Responsibility

Why do people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. We have a recession, and it is the bank's fault, but is it? Did the banks make people borrow too much so that they couldn't cope when times turned bad. No, we did that all by ourselves. We had to have the new car/holiday/furniture/designer clothes.

An escape route from all our troubles viewed from the south window

Then people complain that "why should they pay for the bank's errors?" because they are the ones that asked the banks for the cheap credit and loans of many times the size that they could pay back. The banks could be at fault for giving the people the money, but if they hadn't given the credit then people would have complained that the banks are being unreasonably mean.

A golden outlook from the north window

Oh wait! That's what they are doing at the moment. As the country cries "Why can't I get a mortgage?", "Why can't you lend to the small businesses?" Think what you would do in your house if your kids wanted a new DVD and you couldn't afford it. You would take responsibility and you would scream "NO!"

Now just scale it up a bit and then think again.

Do you really need to?

Have you considered how much of what we do is unnecessary. For example how many hours do you have to go to work just to pay for the things that you need to go to work ie. clothes, travel, packed lunches etc.

Look south for what we need

Would life be better if you only worked for the things that you needed. Grow your own, build your own, make your own. Absolute satisfaction, yes, but much, much more work. What if everyone did the same. Chaos, no schools, hospitals, police, sanitation, or in fact any services.

Look north for the end of another day of what we had to do

So you end up going to work not for the things you need but the things that make society tolerable. Perhaps someday someone will come up with a way where everybody wins. Perhaps when we grow out of our fascination, or should I say greed, for money.

The best things in life are free!

Free is good, whether it is music, books, an office suite or a complete operating system, free is good. As long as it's legal. You can get through life legally getting stuff for nothing. Just search for "creative commons" or "open source software" and you will see what I mean.

Free drama through the north window

OK so the books might not be the latest bestsellers, most of the music might be so-so, and the computer software might not have a 24 hour support desk, but if you look around you will find music as good as anything that you would pay for, books better than the pulp fiction that dominates the bookshops, and computer software that does exactly what the paid for stuff does.

Free gold through the south window

Does this mean that you shouldn't buy anything, of course not, it means that you have a real choice, something that capitalism tries to convince us that we have, as long as it is their choice.

Try it for a week or two, you might find that you like it.

Here are a few to get you started:
www.jamendo.com (music)
http://manybooks.net (books)
www.libreoffice.org (office suite)
www.ubuntu.com (operating system)

Old vs new

We have just bought a whistling kettle. Over the last three years we have managed to kill three electric kettles, whilst they are convenient and fast they are so shoddily made that they decide to break at a moments notice.

Sunset from the north window

The whistling kettle has a 25 year guarantee, it sings to you when it is boiling and it can be used on a camping stove. Unfortunately it takes longer to boil and that means longer temptation by the biscuit tin.

Ferry arriving viewed from the south window

What is better old or new, I guess it depends on the situation. I would rather go to Kirkwall on the ferry, after all the car wouldn't fit on my peedie yole.

Do you remember the first time?

You don't know what to write about, you wonder what people will think, will it all be just a bit self indulgent. Or you might be setting the world to right, revealing hidden conspiracies or just have loads of helpful hints.

View from the south window

I don't know where this will end up, but I do know that I will look at the world from two sides and I will keep things mercifully short.

 

View from the north window

Well I guess the sun is setting on this first post.