Hopes and Dreams
Hopes and dreams are ideals to strive for, not instructions to be followed.
Hopes and Dreams
“Go West, young man.” That was both a literal and allegorical command. The geographic west was a land of brand new opportunities for a young man (today, person) to establish himself in whatever way he could find to do it. He would also likely find hardship and difficulty as he attempted to establish himself and succeed. The instruction did not mean, “Go West, because there will be social programs and pre-built housing to satisfy your needs.” No, those are things a young man would be GIVING UP, in order to go West and seek to establish himself on his own terms.
The phrase is also allegorical. America was already the land of opportunity of the world. People came here from all over, not for the comfort, which was generally greater where they were coming from. They came for the opportunity. America was an idea as much as it was a place. I’ll dispense with the civics lesson, but the idea of government of, by and for the people was not some well established construct. It had to be invented. Largely, Americans invented it. Such government is an awkward, largely inefficient device, but, personally, I prefer it to anything else.
“Go West” means go to where there is no one to hold your hand. No one to make sure you have a nice day. No one to blame. That’s a big one… Go to where your life is your own, for better or worse. No one to blame. Now, THAT’S rough!
Like some, I went ‘WEST’, years ago. Where I was, was very nice. It was normal and it was what was expected of me. I reached that fork in the road of life, the one path less travelled, and the second trampled from overuse. The one path curved and winding. I could not see far into the distance. The second was straight and flat. I could see forever. It did not vary, held no challenges, and would be no test of who I am.
I went West. Many others go, also.
I just read an allegorical story by Heather Heying. She is professionally a biologist, but she has an expansive, inquisitive mind that ranges far beyond any one discipline. Her story is linked below. You would do well to read it, and anything else that Heather writes. She says the following in her allegorical story, “In the Land of Getting Things Done.”
“This is not a land of hopes or dreams, but of getting things done. I do not know what task I am on, but presumably, I am a member of the group of people who get things done.”
Largely, she is describing the America of today. No longer do we seek to “Go West.” Now we seek to conform, to regulate, to fit in. We seek artificial means to make our lives fulfilling. We have ‘causes’. We have ‘programs’. We have bureaucracy on steroids. But we have nothing and no one encouraging us to build our own lives on our own terms.
We are getting things done, but are we building anything? Are we going anywhere?
In the land of getting things done - by Heather Heying (substack.com)
Comments?
I support individualism myself but humans are herd animals to a great degree
And now with fiat currencies and the nation state we live in a virtual world
For example a common stock that pays no dividends in a company only has value in the sense that people in general value it
Similarly with cryptocurrencies and fiat money itself
But in the herd it’s almost impossible to survive and prosper without these things
So to survive and prosper one can be aware but also manipulate it to one’s advantage
Often though it’s hard to see how it will impact oneself due to the “virtual reality” aspect of it
In the Middle Ages the church owned half the land in Europe just as an example
That was the thing then
Now it’s not
I tend towards idealism so drawn to Plato’s writings “sometimes”. Idealists can be easily fooled by propaganda
I took a job literally west and found supportive writings that it was the best place to live in America
I moved there. The climate was awful ie feeeze your face off in 10 months of winter and 2 months of blistering summer plus it was flatland
Why would anyone live there?
And a one horse town ie a monopsony town
Of course the one Corporation controlled the “perspective” on the place
It was like the UTurn movie with Sean Penn
Almost impossible to get out of there but I did get out with my life and some of my sanity and without getting divorced
But it taught me a valuable lesson
The difference between reality and “group perspective”