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August 2009 
What is your relationship to independence?
Posted on Jul 4th, 2009
by 
Rob
Rob
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for July 04, 2009:
Indpendence is a myth.
We like to
believe that we
are free of the influence
or control
of others.
But we aren't.
Your thoughts are shaped
by your parents, teachers,
maybe even clergy.
Byt he books you read,
by the pundits you listen to.
We all are.
We are shaped by our traumas.
It becomes a filter.
We are all dependent,
though dislike admitting it.
We are dependent on mom from day one.
We depend on our parents, then teachers,
taxpayers to provide the school
then the electricity,
the water, the road, scholarships and grants
or a boss to hire, then a boss to hire,
and carpenters, electricians,
plumbers, trash collectors,
the military,
economists,
manufacturers,
could you even make a pencil?
Could you extract the rubber, brass, wood, and graphite lead
and mill it, shape it, form it,
all by yourself?
Do you program your own computer?
We all are very dependent,
inter-dependent,
and the lives of the rubber tree harvesters,
and ore miners, and loggers, and millers,
programers, builders,
public utility workers, and my neighbors
all come together as I scratch a note
on a piece of paper while
I write this poem on the internet.
We like to
believe that we
are free of the influence
or control
of others.
But we aren't.
Your thoughts are shaped
by your parents, teachers,
maybe even clergy.
Byt he books you read,
by the pundits you listen to.
We all are.
We are shaped by our traumas.
It becomes a filter.
We are all dependent,
though dislike admitting it.
We are dependent on mom from day one.
We depend on our parents, then teachers,
taxpayers to provide the school
then the electricity,
the water, the road, scholarships and grants
or a boss to hire, then a boss to hire,
and carpenters, electricians,
plumbers, trash collectors,
the military,
economists,
manufacturers,
could you even make a pencil?
Could you extract the rubber, brass, wood, and graphite lead
and mill it, shape it, form it,
all by yourself?
Do you program your own computer?
We all are very dependent,
inter-dependent,
and the lives of the rubber tree harvesters,
and ore miners, and loggers, and millers,
programers, builders,
public utility workers, and my neighbors
all come together as I scratch a note
on a piece of paper while
I write this poem on the internet.
Access: Public
I don't even know you but I sure do like you. I lived on a mountain top in No. Georgia for almost 6 yrs, totally off the grid, off the road, and before cell phones became common as rocks. Yet I still needed gas for my truck, sugar for my coffee, and canning jars for my garden produce. It was an exercise in self-sufficient and independent living. I did it and when I came back to “civilization” I was so pleased with everything, I was happy as a dog with 2 tails. Yes, you can to without a lot of stuff, if you want to be that independent. I doubt I'd do again just to prove a point. I'd rather be comfortable and happy.