Why Invest? - Disarming Damocle's Sword

[duncan_m]

Why invest?

Ten years ago the answer for me was so that I can quit work and have a big house, cars, holidays, audio visual equipment, a motorcycle, ready cash in my wallet when-ever I wanted. More recently, I've come to understand that I now invest in order to disarm the Damocles Sword that our society has foolishly placed over all of our heads.

What is Damocles Sword? You can read a great description of Damocle's Sword here, do not read on unless you understand what Damocles Sword is.

A disquieting uneasieness hovers our population. By what-ever means, we've allowed our Government to hang a Sword of Damocles over each of our heads. The sword is Poverty, and the loss of a job will cause it to plunge into our financial soul.


The Poverty Sword is actually quite new, a few hundred years perhaps. Each generation sees the thread that hangs it becoming more and more slender, each generation sees a slightly larger sword dangling over them.

The Government causes the sword to grow by increasing the basic cost of just "existing" in society. Things like council rates, education, taxes, health care gaps, childcare, out of school hours care, levies and duties etc. It further causes you to be under the sword by enslaving you to the system. It's illegal to simply start living in a cave in the middle of the wildnerness and killing Koala Bears to eat, you MUST live within society and society can't be lived in without directly incurring costs in feeding and clothing yourself. Further, if you want a more comfortable lifestyle, a place of your own it's of course illegal just to pick a plot of land and build a log cabin. One must enter the property market, obtain a loan from the bank and spend 25 years paying it back on what little money you have left over after income tax and a range of other government levies and charges are removed from your salary and extracted from what you spend. Additionally, the most debt we take on, the more our expectations grow of what we want in the form of housing, cars, etc the more we grow the size of the sword ourselves.

The point at which you begin to enjoy living in our society is the point at which the Damocles Sword is mounted over you. The loss of a job and failure to expeditiously obtain a new job causes the sword to fall, the house must be sold, the car handed back to the finance company. The ridicule you feel your neighbors will heap upon you when the bank takes back control of your house. The thought of having to apply for Welfare, shop at a Charity Stores, the explanation to the kids, the partner, the self esteem assasination that comes with a sacking.

Our population is kept, meek, compliant and amorphous. Cities of bland automatons trudging back and forth from mindless jobs to satisfy the Balance Sheet that determines that to exist you MUST work.

So for me, Investing is about removing this dangling sword over my head so that I can live with impunity in our society. So that fear of losing a job and income wont manifest itself in an exclusion from the activites that I enjoy. I invest to disarm the Financial Damocles Sword that our society has placed over me.

 

[luckyone]

Hi Duncan,

Could you perhaps post some of what Damocles Sword is? I would go to the website, but my work has a policy of blocking anything that is even remotely interesting. :-(

 

[duncan_m]

Hi Duncan,

Could you perhaps post some of what Damocles Sword is? I would go to the website, but my work has a policy of blocking anything that is even remotely interesting. :-(

There once was a king whose name was Dionysius. He was so unjust and cruel that he won himself the name of tyrant. He knew that almost everybody hated him, and so he was always in dread lest some one should take his life.
____But he was very rich, and he lived in a fine palace where there were many beautiful and costly things, and he was waited upon by a host of servants who were always ready to do his bidding. One day a friend of his, whose name was Damocles, said to him -
____"How happy you must be! You have here everything that any man could wish."
____"Perhaps you would like to trade places with me," said the tyrant.
____"No, not that, O king!" said Damocles; "but I think that, if I could only have your riches and your pleasures for one day, I should not want any greater happiness."
____"Very well," said the tyrant. "You shall have them."
____And so, the next day, Damocles was led into the palace, and all the servants were bidden to treat him as their master. He sat down at a table in the banquet hall, and rich foods were placed before him. Nothing was wanting that could give him pleasure. There were costly wines, and beautiful flowers, and rare perfumes, and delightful music. He rested among soft cushions, and felt that he was the happiest man in all the world.
____Then he chanced to raise his eyes toward the ceiling. What was it that was dnagling above him, with it's point almost touching his head? It was a sharp sword, and it was hung by only a single horsehair. What if the hair should break? There was danger every moment that it would do so.
____The smile faded from the lips of Damocles. His face became very pale. His hands trembled. He wanted no more food; he could drink no more wine; he took no more delight in the music. He longed to be out of the palace, and away, he cared not where.
____"What is the matter?" said the tyrant.
____"That sword! That sword!" cried Damocles. He was so badly frightened that he dared not move.
____"Yes," said Dionysius, "I know there is a sword above your head, and that it may fall at any moment. But why should that trouble you? I have a sword over my head all the time. I am every moment in dread lest something may cause me to lose my life."
____"Let me go," said Damocles. "I now see that I was mistaken, and that the rich and powerful are not so happy as they seem. Let me go back to my old home in the poor little cottage amon the mountains."
____And so long as he lived, he never again wanted to be rich, or to change places with the king.

 

[GreatPig]

I invest to disarm the Financial Damocles Sword that our society has placed over me.

Well that's not really the point of the parable: the sword is there as a result of attaining wealth. If you don't have it, then you don't have to worry about losing it (or your life).

In other words, the sword is not an imposition put there by others as a form of oppression, but rather something that results as a consequence of being wealthy. Every silver lining has its cloud.

GP

 

[Mary]

Ten years ago the answer for me was so that I can quit work and have a big house, cars, holidays, audio visual equipment, a motorcycle, ready cash in my wallet when-ever I wanted. More recently, I've come to understand that I now invest in order to disarm the Damocles Sword that our society has foolishly placed over all of our heads.

...

So for me, Investing is about removing this dangling sword over my head so that I can live with impunity in our society. So that fear of losing a job and income wont manifest itself in an exclusion from the activites that I enjoy. I invest to disarm the Financial Damocles Sword that our society has placed over me.

As GP said, YOU are the one creating this sword by all of these wants that you have!

Life is easy - sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry.

It's only when you pursue all things material that you start to feel like a sword is hanging over your head. As it's often said, the more you have, the more you worry about holding onto it.

One of the essential doctrines of Buddhism is impermanence which argues that there is nothing permanent, all things are constantly changing. Suffering is caused by an experience of loss; but because things are impermanent, attachment to them is futile.

 

[MichaelW]

Greatpig,

Good point, but as Duncan points out, in society today you are slave to a system that requires you to attain a certain degree of "wealth" in order to exist without working. In the parable you could escape "wealth" and go back to your log cabin in the hills.

If I take Duncan's point correctly, then he invests to become "poor". i.e. to have enough to choose whether he wants to be part of the system or not.

In today's society we're all born in to slavery, and only a select few manage to free ourselves from the shackles of servitude. I aim to be one of them...

[edited] Mary, good point as always. I guess the whole concept is predicated on you wanting to be part of mainstream society, but without being slave to its demands. Sort of, live in the nice house and drive a decent car, but not have to work. The rest is all icing on the cake and the damocles sword we build for ourselves... [/edited]

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[Garry K]

Duncan..have you been taking some "serious" pills.

I was looking for the line that said "only joking", but as I didn't see it, I assume you are serious.

The Government causes the sword to grow by increasing the basic cost of just "existing" in society. Things like council rates, education, taxes, health care gaps, childcare, out of school hours care, levies and duties etc.

Don't blame the Government, for they only represent the people, and what they believe the people want (so they can get re elected). All those expenses you mention go up because people expect more.

I challenge anyone to argue we have less goods and services than we did 50 years ago.
What we have less of is time to spend in worthwhile relationships. eg our family.

I guess the aborigines had what you describe, before white man came along.

But instead of the "work" you describe, they had to hunt to eat.

I'm with Mary's sentiments. I think I'll go join the Budhists...could be the answer.


GarryK

 

[duncan_m]

Well that's not really the point of the parable: the sword is there as a result of attaining wealth. If you don't have it, then you don't have to worry about losing it (or your life).

In other words, the sword is not an imposition put there by others as a form of oppression, but rather something that results as a consequence of being wealthy. Every silver lining has its cloud.

GP

GP,

You've misssed my point, sorry about that.

Forget why Damocle's OWN sword is there.. the fact is almost everyone who lives in our society has a threat hanging over their head. The threat is this "if you lose your job, or become unemployable you're doomed to poverty". Our own Damocles sword is there for a diffferent reason. This doesnt come about due to a desire for untold wealths, it comes about from seeking a basic level of existence in our society.

In communities of times gone past (long past, think 10,000 years, or those Hunter/Gatherer communities that still exist) this threat probably didnt exist, provided you contribute you're generally fed and happy barring any natural famine or other calamity. Our society now has this dis-ease that pervades it, OUR Damocles Sword.

 

[duncan_m]

Greatpig,

Good point, but as Duncan points out, in society today you are slave to a system that requires you to attain a certain degree of "wealth" in order to exist without working. In the parable you could escape "wealth" and go back to your log cabin in the hills.

Yes, we no longer have that choice, its the society we have or its nothing, you are not "allowed" to go live in a National Park or on other crown land and build your own log cabin and hunt for your own food. Everyone is generally required to "work" in order to have an existence that they are happy with. Increasingly I'd be happy with a log cabin and a vege patch, but I need to invest in order to achieve that. No longer can I just choose it.

 

[Aceyducey]

I'm with Mary and Garry.

Our desire for doodads is self-created.

Dunc, if you don't like our government leave (the country).

Whining has never been a successful strategy for positive social or personal change.

And if you think that hunter /gatherers had it easy - well I assume you'd prefer a 35 year lifespan (you'd be dead already correct), huge levels of death in childhood and living on the edge of starvation.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[duncan_m]

As GP said, YOU are the one creating this sword by all of these wants that you have!

Life is easy - sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry.

It's only when you pursue all things material that you start to feel like a sword is hanging over your head. As it's often said, the more you have, the more you worry about holding onto it.

One of the essential doctrines of Buddhism is impermanence which argues that there is nothing permanent, all things are constantly changing. Suffering is caused by an experience of loss; but because things are impermanent, attachment to them is futile.

I have no desire for untold wealths and wants, I'm over that now, I just want my life back.

 

[duncan_m]

Whining has never been a successful strategy for positive social or personal change.

Who's whining? I'm closer than I've ever been to achieving exactly what I want!

Whining is complaining without action.

 

[RichardC]

Confucius say: "Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt"

 

[GreatPig]

Duncan,

provided you contribute you're generally fed and happy

But isn't that the same as now - provided you contribute?

Shuffling off to live quietly in a national park isn't contributing to society.

Cheers,
GP

 

[duncan_m]

Duncan,
But isn't that the same as now - provided you contribute?

We could argue the semantics back and forth.. But in times past and still in present traditional communities people could spend as little as 3-4 hours a day on activities associated with gathering, hunting etc (their contribution).. it was done in a communal fashion, often with the kids involved. Now I 'm expected to dump my kids in a childcare centre or school for 10 hours, 5 days a week in order that I can work so that I can afford to live in a basic fashion. Some of us even spend up to 2 hours travelling before working. So the level of contribution has gone from small and with family involvement, to HUGE with no family involvement.

For whatever reason our society has grown in that direction, its of course far too late to unravel it which is why I choose to Invest so that I CAN unravel it to some degree and "buy" my life back, not some charmed future life of cars, big houses, holidays, restaurants but just a Simple Life largely free from the usually ever present threat of turmoil from job losses etc.

 

[GreatPig]

So the level of contribution has gone from small and with family involvement, to HUGE with no family involvement

But then the output from that contribution has gone from a bit of food and shelter to all the infrastructure, facilities, and technology we have today.

GP

 

[Kris Sheather]

Duncan I think many others are missing your point but I understand where your coming from, I feel that same way, trapped.

 

[demoman]

Duncan,

Nice post, I've often felt the same way.

There's alot of people up here in the Northern Rivers who have tried to drop out of society and I wonder where they will be when they are old and frail.

Our move to the Northern Rivers has given us a nice balance between work & lifestyle but alas we realise we must press on if we are to give our children the best possible start in life. That is our motivation. It keeps us being slaves to the system.

Cheers

Jared

 

[duncan_m]

But then the output from that contribution has gone from a bit of food and shelter to all the infrastructure, facilities, and technology we have today.

I largely dont want all the infrastructure, facilities, and technology we have today, because its what keeps us on the treadmill with the ever-present fear of losing it hanging over our heads (the hanging sword). I see a community of Worker Bees, slavishly contributing for 10hrs a day, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year for 40years on end. Most of them not to live some excessive life style but to live in a clean house that they largely have control over (either thru a lease or ownership) and bring up 1-2 kids as best they can. There IS a pervasive fear in the community of retrenchment, casualisation, the idea of poverty does strike fear into the hearts of so many people.

As I've alluded to earlier and in other threads, a (nice) log cabin, a vege patch, the kids, a wood stove, my dog, long hikes in the country, a fish occasionally, some mangy chickens, a pile of books, access to a library, some hobbies, involvement in a small local community.. at this point thats what I'm attracted to.. thankfully due to the investing I've done over the last few years I can pretty much choose to do that now.

What annoys me is that because of the direction our society has taken I simply cant do that until I've amassed enough money to BUY the land and fund the ongoing levies, taxes, and charges that owning that land is going to cause me and which if I'm not working will still be accruing. I also need money to send my kids to school (because its mandated by the government and I wouldnt make a good teacher). They need uniforms, they need to travel to school, they need books, there's a whole bevy of simply unavoidable costs that I have to be burdened with and for which I cant get out of.. We're locked into that pattern of existence.. which is why I Invest, in order to be released from it and not have that ever present ogre of unemployment, loss of income hanging over me.

I _started_ investing in order to be a rabid consumer of luxury items, cars, houses etc.. now I invest in order to escape that anxiety of loss of income and to "buy" a simple life back. A simple life that one would think would almost a basic human right and which once WAS.. and still IS in some communities.

Incidentally, I still largely enjoy my job but I'm fed up with certain aspects of careers (especially in IT) and there's just so much more I want to do with my time.

 

[duncan_m]

Duncan I think many others are missing your point but I understand where your coming from, I feel that same way, trapped.

Thanks, it certainly helps to be challenged to explain things more clearly and the very act of defending/discussing/exploring an idea offers one important insights that werent perhaps visible before..