--
I am amazed to see this story on ABC news. People like Dan Suelo are
true revolutionaries and pathfinders and as more and more people move
into System D worldwide as a matter of necessity, those who do it by
choice are leaders showing an unimagined, unforeseen way into
possibilities that did not exist within the concepts and
understanding of the old paradigm. I have no doubt that ABC ran this
story believing that it was an inconsequential anomaly, when in fact,
it records the birth of a new consciousness moving freely between the
ones and zeros of Cartesian tyranny. -- MCR
Can
Going Without Money Hurt the Economy?
Daniel
Suelo is 51 years old and broke. Happily broke. Consciously,
deliberately, blessedly broke.
ABC,
3
May, 2012
.
Not
only does he not have debt, a mortgage or rent, he does not earn a
salary. Nor does he buy food or clothes, or own any product with a
lower case "i" before it. Home is a cave on public land
outside Moab, Utah. He scavenges for food from the garbage or off the
land (fried grasshoppers, anyone?). He has been known to carve up and
boil fresh road kill. He bathes, without soap, in the creek.
In
the fall of 2000, Suelo (who changed his name from Shellabarger),
decided to stop using money altogether. That meant no "conscious
barter," food stamps or other government handouts. His mission
was to "use only what is freely given or discarded and what is
already present and already running," he wrote on his web site,
Zero
Currency.
The
question many people wonder: Is he insane, or a mooch, or simply
dedicated to leading a simple, honest, dare we say, Christ-like
existence?
They're
good questions. And depending whom you ask, the answers vary.
Suelo
wasn't always a modern-day caveman. He went to the University of
Colorado and studied anthropology, at one point considering medical
school. He lived in a real house, with four walls, a window and a
door, and shopped in stores, not their dumpsters.
But
over time he says he grew depressed, clinically depressed, mainly
with the focus on acquisition. "Every time I made a resume for a
job, signed my name to a document, opened a bank account, or even
bought a banana at the supermarket, I felt a tinge of dishonesty,"
he said.
He
was born into an Evangelical Christian home in Grand Junction, Colo.,
and took his religion seriously. Eventually, he started wondering why
"professed Christians rarely followed the teachings of
Jesus--namely the Sermon on the Mount, namely giving up possessions,
living beyond credit and debt--freely giving and freely
taking--giving, expecting nothing in return, forgiving all debts,
owing nobody a thing, living beyond payback of either evil-for-evil
or good-for-good, living and walking without guilt (debt), without
grudge (debt), without judgment (credit & debt), living by Grace,
by Gratis, not by our own works but by the works of the true Nature
flowing through," he said.
Although
he considered himself a Christian, he discovered that the same
principles applied to Taoism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,
Sikhism, Islam, Mormonism, Shamanism, and Paganism.
One
year he went to Alaska and worked on the docks. But that, too, he
says, felt dishonest. Instead, he and a buddy decided to live off the
land—spearing fish, foraging for mushrooms and berries. (Think
Castaway, but with snow). Suelo (which means soil in Spanish)
eventually hitch-hiked back to Moab with $50 in his pocket. By the
time he arrived, his stash had dwindled to $25. He realized that he
only needed money for things he really didn't need, like snacks and
booze.
He
began toying with the idea of living full-time without money. He
traveled to India, and became fascinated by Hindu Sadhus, who
wandered without lucre and possessions. He considered joining them,
but then he realized that "A true test of faith would be to
return to one of the most materialistic, money-worshipping nations on
earth, to return to the authenticity profound principles of
spirituality hidden beneath our own religion of hypocrisy, and be a
Sadhu there," he said. "To be a vagabond, a bum, and make
an art of it - this idea enchanted me."
And
soon, that's exactly what he did. He says he left his life savings—a
whopping $30—in a phone booth, and walked away.
But
he didn't do it in a vacuum; he maintained his blog for free from the
Moab public library. Rather than just sitting on a mountain and
gazing at his navel, he wanted to have an impact on others, to spread
his gospel.
In
2009, Mark Sundeen, an old acquaintance he'd worked with at a Moab
restaurant, heard about Suelo through mutual friends. At first, "I
thought he must have lost his mind," Sundeen, 42, said in a
telephone conversation. But then he began reading his blog, and grew
intrigued. Sundeen divides his time between Missoula, Mont., and
Moab, where he was once a river guide, and he paid a visit to Suelo's
cave.
Gradually,
he said he realized that much of what Suelo was saying made a whole
lot of sense. This was right around the time the economy crashed, and
"It felt like a lot of what he was saying was prophetic,"
said Sundeen. "That money is an illusion, an addiction. That
resonated with me after the collapse for the economy."
Sundeen
was so intrigued that he decided to write a book about Suelo, The Man
Who Quit Money, which was published in March.
While
the book reviews have been generally positive, Suelo has come under
fire by some who say he's a derelict, sponging off society without
contributing. They are valid criticisms: This is a guy, after all,
who has gotten a citation for train hopping (what would Jesus say
about that?). And he's not opposed to house sitting in winter--not
exactly living off the land.
And
besides: How is he actually helping others by going without? It's not
like he's solving world hunger, or curing cancer.
Sundeen
disputes these arguments. "He doesn't accept any government
programs—welfare, food stamps, Medicare," he said. "The
only ways in which he actually uses taxpayer funded derivatives is
walking on roads and using the public library. So in that regard he's
a mooch--he's using the roads and not paying taxes. But if you try to
quantify the amount of money he's taking from the system—it's a
couple of dollars a year, less than anyone's ever used."
Instead,
he is actively promoting "his idea that money is an illusion,"
Sundeen said. "The Fed just prints it up, it doesn't mean
anything and it's going to lead us down the road to serfdom."
Suelo simply doesn't want to contribute to that, and so he lives life
on his own terms.
That
said, Sundeen wouldn't live the way Suelo does. "The appeal to
me is the living outdoors part, but I feel like I got my feel of that
working as an Outward Bound guide," he said. "At this point
I have other priorities."
Suelo,
for his part, has no plans to bring money back into his life. "I
know it's possible to live without money," he said.
"Abundantly."
One question though: how did he buy his glasses? Is he opposed to bartering his services for such necessities as eyeglasses?
ReplyDeleteI think the main problem with money is that it is often not a reflection of true value. I always ask myself whilst at my work, 'how many dollars is one hour of my life worth?', although I could never find a satisfactory answer.