My profile as a reader is very funny: in literature, I am easily irritated by half a page of small talk; in philosophy, although I accept texts based exclusively on logic and precision, texts, in short, appearing academic or scientific, I am impressed or, rather, I seek the power of expression in philosophers, and I like the use of images and metaphors to represent ideas. I mean: I like philosophy in literature and literature in philosophy. Curious…
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It has become fashionable to differentiate synonyms to adapt them to ideologies and sell any kind of advice. The examples are numerous: “loneliness” and “solitude”, “goal” and “aim” and many others. Recently, I came across a guy differentiating “rich” from “wealthy”. According to him, rich people are people with a lot of money, while wealthy people are people with a lot of freedom. The reasoning is this: true wealth is associated with freedom, with the availability of resources that allow the release from work, that open possibilities, that do not require high maintenance costs, that produce a highly positive cash flow. Naturally, the citizen then wanted to teach how to be wealthy. But let us stick to the idea: wealth and freedom, money and release. The guy is right in what he says. There is a false idea, widely spread all over the planet, that success is mostly tied to money, happiness to wealth, and value to success. I easily recognize a modern slave: someone constantly concerned, hostage to countless obligations, thirsty for security, and proud of what he can buy. Let’s say he is a millionaire. He is a millionaire, but he does not let go of the telephone, he cannot miss work, he cannot leave it and he commits himself to various obligations. He has got a big house, he changes cars often, he consumes in a very high standard. Would that be success, or would that be value? Money is only noble as a means to freedom, and skews when it leads to slavery. Accepting himself as a slave, unaware of his own condition, the millionaire is nothing more than a puppet of money, submissive to a piece of paper. In the meantime, I surrender: “value”, today, like all other words, seems to escape from my understanding…
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I have just accompanied, enchanted, a policeman driving on the opposite way, without his seat belt, and parking on the sidewalk. He parked and seemed to observe a tree on the other side of the street. Incredible! Awesome! And I could not contain the desire to replicate the action myself. I want to drive the opposite way, climb on the sidewalk and observe a tree, like checking if it is okay. Does the cop pay fines? I do not want to respect the laws! Hahaha!… I want to park, in front of a sign, in a forbidden place. And ignore the parking meter! Inspiration, idol this cop… And with this feeling, I begin today in the work of Henry David Thoreau. Tell me, master, what did you learn catechizing animals in the forest? I do not like wild animals that much, but who knows?… I want to isolate myself, not pay taxes, break all the rules. Can you teach me?
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This is a perverse question that is mandatory for all those who, born in a modest cradle, find their interests inclined to something unpopular. I ask: is it possible for an intelligence to be interested in something popular? Perhaps, though unusual. For the question remains vibrant, imposing: to be poor or to be a slave? I can only interpret it as a confrontation between freedom and desire: to answer it is to decide between independence or submission. However, good news: opening the doors to poverty does not necessarily mean that it will stay.
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