A Revolution that is Solely Reliant on Capital is not a Revolution I Want to be a Part of

Greedpeace approaches

I was approached on the streets of downtown Palo Alto yesterday by a young man from Greenpeace. He was about my age, a bit more masculine-looking, with cactus-like stubble on his face, a squarish, move-star jaw and penetrating green eyes. Given his styled short hair and J.Crew style, I mistook him at first for a yuppie-in-training (which he could have been). Still, he was quite passionate about the cause that he was promoting.

He caught me as I was parking my bike at the corner outside the Peet’s Coffee. After I’d locked up–he waited for me, graciously–he started talking to me about Greenpeace and their initiatives. Of particular concern were whales. In fact, I believe this was the primary cause at the moment for the organization.

Interestingly, his pitch was an attempt to hook me to donate to Greenpeace. When he had finished his spiel and handed me a clipboard, I looked at it and said, “well, I can’t really donate right now because I’m not doing too well financially.”

He was not nonplussed. “It would be pretty messed up if we didn’t let people become members for financial reasons,” he said. I would agree. “So, we let you donate as little as 15 dollars a month.”

This seemed to contradict what he had just said. Fifteen dollars is a tremendous sum–about 1.2% of my monthly salary or two hours of work. After rent and transit (about 70% of my income) I have had weeks where I finished with as little $28 in my bank account, and I really didn’t need another $15 docked. I told the man my little parable about having $28 at the end of last month.

“That means you can still donate $15 and have money left over!” he said.

—-

The point I’d hoped to get across to this brainwashed fool was that money shouldn’t really be necessary to support a social cause. Words, actions and volunteer time are, in a true social revolution, more important than money.

Diogenes of Sinope: the first freegan

Diogenes in his barrel, where he slept and lived

The mascot of Home-free Living is Diogenes of Synope, a Greek philosopher and “Cynic” (he is actually the originator of the word cynic, more on that later) and a perpetual vagabond and wanderer.

Diogenes may have been the world’s first official freegan-–he was the first espouser of freegan philosophy, at least. He is reputed to have slept in a barrel and eaten for free off of others’ plates. Diogenes was famously skeptical of capitalists, finding it incredulous

“…that misers blamed money but were preposterously fond of it.” [...] He often condemned those who praise the just for being superior to money, but who at the same time are eager themselves for great riches. (227)

The Food Stamp Labyrinth

I would like to relate my experience of going on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. This is a federal program that is still colloquially referred to as “food stamps,” though technically this is incorrect. While the ability to buy food used to be administered via stamps that could be exchanged for food, they migrated more recently to a credit card-like system: the bearer is given a card that has a balance on it. The money on the card can be swiped like a credit card at the supermarket, but it can only pay for food.

On Happiness and Values (and why I hate Palo Alto)

All this talk of jobs and lifestyle has had happiness on my mind lately. What is it that makes one person happy as opposed to another and why? Is there any universality in this?

I think about this often in relation to my “job.” (I use scare-quotes to denote that my job is probably only loosely a job; because it’s through Americorps, it is bureaucratically “service,” and I get paid a “stipend,” not a salary by the government’s definition. Also I don’t like thinking of it as a job because I don’t like it). I am perpetually unhappy at my job. I feel like it is taking away from my real life goals–-not only taking away, but detracting in fact, not building towards anything at all. I would be okay with a job that took up all my time if it allowed me to save money, because that would equate to eventual freedom from work. I would be okay with a job I didn’t like if I worked part-time and had more freedom with my time. I would be okay with a job I liked. This job fulfills none of those requirements.

Anyway, I wonder at how unhappy I am because so many of my co-workers seem pretty contented. I’m kind of the anomaly. Even though we’re working for a nonprofit, I don’t find the bureaucratic busywork in the least bit stimulating. But most people here seem pretty happy, pretty fulfilled. I’ve kept very secret my own feelings towards the state of pure work into which my life’s been funneled.

Admittedly I feel frustrated that others are happy when I am not. Why is this? Why can’t I be happy in something that so many others seem to not only find contenting but downright enjoyable?

Why not now?

What a horrible day at work. I feel like I’m kept alive by the last remaining thread of hope I have, which is this scheme to go homeless. The mangling of my daily free time at this job is the most disheartening feeling I have ever had. I struggle to find ways to maintain my cool at work, but my dispassion is starting to seep out. I have been fortunate to have been able to use the facets of social engineering to get away with avoiding a lot more discomfort than I would otherwise.

The Hardest Part

If there are other people out there reading this and considering their own transition to the home-free life–whether for personal, political, environmental or economic reasons–they might be inclined to ask, “what’s the hardest part?”

Well, I’ll be honest about what the hardest part for me is, mentally.

The hardest part is imagining sleeping without the usual degree of safety.

Good News in Santa Cruz

Great news regarding camping & parking in Santa Cruz–-apparently it’s easier than I thought.

I went down last weekend to visit and do some research on what being homeless there might be like. My first mission was to seek out parking and see if it was even possible to find permit-free overnight parking. On instinct, I immediately turned onto the industrial, north side of River Street as soon as I came off Highway One. Bingo! Almost all the streets were no parking 1AM-5AM, but I was able to find one or two small streets that allowed overnight parking without a permit.

AFAQ part 2

A Fictional Interview of the Author by an Inflamed Conservative, part II (Anticipated Frequently Asked Questions [A.F.A.Q.])

IC: Why can’t you liberals just be happy?

KB: Ah, I’m very glad you asked this, IC. This is something that both liberals and conservatives–but particularly conservatives–have at the core of their beliefs about America and developed-world lifestyle. The aforeposed sentiment is exemplified by this bumper sticker:

“Annoy a Liberal – Work hard. Succeed. Be Happy”

IC: Yes, I suppose that is the sentiment I was expressing.

KB: I like this sticker because it illustrates the core difference between conservative and liberal–particularly eco-liberal–value systems. In order to examine this difference, I am going to start with the original sentiment and move on to the bumper sticker.

AFAQ

Playing Devil’s Advocate with myself, I thought I’d write up a list of anticipated frequently asked questions (AFAQ) regarding The Adventure. I have gleaned the essence of some of these possible critiques from other websites, where many enterprising individuals who have similar stated goals of homelessness have faced berating from others online. I hope to address any of these potential concerns thoroughly, as I assure you that I have thought this out well beyond the point of naïveté.

considerations on the ideal lifestyle

A friend asked me a few days ago what my goal was in forgoing my house.

My reply was: “So I can be free.”

And I then added, “Free as in Speech, not as in ‘buy one get one.’”