Why Ben Franklin Said It For Hippies

An important question for someone wanting to live an alternative lifestyle is how to survive financially. Hippies are descended spiritually from the Bohemian tradition, where people in Europe chose to intentionally associate with the lower class, preferring freedom and artistic expression over wealth. Even in modern society, conformity is a force to be reckoned with, and a person must still choose between image and alternative living.

Today's market is saturated with images and music, and originals have less retail value than they used to. A person can promote themselves; but it is difficult to gain a career as a writer, painter, musician, or singer without financial backing. As for conformity, corporations are looking for a certain ideal, which basically means it is essential to be proper and polite, to the effect that only bullshit comes out of your mouth. Anything less than soulless non-expression might damage corporate interests. If you have a reputation for anything, you might just not get through the door. Your professional competitors perpetuate this system, because they are invested into bullshit and benefit from it.

Hippies, at any rate, often prefer to escape the drudgery of hard work. For them, the good life is not a pent house and a big-screen TV (although if we find a TV in the garbage, we take it), but a backwoods trailer and lemonade with funny ingredients. It is a fact, for good or bad, that hippies tend to shun a 40-hour schedule. On the other hand, is this a bad strategy in a time when people are not able to find work? Existing labor can be shared, so more people have a piece of the pie. Also, hippies do their part because they are specialized in being dirt poor.

Bohemian by choice or not, it is still a question, how a hippie can survive. Living in town takes money; suburb houses cost mortgage and utilities, and if you cannot be assured a steady income, it is dangerous to make a long-term investment. Apartments may not incur debt, but they can be expensive, and equity on an asset is not being developed. Hippies in town often live several to a home, but this requires some level of organization. Bathroom, living room, and kitchen must be shared. To avoid infighting, things must be scheduled.

The ideal is living in the country, where a person can build their own home and even raise crop and livestock. This, of course, also takes a bucket of sweat, but it is not in vain. Land is a valuable, long-term asset, once it is payed off. A person who spends more time smoking weed than shoveling hay will not succeed. A person interested in country living must cooperate with others economically, or must be willing to commit themselves to enough work to pay off the land. Laziness is a benefit of being thoroughly situated.

With a homestead, a person must maintain a home, yard, and whatever they choose to raise. Crop must be attended to, and self-sufficient creatures such as chickens and geese must still be fed and managed. Living the hippie dream requires work, like all others, and a commitment to intelligent method. Anyone who experiments with gardening and alternative living can testify that it requires no small knowledge. Hippies exchange method for technology. Pollution and expense are avoided, if you know how. That said, a person must be willing to spend months and years learning these skills. The payoff is economic self-sufficiency and being in charge of one's own food, utilities, and paycheck. Incidentally, goose meat sells for $50 a bird or more, and goose fat is equal to olive oil in health value.

Benjamin Franklin said it best: "A penny saved is a penny earned." It takes creativity and going out of your way to avoid expense, and those who save a substantial amount of cash from their living expenses have earned it. Frugality is a value that even hard-butt conservatives appreciate, because it is how wealth is acquired over time rather than squandered. A hippie that is smart with his or her modest income can invest in a better life, rather than just hanging out in the park or rummaging through garbage like a hobo.

It is not that I am bashing the dumpster divers that frequent this site; you truly are recycling. It is just that hippies must be prepared to plan and work in order to fulfill their long-term dreams. People living by their own means invest time and effort in order to be sucessful. It is not an easy path, but using hand tools and tending to friendly ducklings is much more spiritually satisfying than flipping hamburgers and being treated like an expendable slave.

 

this one did not get much traffic, or any posts.

 

i enjoyed it

 

OK check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8rwURmzBf8"]YouTube - ‪Introducing Stone Soup Institute, Part 1 of 2‬‏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3IpasDVnJ4"]YouTube - ‪Introducing Stone Soup Institute, part 2 of 2‬‏

 

Once again the Rev JC astounds us all with this great find of the peace and harmony one can find if he only knows where to look.
While watching Parts 1 and 2 I was reminded of the Foxfire Series of Books and how they came to be. Seems some college or high school students were thinking one day that the skills of the land from raising a cabin to the growing of crops and harvesting, butchering hogs or the finer points of making moonshine were soon to be lost if someone didn't write it all down for generations yet to come. So these young kids got in their cars and drove to Appalachia to visit and interview the folks that lived the lifestyle of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett and the like. From probably hundreds of interviews and tape recordings they were able to hammer out readable books filled with the trappings of early Americana the way our fore fathers did a few hundred years ago.

Thanks Rev. You've done us all a great service putting this on the Hip Forums. Thanks also to the founders of the Stone Soup School. I hope their legacy continues long after I am but ashes in my powder horn resting on a dear friends mantel. Give yourself a pat on the back Sir, you deserve it.

 

Thanks man. My dad is the guy with the beard. I grew up with the horses and worked many years in the sawmill.

Stay Brown,
Rev J

 

Independence I truly appreciate you putting out your knowledge and opinion on this. I too feel like many of today's luxuries are not worth my time or money to earn. To be honest I have no clue where I want to end up next in life. This is not due to any real serious setbacks, I just truly do not enjoy what the general consensus does these days. I do not want a big house, fancy car, 12 big screens and the latest gadgets. So as far as where I want to go in 5 years I really just want to see the world and see what more is out there to experience.
There needs to be a positive balance between work and enjoyment. People take for granted the older way of doing things where you took your time for everything because you achieve a greater self satisfaction for it. Now everything is instant, and no one wants to work hard for anything. I feel that I would like to invest in my future to further my own understanding of the world around, to enjoy the senses I was given, and to set myself up for a life hopefully living in a farm house tending to my own needs and getting satisfaction of working for ONLY WHAT I NEED, and not anymore.

On another note, that Stone Soup Institute is something that I am truly interested in and really would like to see what they have to offer. Rev, could I PM you about the school?

 

Go ahead.

Stay Brown,
Rev J

 

Independence, you would gain some rep from me for that wise posting, but as it goes, I must spread some around before giving more to you, ha

Best of luck and thanks for the insightful share!

 

Haha. Wise words, for sure. And your basic question is a hell of a good one ... how do you make a living if you don't want to live in and be consumed by the business world?

I think there are as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it. My experience, based on seeing it from both sides over the years, is that if you involve yourself in something you love and pour your soul into it, you'll somehow figure out a way to make a living from it.

That's not to say you won't have to make compromises along the way. You probably will. But if you're going to have to compromise anyway, you may as well be doing something that stirs your soul, to make it easier to put up with the compromising, if you see what I mean.