Reflections (2): The FUCK post

After leaving a highly-paid job, giving away money I don't really need, and selling/donating most of my worldly possessions, I have come to a place in my life where meaningful clarity is attainable. I still have a long way to go but as of now there are certain things that are crystal clear:

FUCK people who claim to garner even an ounce of happiness from purchasing yet another “thing” they don't really need, EVEN AS they head out to a job they actively despise JUST SO that they can have the cash (or credit?) to purchase that very “thing” in the first place.

FUCK business suits, conference calls, billable hours, and making partner.

FUCK people who measure their self-worth by the size of their house, the make of their car, how far they have climbed the corporate ladder, the schools they attended, the restaurants they frequent and/or the people “they know.” These poor, insecure assholes are living in a dreamworld with shaky foundations, their lives ever-dependent on how they measure up against every other poor, insecure asshole in their sad little world of pretentious make-believe.

FUCK having 2 weeks of vacation a year.

FUCK the adrenaline rush you get when you answer a partner's question at 11:00 pm via Blackberry.

FUCK people who can't wait to tell you how late they worked the night before.

FUCK money. Seriously.

FUCK chicks that are suddenly more open to banging you once they realize you have money.

FUCK dudes who are suddenly more respectful when they realize that you attended Harvard Law School.

FUCK office politics, gossipy associates and awkward conversations with senior partners at firm functions.

FUCK having a house so large that you are forced to hire a cleaning person. If you think about it, you are pretty much FUCKED because you don't have the time to clean the place yourself BECAUSE you are working 80 hours a week in order to afford that large house in the first place.

FUCK that horrible feeling you get on Sunday when you know that you have to start all that office bullshit again on Monday.

FUCK that horrible feeling you get on Saturday when you know you have to work on Sunday.



FUCK me for having taken so long to figure it all out.


[Reflections introductory post]

LET'S START A REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!

[Photo: lucies.files.worldpress.com]

How about it, my dear reader? Do you feel like starting a little revolution? I’ve got nothing better to do and I figured it might be fun. :)

WHAT ARE WE REBELLING AGAINST?

So, what are we rebelling against, you ask? Materialism. Consumerism. Apathy. Injustice. The feeling that all the problems we face are impossible to solve. And, above all, our irrational reluctance to love our fellow man.

WHAT DO WE HAVE TO OFFER?

If you are on board, then I think the operative question becomes: what can we offer to this revolution? More to the point, what do we possess that might prove useful to changing our world? Some people bring their own particular strengths to bear when it comes to overthrowing the old order. Lenin had an overpowering intellect and a ruthless purpose of mind. Margaret Thatcher had experience, intelligence and a charm all her own. Clinton was the consummate technocrat. As for myself, at this point in my life, I just don’t have a fully-defined world view and/or the real-life experience that could prove useful in a revolution. Give me some time and maybe I will get there. For now, all I can contribute is this:

FIRST LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!

I always wanted to be in the Sopranos:

I am leaving my law firm. Maybe I should consider a career at Chip ‘n Dales:

[IMAGE DELETED BY AUTHOR]

Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself:

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, let’s start plotting our revolution!

THE PLOT

The plot is actually fairly straightforward: give away a sizable amount of money I don’t really need to random people. Here are the basics:

*Stuff blank envelopes with bills of random denominations.

*Include a note with the following narrative:

“To the person who finds this envelope,

I am a person who has enough. Take this money and use it as you wish. In return, I hope you can search within yourself and realize that all that matters in life is love. So, call your family. Help a friend. Lend a stranger a hand. In the end, all we have is each other.”

*Drop off the envelopes at random and not so random locations throughout the East Coast.

*Separately, send anonymous donations to (1) a variety of organizations and non-profits I support; as well as (2) certain bloggers chosen at random.

* Hope that in some small measure, these hundreds of random, anonymous, convention-upending acts of social rebellion spark something meaningful and essential in the collective unconscious of our world.

Unrealistic? Probably. Idealistic? Absolutely.

I CHALLENGE YOU

Why don’t YOU get in on the fun? I challenge you, my dear reader, to take the time this very day to express your love and kindness to (1) someone you care about, as well as (2) a total stranger. There are sooo many things you can choose from:

*Hug your kids and tell them you love them

*Call your grandparents

*Help a friend move

*Sign up to volunteer

*Donate to a local charity

The list is endless. If you take up this challenge do let me know what awesome, SIMPLE, things you decided to do.

Spread the word. Remember: a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

ANTICIPATING QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

After the whole diploma burning thing, I came to the conclusion that it is a good idea to provide added context when it comes to some of my posts. I am still amazed how normal, rational people can have such intense, knee-jerk reactions to anything that appears out of the ordinary (have you seen some of the comments left on YouTube? Woa…). This time, I figured I would anticipate some of the questions/comments people might have. Here you go:

Come on, Jack, you must be insane!

Maybe a little. :)

If one of the prerequisites for insanity is the inability to reason then I think I’m in the clear. This didn’t happen out of the blue. I thought long and hard about how to do this the right way. I searched within myself to figure out what I want out of life, the kind of life I want to live and the kind of world I want to leave our children. I made a detailed budget that was realistic and incorporated contingencies, changing needs, and everything else that I felt I would need to live a simple, yet meaningful life for ME. After I finalized the budget I realized there was some money left over. This posed a quandary. Extra money meant that I had the following options: (1) leave the money in the bank to collect interest; (2) upgrade my lifestyle; or (3) give the money away. Leaving the money in the bank is certainly an attractive option, but I fail to see the point of keeping money stashed away for no reason. As for upgrading my lifestyle, that makes absolutely no sense to me. The budget I came up with, by definition, represents an opportunity to live the life I want to live without the need for anything but a steady, meaningful, super-low-paying job.

What’s crazier? Giving away money you don’t need OR voluntarily upgrading your lifestyle so that you are forced to spend MORE money, in order to have MORE stuff that would actually mean MORE headaches for myself and my family and putting MORE strain on our natural resources? I’ll let you, my dear reader, be the judge.

If people will find the money randomly, how can you be sure that people who need the money will actually get it?

I am, in fact, leaving some envelopes at certain targeted locations (missions, churches, shelters, etc…). Beyond that, I want to make something very clear: the focus of the Giveaway is NOT about giving people charity. My hope is that hundreds of small but meaningful surprises can lead to hundreds or even thousands of selfless, loving acts of kindness. The person who has nothing and finds an envelope with $50 dollars will, indeed, be ecstatic. The person who actually has something and finds an envelope with $20 dollars may be moved to give away $100 to several people who have nothing.

Why can’t you just give the money to family?

I’ve already made certain arrangements, particularly with respect to my mom. The budget I came up with takes this into account.

But, wait, if you are just giving cash away anonymously aren’t you missing out on 501.(c)(3)-type tax deductions?

Yeah. On the other hand, I’ve reviewed my tax situation for this year and as it turns out it will probably be a wash: I won’t owe anything AND will not be getting much of a refund. Ergo, declaring a charitable contribution won’t help me much. Besides, there is something about giving stuff away anonymously that may be lost if I had to declare it on my taxes.

Jack, you are nothing but a crazy lefty-hippie!

Far from it. I think most people would be surprised if they knew my political leanings. On the other hand, for any of you bona fide hippies out there keep in mind that I’m partial to free love and rock and roll. Specially the free love part…[Hint, Hint!].

[IMAGE DELETED BY AUTHOR]

STATUS

As of today, the plot has essentially come to fruition. Only a couple of dozen more envelopes left to drop off. Expect additional pics and video later this week.

Dear Bank of America: F@%k Y&U

[Photo: upgradetravelbetter.com]

Another day, another step closer to freedom. Sometime this week, Bank of America card services will process a check with five figures on it. As of that moment, I will no longer have any remaining commercial debt to deal with. SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!

I would be pouring myself a little scotch right about now if I wasn’t still a bit hung-over from a well-deserved Sunday-NFL-watching-beer-drinking-all-day marathon…

Putting It All Together

So, let’s review. To meet my goals I’m going to need to focus on the following:

Getting Rid of Consumer Debt/Student Loans
Start: Ongoing
End: September 1, 2009

I will continue setting aside a certain amount a month to pay down my consumer debt. At the same time, I’m going to investigate the practicalities of having my law school pay for my student debt.

Sale of Stuff
Start: July 2008
End: December 2009

I will start by cataloging all my possessions, taking pictures, putting up ads on craigslist/ebay and seeing what I can sell. I’m also going to talk to friends and family to see who needs specific stuff so that they can have first dibs. I have a feeling that as crazy as some of these people think I am for doing this, in the end they are going to appreciate Santa Jack.

Selling the Townhouse
Start: October 1, 2008
End: September 1, 2009

By October of this year I will start contacting lawyers and real estate professionals to figure out best options. Given the change in administration and the various mortgage-related pieces of legislation floating around congress at the moment, it might actually be prudent to wait to get the ball rolling on this. Who knows…maybe the market will improve enough for me to sell at no loss. Or maybe legislation will clarify what will happen to people in my situation. Regardless, I want to be in a position to put the place up for sale by March 2009 and finally dispose of it by September of next year.

Leaving My Job
Start: December 17, 2009
End: December 31, 2009

Woa, that was sweet; actually had to look at a calendar to figure out when I would need to give two weeks notice so that I could leave my job by the December 31, 2009. That felt good…



So, there is it! I now have a semblance of a plan. All I need to do at this point is put one foot in front of the other and get started. And in between I’m hoping to recruit friends, family and you, my dear reader, to keep me honest and on track.


SHIFTING FOCUS
Up until now, my posts were intended to flush out the practicalities of my journey with a touch of the universal in between the couch cushions. But personal growth does not come about through to-do lists. Having already surrendered myself to this process I have a very strong suspicion that it is the struggle itself that brings us closer to the universal. That’s why I suspect that from here on out this blog will shift focus a bit; practicality will be supplanted by a furious focus on the every day struggle to make that next step on a journey towards the unknown. And it is the unknown that beckons.

THE ENEMY, PART FOUR: DEBT

Given the crazy materialism of the past couple of years I’m actually in relatively good shape on the consumer debt front. I currently have $18K in debt parked in a 0% APR credit card. To give you some context, at some point, I probably had double or triple that amount in consumer debt. I’ve been setting aside a certain amount of $ a month to pay that down, even as I maintain a savings target every month.

Things are more dire on the student loan front. After 5 years undergrad at one of the most expensive universities in the country and 3 in an Ivy League law school I still have a ton of student debt to pay off. I’m actually way better off than some of my law school buddies, but this is just unacceptable for someone who wants to make it on a limited amount of interest a year.

Simplicity Meets the Enemy
The current plan calls for continuing to pay a certain amount every month toward my last remaining credit card until it is paid off. And as for the student loans, I have a big lifeline that I can rely on. As it turns out, my law school will pay down my student loans to the extent I have a public interest law-related job. I want to treat this in a later post, but basically I want to find a law-related job for a nonprofit that focuses on sustainability and/or environmental protection issues. It looks like I can kill two birds with one stone: transition to a job that I love and pay down my school debt, all at the same time. :)

Timeline
If all goes well, I should be done paying down my consumer debt by September of 2009. I can probably have my law school pay down my school debt starting in January 2010, hopefully right after I leave my current job.