Why the horses will have to manage without me

Published: Sun, 12/03/23

Last week I had a slightly odd phone conversation. I answered a mobile number and found myself talking to a well spoken young man who wanted to tell me all about Royal Ascot (a major horse racing event in the UK). It seemed that he wanted to sell me a royal box in from which to watch the races along with a slap up lunch for me and favored clients. I stopped him and patiently explained that I ran a handyman business and that I wasn’t in the habit of offering such treats to my regular clients. At that point the salesman abruptly hung up. I have no idea what such an event for say, a dozen people would have cost, but I suspect the total bill would have been more than my entire annual turnover. Perhaps a day at Royal Ascot is quite an appropriate thank you for clients if you are a purveyor of luxury yachts, a builder of ten bedroom mansions, or a movie producer. As a humble handyman, perhaps not so much.
It doesn’t worry me that my business can’t afford to treat my clients to posh days at the races. That simply isn’t the gap in the market which I fill. I provide affordable solutions to property problems which do not necessarily justify bringing in a specialised tradesman. I get a variety of work which prevents me from getting bored with the same activity every day (in the past three weeks for example I have, among other jobs, laid a patio, installed some security lighting, and built, and installed, a full height garden gate) and my clients get fairly small problems fixed fairly promptly, efficiently, and at a reasonable price. I have no desire to run a business which builds large houses or trades in sea going leisure boats, I simply prefer to operate on a smaller scale.
The main thing I value in my business is my freedom. If I do not want to take on a particular job I don’t have to. If I don’t want to work for a particular client I can choose not to. During the Covid nonsense I knew many people in much higher status employment than me who complained about having to wear face coverings, or even be jabbed, against their will. They complied with these indignities, under threat of termination of contracts. I just told my clients that if they required either of these symbols of submission to the cult of covid then they would need to find another handyman. I might have lost one or two jobs, but I can’t be sure I would have got the work anyway. I have been happier being fully self-employed for many years. However, over the last three or so I have fully appreciated the value in having genuine personal autonomy in my working life.
The real issue of freedom is not so much the control which is applied from ‘above’ by the ‘system’. Rather it is the willingness to surrender autonomy for the sake of money, security, and status. You cannot actually take freedom from anyone who is not prepared to surrender it willingly. Freedom is essentially a state of mind. A friend who once served a prison sentence of several years told me that he had never been more free than in prison as he had no responsibilities bearing down on him. The Palestinians living under the physical oppression of Israeli occupation know that so long as they keep the flame of freedom alive in their hearts and communities they will one day recover their land or die for their freedom knowing that death is never worse than giving up a just and necessary struggle. The Zionist Israelis by contrast are trapped in a murderous fantasy of being the ‘chosen people’ and are in the process of turning the whole
world against them as the false narrative of their victim hood crumbles.
Of course the attraction of wealth, security, and status may make the surrender of freedom seem like a small price to pay for attaining these illusions. However, wealth may well be based on debt which the ‘well-paid’ person imagines that they can afford to service. Security of employment may well mean complying with nonsensical protocols enforced by corrupt managers, idiots who are feared, but not respected. True status comes from being respected for who we really are. In the TV series SAS Rogue Heros the insubordinate David Stirling is asked rather plaintively by his frustrated commanding officer. ‘Stirling, what would it take to get you to salute me and call me Sir?’ ‘Respect.’ Comes the one word reply.
Stanza 36 of the Havamal goes:
‘One’s home is better though it be small.
To each, home is hall.
Though he owns but two goats,
and a thatched roof, it is better than begging.’
This verse might mean begging for a crust to eat, it may also mean begging to be kept on in well paid and high status employment. Either way, those who have genuine control over their lives, however modest their circumstances, are the ones with genuine freedom.
We need to be aware that Western society which frequently mistakes prosperity for freedom is actually sustained by unrealistic levels of debt. The USA has a national debt of well over $33 trillion now and interest payments alone will soon reach $1 trillion a year. The UK is not in such a bad position. However, we daily hear of the struggle and compromises needed to manage both public and private finances. Anyone who has sold out their freedom for a fist full of dollars will eventually come to realise that it is their autonomy that is their birthright and the money that is little more than an illusion.
Regards
Graham
PS Stavcamp 2024 will be devoted to exploring the concept of true freedom, beginning with freeing the mind. More details at http://stavcamp.org/

Some Interesting Links
According to Scott Ritter Henry Kissinger may have saved the world https://www.scottritterextra.com/p/henry-kissinger-the-war-criminal?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=6892&post_id=139318474&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=12rp6g&utm_medium=email
If you were going to commit a genocide how would you best go about it? Catlin Johnstone nails it again https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2023/12/03/if-i-were-going-to-commit-a-genocide/
Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM

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