My mom's sister died the other day. My mom took it really well, much better than when her parents went. My aunt was really sick and suffering, so it is, as they say, a blessing. My mom's leaving in the morning to bus down for the funeral, I think she gets back this weekend. I'm leaving work early today to meet her at the bus depot and see her off. I didn't actually ask anyone for permission, but I left a note for the supervisor saying my aunt died and I'm taking my mom to the bus depot to go to the funeral. I figure they can't come down on me too hard, given the circumstances.

I've been reading about Marxian Economics. It really helps me understand why capitalism causes so many problems, and highlights the reasons why capitalism cannot be "fixed." The basic reason, though, is obviously Profit. Capitalism requires profit, and profit requires people to work for less money than the value they add to what they produce. To me, the only alternative is free access. As a society, we would decide which goods to produce and we would produce only as much as we intend to consume. So we don't need to waste 40 hours a week making extra TVs, some of which will be sold at a loss because we made too many. We can work 10 hours a week producing only what we really want. No more commercials creating the illusion of need where none exists, no more factories producing goods that are designed to wear out quickly to force you to buy new ones sooner, no more paper pushing (or at least far far less), and no more tax returns! Get sick? You go see a doctor.

Right now, we create and hold on to jobs done by people because those people need to make a living. But how many dangerous mining or construction jobs could be completely eliminated by machinery? And why haven't they, because those people are supporting their families with their dangerous but high-paying jobs, and ruining their bodies in the process.

You might wonder who's going to do all the dirty work? My answer is: everyone! Most people don't have someone come in to clean their toilets every week, they do it themselves. Why should a workplace be any different? There are about 100 people working in my office, and 6 toilets on this floor. Assume half of each is for women, so I would have to clean one toilet maybe once a month. Woo, big deal. Heck.. my job's so boring (staring at a computer all day, yay!), I would actually welcome the chance to do something different to break-up the monotony.

I would also much rather work at building electronics or sewing pants than staring at this gross computer screen in this ugly office. I know I'm not alone. Many people have hobbies producing items that everyone uses, like furniture, pottery, clothes. It would be easy to expand these skills and make a valuable contribution to society rather than just giving them away for Christmas. People love producing things. It gives you such a feeling of accomplishment to see the fruits of your labour, never mind the look on someone's face when you tell them you made it yourself and it's for them.

Most importantly, though, is that free access as a worldwide system of producing and distributing goods would obviously fill the bellies and quench the thirst of everyone on the planet. Yes, EVERYONE! It's almost hard to imagine... you feel full after eating half your plate of food, you throw it in the garbage, and your mom doesn't say "You know, there are children starving in Africa, you shouldn't throw out your food." And take-out quality would improve because there would be no incentive to produce low-quality fast food.

Life would finally slow down, that's what I like. We'd still have schedules and deadlines, but they'd be loose. We could work on a schedule suitable to different human physiologies rather than an arbitrary 9-5 day forced on everyone. More people would be doing jobs that they like. And don't tell me no one will work if they don't have to. As it is, lots of rich people can afford to maintain a decent quality of life, and yet they work hours and hours because they get bored otherwise. You can only watch so much TV. And if your job doesn't make you feel like a slave, if in fact, you're even happy at your job, then why wouldn't you go?

It's time to focus on people. We have been slaves to the profit system for far too long. We, the People of Earth, must take back our planet, its resources and factories, from our slave-drivers and build something better. The power is entirely in our hands, the world is ours for the taking the moment we decide to.