Getting Out Of The System

[z2ludgfyyxnz]

I'm nearing adulthood and I can't decide what I want to do with my life. People around me think that I, like all normal people will go to university and get a job and work my whole life. While programming is something what I like to do, I have doubts about it being the purpose of my life, or something that I'd enjoy doing all the time.

Working for another person my whole life is also something that just seems like a trap made by the system. I also see the educational system as just conditioning people to think that living in a cage and thanking for it is normal. All I'd like is a small house somewhere where I could live free, even without modern inventions.

I've seen people having small businesses that allow them to live free, or even having some passive income like books to get by, but this concept seems very risky to me. I've been thinking of getting myself a camper van and living in it, away from the system, but this just sounds like a teenage dream.

Is there any way to have such a life so you don't have to work for anybody to survive, and just live on your own?

[Xpansion]

Whatever you do you're going to need money.  There's no escape from  the system. You're better off to find a way to make it work for you rather than you working for it.  The research has shown that connection with others is key when it comes to happiness.    Maybe a more rural life in an alternative community might work for you?  Kind of a hippy life living in a commune where the focus is not on careers and money etc.  I've thought about it many times because I too have harboured an escapist fantasy my whole life but I'm beginning to realise that for me it was more about not knowing my purpose and feeling very alienated.   I think the more we live in alignment with our values and purpose and the more connected we are to community then the happier we will be right where we are.  

Edited October 19, 2016 by Xpansion

[Leo Gura]

@z2ludgfyyxnz I know a Zen monk here in the USA who travels around the country, living out of his van, from dojo to dojo training in Japanese swordfighting and gives personal massages to pay this meager bills. He seems happy. Very intelligent guy. He has a PhD in astrophysics, and used to work for Wallstreet.

There are many creative ways to avoid the system.

[Xpansion]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

@z2ludgfyyxnz I know a Zen monk here in the USA who travels around the country, living out of his van, from dojo to dojo training in Japanese swordfighting and gives personal massages to pay this meager bills. He seems happy. Very intelligent guy. He has a PhD in astrophysics, and used to work for Wallstreet.

There are many creative ways to avoid the system.

This is not "avoiding the system". He is still living in it but he is just living a simpler lifestyle on a very meagre income. There is no avoiding it unless you leave the planet.  Even if you manage to make enough money to buy some land and live in the wilderness you are still going to have to pay taxes etc. Not sure about the USA but where I live you cannot live completely disconnected from the grid.  You still have to pay a connection fee even if you use no electricity. You also have to pay council rates and water fees and voting is compulsory. While you need money then you are still part of "the system" 

Edited October 20, 2016 by Xpansion

[ajasatya]

@z2ludgfyyxnz permaculture. plant your own food. take care of your own trash. certainly there are some communities like that in the usa.

it's one of my possibilities, but here in brazil. healthy food, healthy work and yoga everyday.

[z2ludgfyyxnz]

Thanks for the replies, but I'm afraid Xpansion is right. We're the only animals that have to pay to live

[philosogi]

if you can think of a way to subvert the system, what's stopping you?

[philosogi]

@z2ludgfyyxnz Thought you might be interested in this: 

 

[Jared Gregory]

@z2ludgfyyxnz I understand where your coming from. Just be happy by choosing something that makes you feel good inside. The system is what it is, but doing positive things and enjoying life to the fullest is the best gift. 

Don't rush anything try new ideas, university may not be the answer for you. But experiement with different stuff, you have nothing to lose by doing this. 

You are enough

[smd]

Read the book or watch the movie called Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  It's a biography about a smart kid who after college just went off the grid & lived in the woods.  I haven' t finished the book yet, but when he needed a bit of cash to get something, he'd just go into some local town & try to get a job at a restaurant or whatever.  When he clocked out of his job, he'd head back out into the woods, I suppose with his camping gear.  As far as I can tell, he wasn't paying any taxes or using electricity.  There are still large areas of wilderness in the States where nobody lives.  I can't think of any stronger example of living off the grid than what McCandless did.

Although after seeing that YouTube video of a guy interviewing himself after a bear kicked his ass...

[dude]

I met this guy a while ago who lived out of his van, very happy person it seemed.

Said the key is to have a normal van so it doesn't look suspicous tham you can sleep anywhere. He uses the university campuses for internet and working space.