Would you try getting a normal life while completely alone?

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That's the thing with my life... as if the world isn't already sufficiently chaotic; on the news they keep saying that even people in minimum jobs can barely make ends meet... so, I ask, what exactly is the point of a 'normal' life? Normal, of course, seems to imply that one gives away many hours of the day to another person so they could make a profit off you. Oh, sign me on! NOT...

It's kind of bemusing how everyone, even here, considers this to be a perfectly sane way to conduct one's life... we were born to make money for others, were we? Well, I'll simply respond to that in the way I could: to watch as many films, play as many video games... etc.

No way am I defining my life in the aforementioned manner.

Hey there,

"Normal" is being able to live life according to your standards for it. My standards used to include part time work and volunteering and my family members. Now it only includes fulltime work and friends. If I were to be unhappy I would change my definition and try a new venture. Normal is not necessarily bad or boring. Just very relative.

Such is the nature of commerce.

A person has a business and needs staff to work in it. They pay their staff money as reward for their time and effort in working in that job. The employer makes money from their business. The employees get paid so that they can afford to watch films, play video games and do anything else that they want to do.

The alternative is to start a business yourself, something that requires capital and significant risk. Then you pay other people for their time to work in your business and you may turn a profit or a loss. Many businesses go bust every year and owners walk away bankrupt.

As an employee you don't take on any of the risk that the business owner does.

"Normal" is overrated. I am who I am, I do what I want, and that's how I like it.

In my country there is a real push to destroy the financial lives of the common Joe and make them work on the breadline. My response is to leave paid employment and become self employed, then I get to set the terms of my employment. And yes I shoulder the entire risk of whether or not I will survive. But what other choice do I have?

I'd prefer it this way.

Part of the real problem is that consumers demand more and more and they are prepared to pay less for it. This psychology of I should have more and it should cost less is counter to the way the world actually works. The only way this can be is if the cost of labour keeps falling because the cost of inputs stays basically the same. In the West people have this fantasy that it's technology that makes everything cheaper, in reality, it's offshoring the manufacturing to countries with no min wage and dangerous working conditions and zero social responsibility that enables a gadget to get cheaper every year. Want proof? Just turn your gadget over and have a look at where it is manufactured. In the 80's made in Japan was common. Where is it all made now? And what are the working conditions of the people living there? This is the reality of the modern world, but it's inconvenient to think about human exploitation, so we don't and kid ourselves that robots are making this stuff.

"Normal" for me would be to retire to a modest home in a quiet neighborhood of a small town and enjoy gardening, ham radio, astronomy, reading science-fiction stories, and playing with cats.

Fnord, that is a SWEET description of normal. Mine is, work 9-5, help someone with a cognitive disability once a week, and be ALONE on most of my evenings and weekends, doing crafts, or watching Star Trek or Dr Who.

I don't try for this, I have it. It's not bad lifestyle, it just depends what you do with your time. I fool around on the computer, ride public transit, take long distance bike rides (25+ miles), drink, hook up with other guys, in shorter terms, I just do what I want, and I do it alone