[Razvan]

Just pick something and go with it. I wanted to be a photojournalist. I instead became a nuclear medicine technologist (am in school currently in the program). I see it as a high paying daily job that'll fund my projects and will someday help me reach my goal of becoming a photojournalist or whatever else strikes my fancy.

This is how I fool myself too, only with writing, but truth is I never started it although I've been telling myself for years to just start do it. I always find something else to do. I'm trying to get myself to start doing it, no matter what, even if it's not in a perfect situation, the perfect moment or whatever, do it just for fun and if it's the right thing for me, the rest will come along. At least that's how I try to motivate myself to get started, because I feel that if I don't try it and laze off, I will never do it, I'll just fall in the routine of my day job and day to day life.

And this I just had to steal. It's awesome.

[niki]

This is how I fool myself too, only with writing, but truth is I never started it although I've been telling myself for years to just start do it. I always find something else to do. I'm trying to get myself to start doing it, no matter what, even if it's not in a perfect situation, the perfect moment or whatever, do it just for fun and if it's the right thing for me, the rest will come along. At least that's how I try to motivate myself to get started, because I feel that if I don't try it and laze off, I will never do it, I'll just fall in the routine of my day job and day to day life.

@Razvan and @Polyethylene : thanks for your comment,...it's what exactly I need to read, and be reminded again, today... when I just experienced some kind of an 'euphoria' (ie: a very amazing music concert by my favorite band last night!),...and now today I've got back and 'trapped' again into the 'normal, slow, dry, dull, mundane/boring' daily-routinity (ie: helping my father's businesses)...
no matter what, I'll keep pursuing what's True-est for me, and one of them the most important is: to keep composing/creating music and become a great musician,...no matter what!.. :)

.
so, any other else who have this "Make a Living" dilemma, daily/everyday?..
please share here~

[MyNameIsTooLon]

I know that I have to be successful in order to make my ideals a reality. Yes, I have my ideals, but I want them to be real and not just something living in my head.

[MyNameIsTooLon]

@Listener I have also had a moral struggle when it comes to dealing with capitalism. It feels inherently wrong to me and having done postcolonial development studies in uni, I got an eyeful of how many people have been detrimentally impacted by the inclusion of Western forms of capitalism into their societies. However, as Hernando de Soto said, capitalism is the only game in town. You can't avoid it participating in it, everyone needs a roof over their head, food in their mouths and clothes on their back. Even if you were to join one of those cool little cooperative farming communities, you'd still find yourself selling your vegetables at the market or your energy back to the grid. I have a lot of anarchist friends and they still sell their hand dyed wool and recycled innertube jewelry on etsy because they have to make rent like everyone else.

So the question then becomes, if you can't avoid participating in the pervasive capitalist system, how do you make ends meet without the values conflict? My advice to you would be to look into nonprofit work. Find a job advocating for the homeless. Become a social worker who helps get disadvantaged people back on their feet. If you are a US citizen, look into Americorps or the Peace Corps. Find a way to help people that makes you feel good about yourself in the process. You don't have to go into a corporate environment where profit is the purpose like jimg1126 did. You might end up making 20k a year for the rest of your life, but you'll still be able to pay your bills that way and sleep with a clear conscience at night.

I think that as a healthy adult, your ideals should evolve once you see more of the world and gain a better understanding of how everything works. Everything is not so black and white as you make it out to be.

[bromide]

I think that as a healthy adult, your ideals should evolve once you see more of the world and gain a better understanding of how everything works. Everything is not so black and white as you make it out to be.

You're making some pretty interesting assumptions about my age and experience here.

[MyNameIsTooLon]

You're making some pretty interesting assumptions about my age and experience here.

I'm simply commenting on your post, I'm sure you're a much more complex person than your post implies.

Your views on capitalism are extremely black and white and overly simplistic. Do you really want to help people or do you want to help them to feel better?

[adverseaffects]

I'm simply commenting on your post, I'm sure you're a much more complex person than your post implies.

Your views on capitalism are extremely black and white and overly simplistic. Do you really want to help people or do you want to help them to feel better?

The implication that someone who has arrived to different conclusions than you must have done so by an infantile or short-sighted process is pretty overly simplistic in my mind.

[MyNameIsTooLon]

The implication that someone who has arrived to different conclusions than you must have done so by an infantile or short-sighted process is pretty overly simplistic in my mind.

Nothing is completely good or bad so for someone to label something as being "evil" and that it goes against their ideals, without any real reasoning, implies that they haven't thought it through thorougly. I'm prepared to be proven wrong, though, as I'm quite interested in why capitalism is an evil thing that should be avoided at all costs.

[bromide]

Do me a favour and point out the part of my post where I referred to every form of capitalism as "evil", @MyNameIsTooLon.

[MyNameIsTooLon]

I have also had a moral struggle when it comes to dealing with capitalism. It feels inherently wrong to me

in·her·ent

   /ɪnˈhɪərənt, -ˈhɛr-/ Show Spelled[in-heer-uhnt, -her-] Show IPA
adjective 1. existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute: an inherent distrust of strangers.

wrong

   /rɔŋ, rɒŋ/ Show Spelled[rawng, rong] Show IPA
adjective 1. not in accordance with what is morally right or good: a wrong deed.

e·vil

   /ˈivəl/ Show Spelled[ee-vuhl] Show IPA
adjective 1. morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life.






So why is captalism wrong?