DISQUS

I think you are confusing hipsters and hippies.

Hippies = love earth, live and let live, save the planet (also do drugs, sometimes)

Hipsters = self-referential, meta, ironic, live and look at my wardrobe, recycle stuff when they remember to (also do drugs, sometimes)

LOL - hipsters as a consumer group is old news. *__^ And when you come to DC you will see plenty of them... but not so many at Georgetown, where the preppy look dominates.

But here is my favorite explanation of the hipster "phenomenon:"

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=37

This is how you do it:

Invite all 19 people to your home. Throw a party. Serve wine, snacks -- dinner, if you want.

As everyone's gotten to know one another, have them draw a number out of a hat. This is their picking order.

So: person 1 gets first pick of what they want out of your apartment. One item only. They can mark it with a colored sticker or something. Then person 2 picks, etc. etc.

Every few rounds, have them redraw numbers so they pick in a different order.

This might take a very, very, very long time, but it's a way for everyone to get a little bit of what they need.

It also gets a whole bunch of people to meet one another, which I know you'll like!

Have to ask -- what kind of shoes are you wearing?

The Midnight's Children thing: early in the novel, William Methwold sells his home to the Sinai family for a very low price on the condition that they not remove any of his furniture or belongings for 30 days.

His goal was to subconsciously change their way of life (and political philosophies) by making them conform to the boundaries set by his possessions.

His experiment was a success. ^__^

Perhaps the person who receives your gift, then, will live with it for a little while and suddenly feel compelled to give it all away and travel with only a backpack... and so will the person he gifts it to... and so on...

So wait... is receiving your belongings with the intent to sell and keep/invest the money not allowed?

Are you pulling a Midnight's Children on us? :)

If I were in the Mumbai area, I might write you and suggest that the gift of your belongings would change my life dramatically.

I might reference the antiquated American system in which young people were traditionally given household sets as wedding presents (for marriages which occurred immediately after finishing school and prior to beginning the "real job").

As fewer young Americans get married until their thirties, and as we are saddled with student loan debt and ever-decreasing salaries, most of us now spend our early adulthood in living spaces filled with the cheap, transient pieces of a still-postponed childhood. Posters on the walls, plastic folding chairs, all of that. Because of these lifestyles, we are not taken seriously as adults, which causes us not to *view* ourselves as adults, which creates ripple effects throughout our personal and professional lives.

But I'd be lying if I said I wanted your stuff so I could have a grown-up living space (though it would make for an effective essay). Truth be told, if I were given your life, I would keep the pieces I want (that rattan furniture sounds nice), sell the rest, and put the cash into a nice ING Orange account.

So it's probably good that I don't live in Mumbai. ^__^

Also riposted this one here:

http://bluelightfulblueliciousbluelovely.blogsp...

Sorry, I meant "I wonder if I crave cheese because I need its vitamins?"

^__^

That's interesting that you're eating more eggs and cheese.

I'm also vegetarian and I swear most days I eat enough cheese to choke a horse, as the saying goes.

I also eat a lot of legumes and soy, though unfortunately not a lot of eggs right now (too expensive).

But yeah... always craving cheese.

I wonder if that's why?

Ahem.

Now you can *recycle* the box.

Other than that, the scanner sounds AWESOME.

So is everything going to be lovingly handcrafted by artisans? Because ultimately, what it breaks down to is:

If no one needs money to buy things, then...

No one needs money.

Which means no matter how much you pay your factory workers, it won't matter because they, like everyone else, won't need the money.

("Money," which you can give to a brand but which neither the brand nor its consumers actually need, will be the equivalent of a 5-star rating on Amazon.)

And, because no one would voluntarily work at a factory assembly line if they didn't need the money, it follows that all of your products will have to be lovingly handcrafted by artisans.

Which, in the end, will probably only improve the quality. ^__^

Riposted here:

http://bluelightfulblueliciousbluelovely.blogsp...

I hadn't realized you disliked your work. I know you are a writer and poet also, but do you think your current job is out of line with your strengths and potential?

All right, then, here's the kicker:

If the products have no price, how do the companies drum up the money to pay the factory workers, etc. who have sold them their lives so that the product may be created?

Never mind the creative-capital types; they'll all be working in ROWES which will be pleasurable to them because of their commitment to brand, e.g. the way people come together online (for no pay) to chat about and promote certain items. (In other words, in your unthinkable future, Gaurav, your job won't exist. It will be performed by the brand's fanbase, for free, out of sheer joy.)

But there are still the actual builders of the product. How do they get compensated?

In other words, products will be like TV shows:

Free
Of (relatively) equal quality
Branded by "the idea of the person you want to be;" people who watch CNN vs PBS vs ESPN, etc.
The rapid development of "tribes" or fanbases
People having the option to pay more for brand-related material, but being able to enjoy the brand w/o paying anything
No exclusivity (anyone can watch any show, any time)
Etc.

What do you think? ^__^

I have to add one caveat.

When I was in high school/college, I watched very little TV. I didn't own a TV. Etc.

But during those years, my life was very full and exciting.

When I started working (dead-end)jobs, I started watching a lot of TV.

I didn't pay any attention to the commercials, because I couldn't afford any of the stuff there anyway.

But I loved me the TV.

Why? Three reasons.

1. It was free.

2. It was a way for me to feel connected to something even though I couldn't afford to socialize/meet friends.

3 (most important). On TV, things changed.

This is something no one ever mentions. In my day-to-day life, I do the same thing, over and over again. There's little possibility for growth. Each day is exactly like the other.

On TV, there's an exciting story -- the story that is absent from my life.

I became very fond of my television characters, and found myself over-invested in what would happen to them.

Nutty, dontcha think?

But it was because TV was something that changed and developed and grew.

Tag! You're it!

http://bluelightfulblueliciousbluelovely.blogsp...

I would come if I could, but clearly in the wrong hemisphere.

Also: have posed you another question on my blog. ^__^

http://bluelightfulblueliciousbluelovely.blogsp...