RSS Feed
- Having a Great DayLet me start by saying, that a great day doesn’t have to be a sunny day, or even an eventful day, great can mean any number of things. The start of a great day is started by the decision: the decision that today is going to be a great day. Many people don’t realize that […]
- The Fight For Journalistic IntegrityThe internet is a wonderful thing, it connects people to the world around them, and around others as well. The benefits are incredible, but there still are issues surrounding how we and others use this great invention. One of the biggest issues we face is news, and reporting. Journalism has finally come full circle, and […]
15
Better To Starve Free Than Be A Fat Slave
2 Comments · Posted by Philip Newman in Advice, Self Improvement
To anyone familiar with Aesop’s fables, this short story will be familiar. I wanted to take a break from the regular, and just discuss how important the moral of this story is.
A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to meet a House-dog who was passing by. “Ah, Cousin,” said the Dog. “I knew how it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruin of you. Why do you not work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly given to you?”
“I would have no objection,” said the Wolf, “if I could only get a place.”
“I will easily arrange that for you,” said the Dog; “come with me to my master and you shall share my work.”
So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part of the Dog’s neck was very much worn away, so he asked him how that had come about.
“Oh, it is nothing,” said the Dog. “That is only the place where the collar is put on at night to keep me chained up; it chafes a bit, but one soon gets used to it.”
“Is that all?” said the Wolf. “Then good-bye to you, Master Dog.”
Better to starve free than be a fat slave.
We’re seeing a change in the way people not only look at the world, but interact with it.
People are finding more of a sense of community, even with people they’ve never met, and who may live thousands of miles away.
The key difference is that these communities don’t thrive on the competition that typical corporations would. They thrive on the generosity of others. Anyone familiar with aspects of P2P, or social media knows this very well.
Through this, we have the ability to express ourselves, and help others, without expecting anything in return, except the satisfaction of knowing a job was well done.
Now, I digress, but the point I’m trying to make is, these communities didn’t start themselves. These communities were built by people, people with an idea.
They also weren’t put there by corporations (although many of the larger ones have since been acquired, but the practice still holds true), they were put there by people like you or me, people like your friends, your neighbors, your family.
Going into work every day to make someone else a pretty penny can be taxing on this freedom, on one’s self-image.
With a great idea and some hard work, one can create their own community, their own life, their own vision, and succeed with it.
Now while the stories ends with the wolf choosing to starve, it’s more a matter of his choice for freedom, his choice to be able to choose, and this is the most important point.
Getting stuck in a dead end job may be for some, but if you have an idea, or a dream, why not follow it?
The world is always changing, and it’s not going to wait for you, you have to make these changes happen for yourself.
You also have to be free to do it, that collar and chain will always wear you away, but the freedom will open up the world, and all it has to offer.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Ability · Community · Drive · Freedom · Life · Success
TroNic · April 3, 2010 at 9:42 pm
You deserve much more than a Penny for your thoughts. Keep em coming Phill
Admin comment by pnewman · April 6, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Thanks dude. And trust me, I will.