I’m thinking of starting my own school. The School for The Unlearned. I haven’t figure out all the details yet, like tuition costs, classroom size, syllabus, or any of the other non-essential concerns that help our young become indebted to banks and corporations for life.
Yes.
There is a deep hunger and a tremendous need for a school for the Unlearned.
Don’t misunderstand me. This is not a school for the idiots, those already exists, and we graduate plenty of honour roll students, who wish to consume everything in their wake.
The School for The Unlearned will aim higher, at exposing myths and perceptions. It will undertake the important task of changing the way we see ourselves, and the world we live in.
Money is just one example.
I learned yesterday, listening to a free podcast, that currency might not have been created to help human beings exchange goods for other goods and services. The story we were told some time ago suggested that our ancestors were getting really tired of bringing large animals, fruits, and other assorted goods to the marketplace, without an efficient way to properly oversee the exchange. They had a difficult time knowing what everything was worth, but low and behold, gold and silver coins came to the rescue, and made our lives so much richer.
This particular author suggested that there is no empirical evidence, anywhere in history, for this story to scale water. Instead, he put forth the proposition that money was created by the wealthy, as an easier, and more precise way to keep track of debt.
We live in a world where we know exactly how much money we owe and to who. These kind souls remind us every month of our debt. They keep in touch by mail and other means to make sure we make our minimum payment on time. They do this in an effort to get bigger, and in turn keep us indebted to them until the day we die. After all, it is important to retain your customers.
We have a love and hate relationship with money.
I know I do.
I want to have it, lots of it, so I can live my dreams, but I often feel guilty for trying to get some. I fear and falsely believe I am taking that money away from others, and I don’t really deserve it.
This is my story. A story I must unlearn.
If I deny myself a slice of pizza, this will not help a starving child on the opposite side of the world. All that will happen, is that this slice of pizza will be thrown in the garbage. I will be hungry. The child across the ocean will be hungry. The pizza will be tossed in the garbage. More will be made tomorrow.
It’s just a story.
Why don’t I do whatever is necessary to make as much money as possible? Why not finally get rid of all my personal debt? Why not gather as much money as I humanly can and then give it away and fund things I care about? I dream of photographing people from far distant lands. I dream of helping young musicians recording their music properly and spreading it throughout the world.
This plan seems a better way of feeding a child in Africa, than denying myself a slice of pizza.
There is definitely a need for The School for The Unlearned.
I have much to unlearn, and much to unstudy.
I need to say no to a lot of people. Say no to a lot of things.
It begins today.
The Unlearned Revolution!
