A Discussion at Harper College

A Discussion at Harper College (2016)

Below are highlights and excerpts from a discussion between myself and a member of the intellectual community that took place in a music room on the William Rainey Harper College campus in Palatine, IL.

Thoughts on Economics:

"When I think of the economy here in the U.S. my first thought is wages, or rather, the lack of thereof. Let me start by saying that any working adult must never live in poverty, regardless of education level, skill set, family background, or experience. Unfortunately this is not the case for America's economic model, which I find to be primitive and Regressive. You have countless examples of dedicated hardworking adults who must rely on government assistance to survive. This leads me to believe that their employers are either greedy or just plain sadistic, because... why would you have someone work for you all week, sacrificing many hours of time, body strength, overall health, and peace of mind, and not even pay them a fair living wage in return? It just doesn't make any sense. When given a different perspective, I find the behavior of many employers to be quite disturbing and sick.”

“I believe the entire capitalist model is based on barbarism, cruelty, and sadism. It is quite a failed system, in my eyes. I am not an expert on the math and detail behind economics, but just from casually observing prices in stores and property rents around Chicago suburban zip codes, I can say that a reasonable starting wage for an adult working full time should be around $20 per hour. Now, this is just to survive. Of course there must be raises compensating for inflation and improved work performance tied into the employment agreement. Again, I'm only describing the bare minimum here with the $20 per hour figure. Anything less than this I would consider to be worker exploitation and psychological terrorism at the hands of the employer. "

“Another aspect of today’s economy I oppose is excessive wealth hoarding. If I absolutely had to pick a number, I would say about one million of today’s dollars would be more than sufficient to meet my necessities for the rest of my life. There is a good chance I would donate over one half of any large sum of money I may ever receive, within the first week or two of receiving it. I just don’t see the point of accumulating many millions, or even billions of dollars in wealth. It’s a completely fake and hollow culture from my point of view. It would make me feel very, very dirty, and used. No matter what a person’s labor or enterprise is, there is absolutely no way a reasonable observer can say that the observed person legitimately earned so many, many millions or even many billions of dollars in just a few years or even decades of work. This is a lie capitalists tell, and also a logical impossibility.”

"The whole concept of economic hierarchy, of dominance of management over worker, of chain-of-command, of fake elitist culture... disgusts and sickens me to the core. We are sentient, self-aware, fragile beings drifting on a small rock in a small star system floating in an enormous galaxy that is still just a barely-there speck in the infinite vastness of space. How in the right mind can anyone, for any reason, think it is okay to have dominance over a fellow being's life, in any way, shape, or form?"

Music:

"Nothing I do was effortless at the beginning. I struggled mightily when first learning music, and even considered quitting several times. I think the key to success here is discipline. Forget about learning quickly or playing fast music, the first step is to use discipline and master the very basics until they become easy, then build from there. I have been a recording artist for several years now. I enjoy the peace and quiet of my music space, and also the options to do many takes for a recording then pick the best one later. Live playing is not my natural strength, so I am still developing that. As far as the instruments themselves, I pretty much started with basic open chords on acoustic guitar, and then learned simple scales like A minor pentatonic. Also learning the major scale was crucial. I think it's very important for any musician to really master this scale, and basically have it engraved into your mindset. I am actually quite a late starter on piano. I think I started around age 23 or 24. I don’t think age matters in music. A so called late starter can easily have as much, if not more success than an early one, or even a child prodigy. I think it's all about keeping your mind open. Everyone's potential is limitless; they just need to access it properly."

Broader views:

"What interests me about life in general is that no one actually knows what anything really is. We have a theory today that states everything came from one singularity and then expanded rapidly after the Big Bang, eventually forming the observable Universe after many billions of years. I don't think much is known about what happened prior to this, or exactly how many, if any, other dimensions or multiverses exist beyond what we can see and measure.”

“What I have observed is that organized mass religion has been very detrimental to our species. I support a way of thinking similar to Secular Humanism. I believe that if all members of the species adapted this system, then preventable catastrophes like Nuclear war, income inequality, wealth hoarding, and the rise of a fascist dictator in an industrialized nation can be stopped. Simply put, religion to me is just a bunch of fiction and rhetoric and it's hard to take anyone who treats religion as fact seriously. I think we all need to kind of wake up and embrace scientific thinking, but not as an indisputable fact that must never be questioned - which is how many Primitive Regressives view the archaic Bible - but instead as a learning tool for progress and development. Hopefully this translates to better living, so in the future we don't have fascist psychopaths like Donald Trump running around, getting legitimate support from the masses of citizens who are either grossly misinformed or intellectually underdeveloped and severely regressed in that regard"

On the future:

"I think humanity's future could be bright if we embrace Secular Humanism, or something similar. I believe all information and energy will be free and easily accessible to the average citizen in the future. If that future person wanted to, I believe he or she should be able to obtain a high level of education in any field free of any financial charge. The basic energy needs must also be free. There is no reason for anyone to ever be without food, water, shelter, healthcare, transportation, or security. Not with these obscene stockpiles of idle wealth that we have all over the world. We must access these immense stockpiles and re-distribute them in a civilized, organized, and rational manner.”

“I believe the more information that travels between people across all levels of society, the better of that society will be as a whole. This is a very idealistic view, but I don't think it is impossible to achieve. To me if starts with educating yourself and thinking critically and questioning everything. What I've realized during my time in this society is that many people simply do not know how to think or ask questions. They basically burn through their lives like biological automatons, taking orders, creating economic output, and then dying anonymously. I find this to be rather depressing and unnerving, but I believe it can be corrected over time.”

“All people need to learn how to think for themselves. They must learn how to question any and all authority at all times.”