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"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." - Socrates
This works until private equity comes by and makes their trailer home just as expensive as any other home. Yes, this is a thing that is happening in the remaining trailer parks, because of course it is.
Capitalism is the best system.
This comic speaks to me because both the general vibe and the specific actions are the kinds of things I've consciously been putting more into my life.
I have managed to curate an existence similar to the comic in many ways. As opposed to their tranquil little home being a camper in the woods, mine is more of a combination petting zoo and computer lab hidden in plain sight. It's a little old house in a blue collar neighborhood. Being old means even though it's quiet here, I'm located SO close to local resources and POIs.
Being able to walk my son to elementary school is also some next-level wholesome and calming stuff. I get just a dose of the walkable lifestyle, even though I expect I will be driving a car everywhere else for my entire life.
I don't think it's about the "capacity to enjoy less".
I think it's about shedding the things we think we need. It's about surrounding ourselves with the beauty of the world, and allowing ourselves to enjoy these things while weathering the horrible things.
It's not easy, and I think the comic deliberately focuses on the beauty while also conveying hardship through the simple juxtaposition of abject poverty.
There's nothing wrong with "more", but sometimes when we must discard our dreams and visions of "more", and embrace less, we find ourselves ultimately enriched.
In short, society likes to lie to us about what we truly need and want. And those lies convince us all too often that we are failures if we don't meet or exceed certain societal and cultural expectations.
I'm sure many people took the quote to mean this, but I don't like wording... It's not about a "capacity" to enjoy less, it's about an ability to see more.
God damn i wish I could setup a camper somewhere and not be fucking kicked out.
Fuck the social contract, if society wants participants it can offer something of value in return.
Fuck the social contract, if society wants participants it can offer something of value in return.
Having something in return is the whole point of the social contract. The social contract is already broken in the US, and slowly breaking eveywhere else.
Itt: tons of people judging these characters for being happy.
Not for being happy, but for being immature
Also the littering
I agree with the "enjoy the simple things" of this but this is not a smart plan for your future. You should absolutely make an effort to not only get by now, but also later when problems may arise.
I have a good friend of mine who may be related to this comic. He was a trucker and lost his job in the 2008 crisis. After that he decided he did not want to get a job anymore.
He set up a tent in the woods and lives there. He goes down town to read books every day and people give him some money. He has food, he has his place full of books and with the money he gets he can buy some wine to enjoy the day. Cool guy to be around and have nice chats.
He's got a good life he enjoys. What should he plan for? If he ever gets sick (and with his lifestyle he really doesn't get sick) he can go to the hospital and they'll treat him for free. He's got more clothes and stuff he may ever need as people just throw stuff away and he collects it. In fact he gifted me clothes, backpacks, pans and other stuff.
I do not think he needs to plan much more to maintain his lifestyle. I mean, some planning is good. I know he took down a few trees as he's planning to make a teepee to have a better kitchen area. But I don't think much more planning than that would significantly improve his life.
A working healthcare system makes a huge difference yes!
What is in this comic that implies they are not planning for their future? It is simply not addressed in the comic because that's not relevant to what the author is trying to convey.
3rd panel
i want to get rid of most of my technology and just live with the bare minimum. I don't like how my brain has been trained to be a good little piggy to these algorithms... but at the same time, its so hard to leave...
Some people were never meant to be good little capitalistic drones capable of working long hours just to be profitable to some member of the Parasite Class who already has obscene amounts of wealth but desperately needs more.
Some people were just meant to go through life vibing with the universe.
And that’s OK, it just means they are wholly incompatible with our current civilization.