18.10.11

How to Firmly Grasp The Tender Short Hairs of the Ruling Class While Creating an Awesome Donut Utopia

Ok, it takes Da-da longer to focus, now. So what?
While Da-da is no revolutionary (he's too busy wrangling SANDWORMs), Da-da admires those who put people and principles above money; Da-da even wrote a novel and another book of parody exploring such anti-Capitalistic fantasia, basically asking what it means to be human in an increasingly inhuman, corporate world.

So, what's Corporate America all about? It's about money. Alas, America and the entire world has become all about money, at least for a lot of folks. Maybe it always was, except for small pockets of enlightened humanism that used to get better press. Anyway, like many parents, Da-da wants a better world for his kids, a better world for your kids, for everyone's kids. What the Occupy Wall Street folks have done is admirable, but is occupying spaces all around the world going to effect any real change? It might raise awareness, but those with the reins only care about the money, and you camping in a park isn't gonna stop the wheels of commerce. So, what's Da-da' bright idea?

As Da-da said, if you want to get Wall Street's attention -- and the attention of the politicians and media outlets they own -- just look at the money, and the fear and arrogance that goes hand in hand with it. What's Wall Street's biggest fear? That you'll stop buying things. That you'll stop spending money.

Yup. If everyone in the world picked one day, or one weekend, or one day every week for an entire year (e.g., "Wednesday becomes NoSpendsDay") and vowed not to spend a single dime on that day or weekend (say after Thanksgiving, or on media holidays like Valentine's Day, etc.) -- THAT would get the attention of the 1%-ers. That would seize their short hairs. When mindless consumers spend money like crazy 24/7, the 1%-ers make money. When they stop, the spigot stops. No sales taxes are generated. No moolah flows into 1%-er coffers, and the wheels of commerce grind to a halt. Simply stopping all consumer spending on a global scale one day a week sends a powerful unifying message.

It's also a good exercise in self-restraint, one that reduces consumerism. If you honored just one no-spending day a week, multiplied it by 52, and saved that moolah, you'd have a nice chunk at the end of the year to pay down your student loan, or give to a local school, or buy donuts for 5000 of your closest friends. You could put the money in the bank, but Da-da's unsure of the stability and efficacy of banks these days (credit unions are actually a better bet), so howbout a mason jar? No matter. Bottom line: we're talking about creating a Donut Utopia, right here on earth.

If you've ever been around any 1%-ers (Da-da has), many are notoriously cheap, and often claim poverty over spending any of their own money. This is because the rich don't like to spend their own money. They like to spend your money. Ok, so don't give it to them. Don't think of it as a protest. Think of it as a lesson in personal wealth. In Da-da's case, this is more a fact of life than a moral choice, as Da-da's got about $3 and a moldy acorn to last the next three weeks. (Anyone want to buy a moldy acorn? Once owned by STING... or was it Tom Cruise? Penelope Cruise? Princess Cruises? Oh, well. You don't pays your money and you do keeps your chance at a future Donut Utopia, perhaps already in progress... that is, if the Grammar Police don't arrest Da-da for that last vintage-y sentence, but they like donuts, too, so no worries.


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