So true!
Posted Oct 13, 2009, 2:39 PM UTC
5042
He forgot the carrot on the stick which represents our desperate striving for wealth and flashes of happiness; our imagined Utopian future in which your entire life will settle into place with smiles, close friendships, and love. The delusion of gathering the fastest cars on earth, the biggest most beautiful house imaginable, and the interior decoration that would make Martha Stewart jealous.
/sigh
6
The delusion
I think you mean, your delusion. A grounded, pragmatic, individual will know that these things are most likely not going to come to them, however, they also realize that these things are obtainable. They know that the likelyhood of obtaining them is small, but can be maximized by working hard and being a productive individual.
3
maximize what? The inches on your TV screen or the square meters of your homes property? At the end of the day, your reward for days, weeks, months, and years laboring at a job you hate is a moment of artificial happiness. The next day you will be right back at it too, all so you can buy more 'stuff'.
Being productive for whom? If you have a family, then you have an obligation to house, protect and feed them. If you don't, well...I'm still trying to figure that one out. And sure as shit I'm not going to be productive for the greater good.
2
maximize what?
"likelyhood of obtaining 'the fastest cars on earth, the biggest most beautiful house imaginable, and the interior decoration that would make Martha Stewart jealous'".
Some people don't care about these things, but as you'll see later, I like 'stuff'.
laboring at a job you hate
Well that is your first problem. Sometimes it just can't be helped, but if you are unhappy with your job, do something about it.
you can buy more 'stuff'
I like stuff. I find skiing in the Alps enjoyable, also, going to see a soccer match at the San Siro or going to the World Cup. Playing video games I enjoy as well, golfing too. So yea, being able to afford "stuff" is nice.
Being productive for whom?
For yourself. By this I meant, to maximize your chance of financial success, which some people don't care about. I feel that being productive and adding overall value to whatever you are doing will be rewarding for you, both financially and emotionally.
2
You missed my point entirely. You never actually get the carrot. Even if you have the cars and the money and the house... you will still want more. There is no amount of stuff you can get that will make you complete.
The carrot is material desire.
1
And I would disagree 100%. My father has done very well for himself with his business, he has obtained "the carrot", he plays golf every day, has a nice house, nice cars, nice 'stuff' in general. Does he still want to grow his business, sure, is he all consumed with making more money and getting more stuff to the point that he is not happy with life, no. It is easy to dismiss those people that actually get the things they want out of life by saying, well they got all this nice stuff, but they aren't really happy. The truth is, some people are fucked up, for some people, no amount of money is ever enough. However, if you were to poll people that make $250,000+ a year, I think you would find that that they are generally happy with their 'stuff'. Annecdotally, most the millionaires I know seem happy enough.
2
Still missing the point: life, in order to have meaning, must have goals. The carrot, as seen in a capitalist perspective, is material goods. These are the goal. So in context with this cartoon, in our society, the average person forever strives for a life of luxury which 1-5% of the population have... they never get it and then they die.
That's nice that some people have money and work hard and all that... but it really doesn't matter because its just stuff. Most people live their lives for stuff, forgetting to stop and assess their own existence.
Its great if you realize that you are on a treadmill and you are able to work it to your advantage, but my statement was made to illustrate the true nature of the average man in western culture, not to argue inane specificities about wealth and obtaining it.
0
Ya, if you do it like that.
3
I’m pretty sure we weren’t designed for the system we’re a part of now. We have devices that do everything for us, and have become some sort of meta-humanity. We are simply the brains that control the devices that do what we’d most likely be perfectly gratified to do ourselves. We’ve become so interested in convenience that we inconvenience ourselves greatly to attain it. We work harder, and have less downtime so we can attain all this shit we just don’t need. a simpler way of life is now lost in imagination, and we are slaves to our own desires, heavily disconnected from humanity.
Our basic needs are obfuscated so much that it is considered a skill to know how to survive. Many people will never even meet their own butcher, or even consider what they are eating at all. Our water flows right into our kitchens, and our homes are heated with gas pumped in from miles away. This whole time, as we’ve been working so hard to make our lives “better” we’ve put such a low priority on the things we need at a basic level. Our food is bad for us, our water is contaminated, our air isn’t any better. We don’t even get enough sleep on our beautiful, comfortable beds.
3
I think you might enjoy this article
http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/mistake_jared_diamond.pdf
pretty much all about what you said.
3
Thanks, interesting article! Percieved progress isn't always progress.
1
Agreed, but I like to step off the sides and take a break every once in awhile.
3
Thanks for the depression.
2
Why not link to the actual source?
http://bigeyedeer.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/this-cartoon-is-for-the-faint-hearted/
2
Yeah, being energetic and in shape is dumb. Fuck, Why would I want to enjoy life before I die. I rather be lazy, tried, grumpy and fat all the time and die from some shit disease.
2
That's the cynical spirit!
1
I think you underestimate how enjoyable it is to be lazy, tired, and grumpy.
1
Wouldn't work. It's not plugged in.
1
You can still run on a treadmill that is not plugged in. It is actually quite difficult. You turn the tread motor into a generator (kinda). Might as well plug in the lamp to it and put a book in front of you and run, run, run.
1
Where can I find more of his comics?
I loved his, 'That's how I roll, motherfucker!' spray paint comic.
1
What did we ever do before treadmills?
1
id rather run on the treadmill for 30 minutes than farm for 14 hours. then die.
1
you don't need to farm 14 hours to sustain yourself. Sure there are a few days/weeks in a season that require a lot of work, but the rest you can just sit back and watch the sun move across the sky with a beer in one hand and your dick in the other.
I'd trade an office job to be a self sustaining farmer any day of the week.
1
You've never farmed I bet. Many people have this idealized image of pastoral life/farming, but it is actually mostly back-breaking labor that cannot be skipped or delayed, otherwise you ruin 4 months of work.
You're mistaking farming with running a plantation.
1
i meant i would rather live my current life of leisure and endure a short workout at the gym, than a life of daily backbreaking labor.
1
[deleted]
1
I enjoy my life a loooooooooot more because I am in shape and healthy. It is both good for my physical and mental health and well-being. I also love setting goals, studying, and achieving them. The instant gratification of eating poorly, not exercising, and treating myself poorly is no where close the the gratification I get from succeeding and having a high self-image.
3
[deleted]
1
Wrong. The abysmally low average lifespan of humans for most of history is attributable to high infant/mother mortality during birth and the first couple years of life. After you made it to 13-15, you could expect to live pretty long.
0
Life is about looking good.
1
So whats the idea, the fitter you are the longer you live?
No, if you don't get into shape, you get dug my Snape. Get it? he looks like Severus Snape???
I'm not sure why you were downvoted for that. It gave me a chuckle.
edit: I'm not sure why I was downvoted for commenting that someone's reply gave me a chuckle. What a bunch of dicks you all are today, reddit.
I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted. I mean all you did was add nothing to the conversation and then call everybody a bunch of dicks.
It's what I do best.