Big Whoops and Welcome Mats

I've been thinking a lot about jobs and careers, and how to spend time. Sometimes I feel as if I do not fit into society. I am exasperated and enraged by how we have organized things. I have a comment box and a half’s worth of complaints, just about jobs and working life in America. So many times I have asked myself the question, what do I want to do for work. And putting aside that it is extremely hard to be an artist as an occupation in twilight of American empire (or at any time in America for that matter) I actually have some ideas.

(I'm still tinkering with how to draw myself as a cartoon, and I went with a big beard this time, I dunno. )

Why did I do that list? Well first off, why do I do anything? I have no idea. But for two, I was just curious (also important to note I found these numbers on indeed.com and other websites of questionable credentials but it’s just a blog post so hey). And for three to say I’m not crazy.

You will notice that only two of my ten “Jobs I Can See Myself Not Wanting to Quit Immediately” pays above the amount to live comfortably as a single adult in my city(and many would say that number is conservative). I cannot help, as advice is flung like rotten tomatoes at a jester (WHO IS ONLY DOING HIS JOB), about all the many ways in which one can make a living,(if you know this one cool trick) but to say,

“do we think this is a sign of a healthy society?”

Why do we think it’s ok, for certain full-time jobs to not make enough money to provide a comfortable life for an American? Even if we weren’t a wildly rich country, I’d ask the question. And the answer is so obvious it’s mundane to state. Because we’re a rich country in sum but not mean. It’s the few over the many. We work for those guys, and frankly, they don’t care one jot what we make.

But i just feel like saying it. I’m not a hater just for the love of the game (respect to my haters who hate indiscriminately). I think it’s worth hating the fact that people who clean our houses and mow our lawns and serve our food are seen as less than. We don’t teach that to children. Kids are OBSESSED with garbage men, and they understand immediately both how important their job is (they take the garbage away. That’s huge) and how cool garbage trucks are(they’re like giant mechanical beasts that eat trash).

One of the points of my three point plan for my life in Philly, is to get a cat. Any order will do, but here’s how I have it written out, Scarface style. First you get the job. Then you get the cat. Then you get the women a sweetie pie. But honestly, though I originally thought the promise of a cat on my lap would be the motivation I needed to find employment, as the world slips further and further into fascist disrepair I think what if I just got a cat? What if I was BAD and got a little companion for my aching soul? But guess what. Cat food has gone up. Litter? Up. Vet bills and insurance? You better believe they’re up. Can’t a guy just have a random cat anymore without worrying about being a deadbeat cat dad?

So look, I hate billionaires. I hate these tech oligarchs. And I hate them because in my heart I have a deep love for mankind. I want people to have dignity, to have safety and security, I want them to have community and love and all the things that give life its depth and sensation. I want them to have CATS for god’s sake(and dogs of course, but other animals as pets are on a case by case basis). But instead we have billionaires. And one trillionaire who identifies as a troll.

So I guess I just want to say, that for so long I felt at odds with society, not sure how to fit in, and not sure how to feel about that fact. I’m just a weirdo artist, and that makes me sensitive to these things maybe. But I am giving myself permission to be a hater to a deeply sick society. To grieve the life I was told would be available to me, to grieve the planet I was told I would be able to live on, to grieve the rights I was assured I would have. And to be a hater with a heart of gold.