SOC

Whenever I think writer's block is coming on, I have recourse to two features here on the C-Blog. The first is Google Trends where I try and write something witty or just plain stupid on the topics people are Google searching the most. The other is SOC which means "stream of consciousness." This is where I write about anything and everything as it pops into my head.

The thing that has been on my mind most lately has been my turn towards minimalism. For a long time, I have been frustrated by a lack of time, money, and energy. But as Leo Babauta points out in The Power of Less, you are never going to have enough resources to meet all your goals, ambitions, and aspirations. The result of all this wishing and wanting is frustration. It means nothing unless you make progress on your goals. By having too many goals, you end up achieving nothing. The power of less is where you achieve more by focusing on fewer things.

I am definitely someone with too many goals. So, I've been paring back on those ambitions. The thing I find difficult is deciding on what is important and what is not. I am thinking of nuking my Beshitted blog even though my brother thinks it is pretty damn funny. The reality is that I am out of ideas for that project, and I am not an artist, cartoonist, or whatnot. I write. That project is an example of where my ambition exceeds my resources. I would have been better served incorporating it as an irregular feature on the C-Blog. With that said, I think I will move those posts to the C-Blog and delete Beshitted. I will keep posting them as inspiration strikes me.

The other thing that has been on my mind has been being a blue collar man. The fact is that I can go white collar at will because I have a degree and opportunities. What holds me back is a great deal of ambivalence and dissatisfaction with that line of work. In fact, I can't even call it work since most white collar professions seem intent on nothing more than bullshitting all day and getting paid for it. Consider that all the blue collar people and people who actually work are paying to bail out the fat cats on Wall Street. I could care less what they do with their money or the money of their shareholders and clients. I do care when I am robbed to pay for their tomfuckery. I don't think I am alone in this sentiment.

I respect workers who turn out a product or service regardless if it involves dirty hands or office work. I respect owners and entrepreneurs who put their capital at risk. But I don't respect or admire people in financial services, the legal profession, or middle management who derive income not from providing something of value but from getting over on people. Whenever you deal with honest people, you feel like you got the better part of the deal which as any economist will tell you is the point of capitalism. You don't feel exploited in an honest free market exchange. Yet, when dealing with these slimebags, you always leave feeling like you just got your ass reamed out.

Most of my feelings about the way white collar work should be is informed by Vanguard founder Jack Bogle who believed in fiduciary responsibility. You can be honest and wear a tie. But it means taking the high road as opposed to getting over on the people you represent. I am tired of banks and financial entities who charge all sorts of fees for what? What do I get for these fees? What the fuck am I buying? The privilege of getting fucked over?

Over the years, I have been begged to do the following occupations:

-mortgage broker
-real estate agent
-stock broker
-life insurance salesman

All four of these occupations involve selling products and services that I would never buy for myself. I would love to work for Vanguard, but they are deluged by applicants from the other companies wanting to get the hell out of Slimeworld.

I would have an easier time ethically being a lawyer. Lawyers get a bad rap, but they are supposed to zealously pursue their client's interests. That's it. Ours is an adversarial system, and this is the way it should be. Unfortunately, too many lawyers go after the big cash in tort cases involving personal injury and other forms of ambulance chasing. They cross the line a lot on this shit, and it hurts the rest of us.

I have become a huge fan of Mike Rowe and his celebration and advocacy of the blue collar worker. I don't share his economic views because they are more union/mercantilist than free market. But I like that he and the Discovery Channel spend so much highlighting what I consider to be truly great jobs. They are dirty and sometimes dangerous. But the dirty secret is that blue collar work is extremely satisfying. There is something invigorating in getting a job done.

I had a white collar job once, and I hated it. It was the worst job I ever had. I was stressed and depressed from that job. But I'm glad I did it because it makes me value the work I do now.

Dishonesty and happiness cannot coexist. This is why people in white collar professions have such high job dissatisfaction. They are miserable. I know this misery very well. I have friends who had the same job I had who were just as miserable. This isn't a temperamental thing. It is universal. I think this is why employees at Goldman Sachs are urged to get rich in their thirties and get out of the company to "do good." This involves working in government or something else. I wouldn't call this good, but clearly, Goldman Sachs people have no interest in tomfuckery as a lifelong career choice. They get the money first then spend the rest of their lives seeing if they can find happiness. Clearly, the two are not intertwined at Goldman Sachs.

I like to think that Warren Buffett is an honest guy, but he has shown himself to be a crony capitalist like all the rest. He has had no qualms in looking to the government to be the backstop for his activities. He bet on the bailouts and invested in Goldman Sachs. He is a pure Keynesian. I have lost the last little bit of respect I had for the man. But I am digressing. . .

I like the blue collar way. I like jobs where you do something meaningful and honest. I admire guys who drive pickup trucks, wear Carhartt jeans and Dickie's workpants, listen to country music, and drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller High Life. I envy farmers, welders, iron workers, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, and bricklayers.

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