“Kids Just Wanna Have Somethin’ To Do”

-from the song Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue by The Ramones

Believe me friends, my use of the above titled song and the quote from it are NOT an endorsement of glue sniffing in any way, shape, or form. That is not what I do. My intent is only to make a point regarding how some people do not understand how a society would not collapse and die if every citizen received a basic income from the government equal to a living wage. The argument that I hear from people regarding giving us a basic income is that “nobody would ever get up off their ass and work again.” I think that is baloney and I have said so here on this blog many times before. There is one issue that does have some validity that is that there are some who would stay at home glued to their computers and smartphones schmoozing on social media sites all day without a care in the world, but that situation is one that I will address in a forthcoming post. It will require a bit more analysis. It may be true that there are some people who couldn’t care less about the world they live in. I would never say that everyone presents their best self to the world every day of their life. It is too bad that they choose to be this way when even the slackers have something positive to contribute to their world, but you won’t see something that you refuse to look at. So yes, there would be some who wouldn’t see the benefit in making a better world for themselves or anybody else but try to set aside for the moment how some morons would be thrilled with a perceived “free ride” in the world. There is little hope for those who adopt a mentality of uselessness.  If they don’t want to understand the benefit to them and to their world by doing a job that would actually change their entire way of thinking about their own worth, we can do little about it except present an example of it in the way that we live in hopes of changing their perspective. Remove their behavior from your mindset for a few minutes. We have more important things to ponder right now.

If you are a parent, you already know that children, especially small children, love being able to help their parents with a task around the house. If you do not have children, it is a fact that you used to be one. You most likely remember wanting to be like mom and dad in that you wanted to help wash the car or work in the yard, etc. You wanted to be included. It is a very good feeling to know that you have accomplished something. You feel worth as a person, and it helps so much with your self-esteem to hear that you did a good job. This is the main point that I want to stress here. If your basic needs for living are being met with a basic income to cover them, you will still need to feel that you are needed in some way. Work provides that if it is work that you feel confident about doing. If it makes for a nicer, cleaner, and less chaotic world, all the better. I would be the first to admit that there are many jobs in this world that are not a lot of fun. Truly some of them are not as important as others but if you are an adult, you are wise enough to realize that they have worth in the larger scheme of things. I would also say that there are a lot of jobs that might fall by the wayside because their benefits are redundant, because there are hundreds of places that do the same thing such as multiple restaurants in the same town, multiple beauty salons etc. I do believe that most people are willing to delay a bit of gratification and do some of the crappy jobs to keep the world functioning in a balanced way. I think it would help if these jobs were part time. I also believe that it would be a tremendous benefit to the entire world if we stopped promoting glamour, sexuality, fame, and wealth as ideals. These things are the backbone of capitalism and advertising because it keeps people focused on striving for things that make a ton of money for them. To be effective, they must make you believe that you can be so much better than having to focus on those things that sustain and keep life going. I am counting on the fact that most adults are aware of what it takes to keep the world running in the best possible way for all of us and if they no longer have to experience the terror of being unable to live a safe and decent life or be constantly bombarded with messages of superiority, they will channel their energies into the tasks that make it possible to stay that way. Life is a gift. Food, shelter, and healthcare should be a human right, but in order to get and keep those things there must be gratitude for them and a contribution of your time and effort to maintain them. Karl Marx said it best, and though I am going to paraphrase here he basically said that we need to contribute to our society according to our ability and take from the world according to our need. A promotion of this ideal needs to be proffered starting in childhood and shown to us in a way that reflects it as our best selves truly are what gives us our best possible world to live in.

The above referenced song was written by Dee Dee Ramone in the 1970s. This was actually a part of his experience in life. A bored kid with nothing to do. Somewhere along the line he learned that he could sniff glue and it would keep him from being bored and give him something to do. I suspect that thinking like this, springs from overworked and overwhelmed parents who don’t have the time or the inclination to show an example of better pastimes than this. That happens way too much of the time. Capitalism does that. As overwrought as parents might have been at any time in history, we are now in situations globally where people are being mentally and emotionally destroyed. Our children are seeing this and also seeing that their future does not matter to us. If we don’t step away from the destructive path that we are on and try a different way of doing things there is little hope for us. Positive change is possible, and it can be done. It does start in the individual. Once you realize that the planet is falling apart and people are collapsing under the weight of a system that has far outlived its usefulness you can redirect your thinking toward propping up the people and promoting a better way. Beating them to death with capitalism is showing just how low we can sink under its dictates. If you can envision a better way you can take your vision to others and make it manifest. We can give people a reason to want to build up society instead of tear it down, but it has to start with a secure base. When people have that, it is unlikely that their first thought when they find that they have more time for themselves will be to “sniff some glue.” Keeping their better and more beneficial world will be the incentive to see that it stays that way. What would you do if you had more time for yourself? At first you might want to sleep late every day for a month. But then you are likely to get up and consider that you want to matter in this life. That is when you can begin to ask how you can matter in the shaping of your life and the shaping of your world. Manufacturing and maintenance of the world needs us to function. We ask for respect for being willing to do those jobs. With our basic needs met and the needs of the companies being met there is a level playing field for everyone and it is everyone’s best chance for understanding and equality in the workplace. What you do doesn’t have to be something that only benefits your employer in exchange for a small amount of money that they can deny you if they feel like it. This is what true freedom is. It is having a say in how you live and what you achieve. You deserve that. Others have sold you an ideal that benefits them more than it ever will you. It does not have to be that way. It is worth getting up off your backside for. And it is a good somethin' to do.