The value of work - Page 3

Steve, I find your theory to quite depressing, but I do agree with it on many levels. The "American Dream," to me, is just a tool that the ruling class use as a method to exploit the working class and give them a false motivation to work harder with small, slightly increasing reward. Now, the only inherent flaw I see in your idea is that it suggests that we all aspire to be rich or to be powerful, when in fact some people (myself included) do not wish to have a comfortable lifestyle with a 3-storey craftsman house and a golf club membership. I don't mean to insult you or do any injustice to your philosophies, so if I'm misunderstanding, please correct me. I measure success by being able to achieve what I desire. I don't care, in all honesty, whether I make a lot of money, or even $40,000 a year. Sure, a level of comfort comes with a steady, nice income, but I don't desire a level of comfort, because that doesn't force me to be living "on the edge," to be cliche. However, this isn't to suggest that I will be a drone in some corporate environment with 100 people working above me; this I refuse to ever do. I will never be a slave under a business man. I am an artist, I am not selling my intellectual property for a minimal yearly sallary to give some jackass who sees me as a tool a higher stock price. I'm not part of the chain. I suppose now that I think about, independence gives me satisfaction. Independence from corporate reliance and from the system that Steve so aptly illustrates. If I have to sit on the dole between jobs every once in awhile, so be it.

Yeah, I thought a little more on the probable ratio, and I came up with something close to yours. I haven't seen the film yet, although I did love Roger & Me, as well as Bowling for Columbine. That having been said, my friend thinks of Michael Moore as a fat man who's an expert at getting himself thrown out of buildings, so... I don't debate the bit about the Saudi aircraft. I also don't doubt that previous administrations still have a lot to answer for. I seem to remember something about the current administration choosing not to release some internal records from a past administration. Sucks. I still have to read The Price of Loyalty all the way through. It's very well-written. Edit: Kurt Vonnegut didn't seem to hate F9/11 that much. He even defended it against some Newsweek critics. If it's good enough for Vonnegut, an author whom I adore, it's good enough for me.

Steve, Thanks again for your interesting comments. We have more in common than I would've thought.

You get your secret decoder ring when you purchase your third bespoke suit. The secret passage to the ruling class clubhouse is in the Kiton MTM boutique at Bergdorf Goodman.

Sssshhhh... You're not supposed to talk about this..

Believe it or not, there is a guy who's a custom tailor who's written a book about this as it involves custom tailoring...Haven't read it, but I could possibly find somewhere to get it if anyone's interested. Also, I've left off replying to the other posts in order to let the issue die. Unless someone wants me to resurrect it...