whatever talent or passion they may have just to find a mundane job that helps put food on the table.  This mundane job is normally determined by what the so-called market demands.  

It’s crazy how life just moves like the Flash after you graduate high school.  I was a completely different person 5 years ago so it’s nice to just do some deep reflecting whenever I get one year older.  Last night I had a chat with my girlfriend and I told her bluntly that I didn’t give two shits about my old friends.  Part of the reason why is that we tend to drift apart from those who pursue a completely different life path.  Some are okay with living in the microcosm of their environment but I aspire to go bigger towards the macrocosm where I can connect with people from around the world and make a positive change.