"Making " a Living

Most of my adult life since I left home at 16 and travelled from Toronto to Vancouver to 'find' myself, I have been almost totally distracted with this concept of "making" a living. From job to job - ranch manager's assistant, False Creek wall builder, bus boy/waiter, writer, editor, publisher, ad salesman, and on and on with entreprenurial efforts galore, it has finally dawned on me after working with so many different sorts and all shapes of people with all manner of morals or none at all that the idea of 'making' a living is pure hogslop.
Each of us in this capitalist culture eventually, it seems, become owned by money. Our moods are affected, our attitudes are formed, our opinions of others, and finally even our spiritual outlines are all defined by this business of making money, making a living.
What happened to living? I accept capitalism as a system that is best designed for our western culture and one that may indeed offer real opportunities for anyone to prosper and enjoy the fruit of their labours. But greed is replacing civility and good manners and as we import more foreigners into our midst we allow them to contribute their own version of capitalism and we are again enchanted with another dazzling means of profiteering.
This mental infection was brought into sharp focus this last week with the alleged theft and use of cocaine by a senior officer of the RCMP. This organization has fumbled its way into one scandal after the other in recent years and the old pride of the scarlet uniform - an iconic symbol so ingrained that tourists here are still buying little statuettes of these fellows on horseback - has been seriously diminished. And greed can take many forms. Even our sacred institutions have been profoundly injured by the sexual greed of its various priesthoods. Teachers are accused regularly of diddling with children and among Boy Scout leaders the same shameful behaviour is becoming exposed.
With the loss of a good weekly sermon and some minor commitment to religious service in our lives to put a cap on our day-to-day greed, we are becoming almost hysterical about 'making' a living and gorging ourselves on whatever indulgences we fancy. And to hell with anybody who may may be chagrined by pornagraphic conduct.

In this climate, would it surprise any of us if sexual maniacs became urban heroes?

May I make a little suggestion here? How about we arrest this trend, enjoy more face-to-face conversations which require some intellect and thoughtfulness and which allow for a simple discovery: the magnificence of the individual and his connection to the divine. With more of us taking that one step (turning off their games, their little phones, their infernal music, and their TV's), more of us will be inclined to return to living and be less concerned and hysterical about 'making' a living.