[pagan-magik] Work

Sun Nov 28 15:47:00 GMT 2004

I both agree and disagree. 
Most definately we have to abolish, or rather overcome, the protestant work-man-dog-bone ethic. However each of us also have a need to generate sufficient monies for our cause (Both personal and collective). How we do this is the question. Do we totally buy into the system and work for The Man and therfore help grease the wheels of the system, become a cog (Big or little depending on ability and ambition.. although at the end of the day whether one is a big or a little cog makes little difference, except in the freedom it allows one to influence the system. unfortunately the process of becoming a cog of sufficient dimension to effect the system usually results in one losing one's identity to that same system).
One could simply live off the state, and as such the work of others. This appraoch however will create a dependency upon said state, one in effect becomes as much an integral part of the system as a person working in MacDonalds or The Stock Exchange. One simply has the illusion of freedom. There is no freedom in engaging in a parasitic relationship with the very system one would destroy for one has become dependant on said system. Any freedom believed to accrue from this approach is, as i have already stated, illusionary.
We therfore find ourselves with both an ethical and a practical dilemma.
To work or not to work?
If we choose the former we risk assimilation by the very system we seek to dissolve. Also our very action of 'work' further engenders the survival of that system. 
If we choose not to work, whilst at the same time depending for our survival on the very system we despise we become, as i pointed out above, parasitic to that system and hence dependant upon it.

Neither of these options are viable in my opinion.

The solution i suggest is that those who are able, and suited to the task, work within the system, learning all they can about its operations and practices so that we can disrupt it from within, when able (As Steve suggests), and also so that we have those with the required knowledge and expertise that will be needed when the time comes - After all on that day when the system collapses if we do not have technicians well versed with the various disciplines of science/computers/medicine etc. then we will no longer have access to these valuable resources. We will not be able to reach out to the stars as is our birthright, but shall instead return to living in caves. Now that may well be ok with some of you. But hey dude, i personally would rather not be reduced to scrabbling around in the dirt for a few roots to eat and then have to go back to a cave/mud hut with nothing to amuse me but acoustic instruments and the stories of the bards.
Not that i don't enjoy a good drumming session, or bardic tale (Especially considering that i am both a poet and the founder of BARD - The Bardic Association of Rythmic Dissenters), it's just a don't see why the fuck i should deny myself, and others, the Aesthetics of electric guitars. 
I mean what are all those Punk-Anarachists going to do when they tear the system down only to find there are no more electric guitars?
Now i know some of you may say: Whoa dude, we got electric guitars, all we need is a wind machine to power them.
OK. Then what happens when these guitars need replacing. Where are you going to get the parts from. The wire for the coils etc. Then there is the dynamo the wind machines need to generate the electricity. What happens when they need rebuilding/replacing. After all you can only scavenge the remains of the old civilization for so long before those resources run out. And having no skilled technicians on hand one isn't going to be able to replace them. Where does that leave our grandchildren?
In mud huts listining to the sound of drums and being entertained by the fucking bards, is where.

My personal approach is to only work when i need to. To work as and when necessary to generate sufficient income for my needs, while at the same time being very careful not to get hooked into that whole consumerist/work loop.
This requires i remain detached from the process of work so that i see it solely as a means to an end. That i am careful to balance the work/play equation so that i spend more time playing than working.
Even more importantly, for me, that i put my own Work - By which i refer to what Occultists term The Great Work - before mere monetary considerations.
I also seek ever to find new ways to earn money that are more in accord with my magickal aesthetic. I am currently engaged in several projects that utilise my skills as an artist, writer and mage of the new aeon that will in time bear fruit. In this way i will align the means by which i generate monies with my artistic and political aesthetic.

It is, i believe, for each of us to find a way to do this for themselves. 

love and power

david 

steve ash <steveash_2001 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Work is actually the main enemy, we all have to live
(though I haven't actually worked as such for nearly
20 years) but it is a prison. We have to abolish work,
and the work ethic, and free ourselves. Of course if
we enjoy our work we're lucky, though I still maintain
that any work we do should undermine the system and
that workplace sabotage is crucial. 
I'd be interested to hear how others deal with this
plague called work?

Steve 

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