Free-Range Living

( this is the fifth occasional blog since regular monthly blog pieces ceased)

'No Itch to be Rich - ?'

It does seem a bit of an odd sentiment, even writing it as a headline, in these days of 'rampant monetisation', often bringing with it the assumed  trends of 'pots of dosh' and 'flash living'. Money in a money economy is of course needed, it's maybe the degree of emphasis on it that reservationists might query - ? John Lane in his 'Timeless' books writes in similar vein, suggesting that the underlying assumption is that wealth, power, fame and the like will bring life's goodies, and also suggesting though, that this could be a 'skin deep' situation, presumably similar to the notion that beauty can be a superficial concept. The question may be : is money better as a 'means', than an 'end' - ?

Watching some TV programmes sometimes brings the query thought as to whether the  characters are more 'man-made' than natural, which then prompts the notion that maybe mankind can at times get a bit too smart, and that taking some notice of wider realities and then any 'down-to-earth' moves, might not be a bad idea - ? Presumably there could be more than a few who follow their own instincts, not marching to the beat of the mainstream culture, still though leading to satisfying and full multi-dimensional lives - ? Thinking again of the good ol' Dorset (UK) farmer, who was of the opinion that whilst money could be a good servant, it could also be a bad master ----

Low-cost alternatives to wealthy living -----

There are those of course as above who don't necessarily subscribe to the modern culture tenets of 'wealth and power' and surely such bio-diversity should be valued?  ( the 'if you're not with us ,you're against us' sentiment could seem to indicate the opposite - ?)

 Take S, for instance, at the other end of the 'rich' scale, living the simple life in west Wales in her home-constructed 'mud hut' in the wood, tending her goats and chickens, and her organic veg patch. 'Extreme living' some might say, but given the lack of noise, the awareness of the seasons and the effect of living directly amongst wonderful sentient life forms such as trees, such a life must be very different to, say, living in a modern town or city. No electric either, so none of the 'modern interruption' in life. S hankered after a simpler, slower lifesyle so she could better relate to nature, and to her own 'natural self', and whilst in these materialistic times she might not be seen as a 'modern success', she actually has been successfull in creating the conditions that she needed - maybe even, in terms of 'life fulfillment', more successful than some of those 'material success' geared folk - ?

'Un-billionairing ------ '

Un-wealthy life (eg. 'non-billionairing') here on the eco organic micro-holding (small smallholding) in the UK midlands has gone over the last few months with a bit of a stutter due to a few health problems but nevertheless things are looking up, with one of the best displays for a few years, both in the veg patch and in the flower department. There are currently (towards end of June) spring greens, calabrese, broad beans, peas, salad items, potatoes, onions (autumn planted) and plentiful strawberries and raspberries for picking, which are all looking quite good, along with celery, turnips, swedes, carrots and spring onions all coming along nicely -and all a joy to behold --- Certainly does give a feeling of productivity, and of security, especially in these times of escalating living costs -some folk, quite a few in fact according to today's broadsheet paper, are reportedly having significant struggles coping.

 Helped too here by the fact that the fuel in store for next winter also gives that satisfying 'security' feeling, with the log pile looking useful -there should be enough wood to see the winter out -and also a good store of smokeless stove fuel in bags, bought at the end of this last winter, prompted by the fact the whilst one local outlet had virtually trebled its price, another had it at the same lower price it had been over the previous two years - no guesses as to which outlet was used ---  Given the rapidly rising energy costs situation, to see a good store of reasonably-priced fuel definitely gives a real and tangible feeling of security, in this case there's probably in total of 3 - 4 years worth of fuel in store, which can be used to combat the escalating energy costs.  Following the normal pattern of aiming to make useful use of 'waste' on site, a handy wood and tin sheet shelter has materialised down in the paddock, with not a penny spent, appealing to the ol' 'frugal creative' instincts, and really not before time, as the plastic shelter that was the polytunnel had been on its last legs.

'One rule for ----- ?

 According to the papers though, many folk in the UK are not experiencing too much security, given current cost of living conditions and some modern employment practices (eg. apparently nearly 50% of folk who work in UK's Higher Education sector are employed on non-secure zero hours contracts),  and with rapidly rising expenditures on the basics such as energy, food and fuel outstripping income. Longer-term prospects either don't look too bright, with the UK government calling for wages and pay restraint, no doubt rubbing it in too by at the same time calling for pay restraint for top bosses to be lifted, seemingly quite a provocative move - presumably maybe more of  a 'power play' than sound management strategy - ? The 'older' fuller notions of 'leadership' and 'social/public duty' don't seem to get too much of a following in these modern times ------ and maybe to be viable quite a few people these days do need to be somewhat richer ?

It seems to be accepted that the wealthy have done pretty well in the last few years, with the distribution of wealth having narrowed significantly -one estimate suggested that now 50% of wealth was in the hands of just 1% of the population. One wealthy guy, a billionaire , suggested though on TV awhile back, that such a situation could have potentially dangerous implications from social unrest, and that it was therefore in everyone's interest that there was a wider, (and wiser?), distribution of wealth with the aim of giving as many as possible 'a fair crack of the whip' --- 'Money's like manure - in piles it stinks, but spread about it does some good ---' says the old saying ----

'More --- and more ---'

 The 'name of the game' can at times appear to be being on the 'ever more' trail - hard to get the head round for instance that individuals have a thousand million pounds (i.e billionaires) and of course some are multi billionaires. Are though folks being lead along such a path by cultures which heavily promote wealth (and power) accumulation, and heavy competitivism, pushing it beyond 'normal and natural' levels, a potential effect of over-focus on  'free market' 'philosophies' - ? Another way of looking at it, which some might say is a more 'natural' mode, would be that money is of course important in a money-run society (as against, say, a basic self-sufficency subsistence type) but that when an individual has sufficient for their preferred lifestyle plus some for future security, money and money accumulation then becomes less of a need, so rightly moves down the priorities, as it no doubt does so with many 'well-adjusted' individuals - it's 'mass culture' that seems to be 'stuck' on the money trail - ? The same was one of the findings of research amongst UK rural folk - farmers -who were found to have a wide range and mix of 'important' objectives for their businesses, rather than, say, just one main one, that of  'profit maximisation'.

'Lux living --- '

The lure of the 'pots of dosh, easy life' together with luxury leisurely living, can no doubt help to blind any alternative view that maybe perceived to be negative, which could though then have the effect of non-reality views prevailing, and adding to the seemingly strong force of the trend for wealth gaining. An added factor may also be the reported fact that the wealthy are not particularly happy and are seeking therapy to ameliorate their anxiety, due, it's said, to them stressing as to where they are in the rich list, in itself an indication of an over-competitive society -? A more down-to-earth perspective for instance might suggest that anxiety over where the next meal's coming from could be a touch more 'based in reality' -? Talking of competitivism, there's that other old saying - 'the trouble with winning the rat race is that you're still a rat --- ' The traditional 'wealth move' was to donate quite a bit of it to 'good causes', but whether that's likely to happen in a 'competing wealth race' culture, maybe debatable - ?

'Downside analyses ---- '

As this piece focuses on possible and potential 'downside' aspects of money and wealth accumulation, and even though perceived 'negativity' can  seem to be relatively unwelcome intruder these days, it may be still useful to take the 'down-to-earth' reality route in the cause of being able to more fully analyse and understand such modern trends. What, then, might be some of the potential 'downsides' to being on the wealth accumulation trail?

      ---- the individual's full range of needs and development might be impeded - taking the 'having' route might restrict  'being and becoming'-?

             Simply that too full a focus on 'having' might well take needed focus and attention away from any 'being' development needs.

      ---- wealth chasing works out often as a competitive individually-focused activity -it might then impede on a person's social need areas - ?

             Plainly both individual and society needs exist -people live in societies. Again, over-focus on individual needs could potentially impinge on social and society needs.

      ---- as 'security' is often quoted as a 'driver' for wealth gaining, over committment to it limits other (and maybe longer-term) security moves-?

             Writers such as Kunihoro Yamate suggest that real human security lies in full 'real self' realisation, and that wealth chasing may then not be a complete answer - ?

      ---- wealth can distance an individual from 'real' 'hands-on' activities, restricting then a strong source of human satisfaction and fulfillment -?

             Assuming there's a 'norm' trend of wealthy people tending to rely on others to do 'down-to-earth', 'hands-on' tasks ------   

      ---- wealth chasing can become addictive, and then potentially 'blot out' other important values and aspects - ?

             Anyone who's experienced payments for results, bonuses and the like, is likely to be familiar with the 'cloying' power that such systems can emanate, as well as the 'focus narrowing' such money-geared systems can produce.

      ---- some suggest that man is essentially a spiritual being having a 'human experience' - too much 'human' experience could conflict -?

             Spiritual experience being more 'ephemeral', non-concrete, so can be easily 'displaced' by 'the glitter of gold' - ?

 'C and L ----'

  C was a sociable and humourous older guy at the golf club- it was a treat to have a round in his company, particularly as he could be pretty complimentary, and which was even more meaningful on learning he'd been a professional sportsman - a footballer - in earlier life. He'd then set up his own firm with a partner and steadily built it up, to then at retirement age sell it for a good deal of money -C had become a multi-millionaire, not that it was too evident in that he didn't let it change him too much. He still drove the same quality motor, now seven years old, and as a widower lived in the same easy-to-manage small bungalow. 'Everyone's great round here' he'd say 'I'd be crazy to move away'. He still remained a member of the same unpretentious golf club, enjoying the company of his mates. Maybe the UK comedian, John Cleese, could have been on to something, when he said 'money has spoilt everything'-?

L had a small workshop in a glorious setting in the Welsh/English border country. He made beautiful bespoke, furniture, including Welsh dressers, following his passion and had made quite a name for himself - even though they were costly pieces, he had quite a waiting list for them. An oldish guy in the village used to pop into see him most days and have a coffee with him, eventually though passing away. To L's surprise, he'd left him quite a large amount of money, prompting many of L's friends and acquaintances to proffer advice such as he should retire, or he could now 'grow the business', or he could  get others to 'do the 'work' and L could have 'the easy life'. Interestingly, as L said, no-one had seemingly stopped to think how he himself saw things. 'I'm doing what I love to do, so it'd be nonsense to change because of this money'  L said - he'd long ago sorted his values and priorities. 'I am looking forward though to sorting one or two good causes I could donate to', was his parting shot.

Micro life limitations ---- (?)

       Living in a chiefly money economy basically means that it may well be virtually impossible to live without money, as say, did the Native Americans  living with the bison on the American plains --- Even though some may attempt a life of fairly full self-sufficency, a 'money-less life's  probably  not too much of a feasibility --- and it doesn't have to be -'one can only do what one can', given the cultural limits. Here at this particular micro partially self-reliant and self-sufficient outfit, the important factors are to be able to follow a lifestyle that 'fits' reasonably well with the involved humans' current needs, and contributes to maintaining the level of independence needed for independent thought and living, which may be more difficult to do being more 'fully immersed' in a general mainstream culture.

There are of course other ways to do this, one of which is currently active here, in that an interesting read arrived here the other day all about 'Meister Eckhart', a 'dangerous mystic'  living in the 1300's, and who's line of exploration (similar to the 'freeranger' concept) was that authentic spirituality is found at individual level rather than any organisational level, the individual having the right to 'quest' for themselves (and needing the 'freedom' to be able to do so).

The current 'hands-on' activity here is house painting, sorely overdue, but very satisfying seeing something that's a bit of a mess come good again, and with some paint in store, apart from a bottle of white spirit, no money involved. 'Cashless satisfaction', as is it too picking the new crop of runner beans, grown from home-saved seed. Not all forms of riches necessarily involve high - or low -finance -----?