Dear bfranske,
Your question, as you noted yourself, can be divided into three
equally important parts:
- Where Do I want to go today?
- How am I getting there?
- Who's driving the bus/plane/car/etc taking me there?
I would have added several other important questions:
- Why do I want to go today?
- What would I do when I get there?
- Do I want to get back? Should I get back?
- How do I get back?
Now to the answers:
Where Do I want to go today?
---------------------------
One can say, that whatever we do, wherever we go, we are on a pursuit.
Pursuit for happiness. In other words, if we posses free will (that
implies from the question "Where Do I *want* to go today?"), we always
want to pursuit happiness. The place your want to go to, is a place
that would help you accomplish that aim.
Microsoft say, that was a clever campaign. Maybe too clever, since
people took them literally and answered: with words such as 'Chicago',
'the corner of Fourth and Elm,' 'Egypt', 'Tahiti', 'Anywhere but
Redmond,' 'Ulaan Baator". I must say that all of them sound great
ideas to me [May I note at this point, however, that I happen to know
more Mongols than many other non-Mongol people. They are kind, relax
and clever chaps. They eat lots of meat, which means its not such a
great idea to travel to Ulaan Baator if you're vegetarian; They are
used to extreme weather, which means that if you don't like very hot
summers and very cold winters, you'd better stay away; They love that
Eurovision Grand Prix song "hu hah Tschintschis Khan" (which adds to
their merits); and they speak - except for their own language - mainly
Russian, no English, which means the average American, who cannot
speak both languages, may want to go to other countries, with
McDonalds, loud people and MTV in every corner. No, Mongolia is a bad
idea. Better go to Hawaii].
In any case, Microsoft decided <http://www.denounce.com/mswhere.html>
to stop with that campaign, because people like you and me took it
seriously. Didn't they ever hear about truth in advertising?
Many people <http://home.earthlink.net/~ericmattei/www_microsoft_com.html>,
it seems, would like to go to Seattle, to show Bill Gates they really
don't like him and his marketing ideas. This could also be a good idea
for you, because Seattle is a very nice town with pleasant weather.
The Washington Post's technology columnist allegedly wrote, " I think
I'd like to go somewhere that doesn't rely on Microsoft Windows."
(October 1998) <http://www.theglobalist.com/nor/readlips/2001/12-19-01.shtml>
Others treat it philosophically like me: "Anywhere but where I am
going." <http://www.mindspring.com/~slywy/today.html>. From here we
get to the view, which claims that we're always subjected to some
hegemony (like Microsoft) that prevents us from having a free will.
That may well be true, and it could be that our wills are also not
ours. What I mean by saying that, is that the advertising world plants
in your head ideas to want things you don't really need, and wouldn't
have wanted if you haven't been mind washed. The greatest example is
in the next part - How to get there.
- How am I getting there?
-------------------------
Whether you have free will, and actually know what you *really* want,
and whether it is all hegemonic mind-wash, that makes you think that
you know what you want, when you're actually doing what others (for
example, Bill Gates) want you to do, seems unimportant when you get to
the question of getting there.
A person must have a plan. The plan would tell him "where is he going"
and how do he gets there". However, as noted before, this plan is not
entirely your own. People, for some reason, go shopping. They don't
really need the stuff they shop for. People go to vacations in Egypt,
and then go to eat at McDonalds. In order to eat at McDonalds, they
could have stayed in Ohio. It is not surprising, that two things
popped up when I searched for your answer
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22+How+am+I+getting+there%3F%22>:
business plans and personal safety issues.
A business plan, for example, is defined as:
"What is a business plan and why do I need one?
The business plan answers two questions, "Where am I going?" and "How
am I getting there?" A business plan precisely defines your business,
identifies your goals and serves as your firm's resume. Its basic
components include a current and pro-forma balance sheet, an income
statement and a cash flow analysis. It helps you allocate resources
properly, handle unforeseen complications and make the right
decisions. Because it provides specific and organized information
about your company and how you will repay borrowed money, a good
business plan is a crucial part of any loan package. Additionally, it
can tell your sales personnel, suppliers and others about your
operations and goals. "
http://ab.workink.com/articles.asp?subsection=217
When speaking on personal safety, it is always advised to know where
you're going <http://www.crime-reduction.co.uk/personalsafety.shtml>.
However, whoever gets advices from the police is someone who already
subjected his or her mind to the fact that some authorities know
better than us, what's good for us. This si apparently quiet popular
in the UK <http://www.colchester-community-safety.org.uk/your_safety.htm>
<http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc1/sorted/sorted3.htm>
<http://www.ulst.ac.uk/accommodation/security.html> (probably what
happened is that one person wrote this question one time, and
everybody cheerfully copied it up).
However, there is a lesson to be learned from these safety tips. The
first step of your journey begins in your mind. Nowhere else. Some
people have spent their whole lives in one place, but their
imagination brought them to other places. German author Karl May never
visited America, let alone the Wild West, but managed to write
imagination-capturing novels, like this one
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/087422179X/ltc-political
One can say, that like the advertisers, he "sold" you a false image of
the Wild West. However, everybody knows that's fiction, that's
imagination. That's, unlike some Microsoft commercials, that try to
convince you that your "real" life would improve if you bought
something from Mr. Gates.
I recently read, that the trams were removed in the 1960s in the city
where I live, because the government wanted to encourage people to buy
cars, something which sounds a bit ridiculous today, with all those
traffic jams. They want you to buy a car, which you don't really need,
because you can get along just find with your two feet (I hope) and
with public transportation. These should be the answers of the means
of getting where you want to be. I think you'd agree with me, counting
on your third question, which actually tells us, that you - like me -
thinks that public transportation is much better.
Who's driving the bus/plane/car/etc taking me there?
---------------------------------------------------
Yes, almost all of these means are public transportation. I am a
little disturbed that you haven't mentioned the fact that you might
get there by submarine
<http://www.buzzrantrave.com/article.php?sid=45>. This could be lots
of fun (see for example James Bond's "You Only Live Twice"). If you're
getting there with a submarine (later you'll find out it's a bit
unnecessary), you'd better not travel with someone like
The question of "who's driving the bus" has much to do with
environment, politics
<http://writ.news.findlaw.com/aronson/20010420.html> and self-identity
<http://www.emofree.com/drivebus.htm>. Moreover, the following article
claims that with technologies, the question of the human being behind
all of this driving is not important
<http://www.techreview.com/articles/wo_leo052301.asp>. Oh yeah, the
human being is not really important. When they ask you "where do you
want to go today", they really expect you to answer something like "I
will erase myself, and buy whatever you want, I am not important, only
the technology of Mr Gates, and the rest of the manufacturers. They
tell me where I want to go, while planting the idea in my mind that I
really wanted to do it".
This is the same all over the world. People have some romantic notions
on the Third World, as a place where people don't think in those
terms, and in which the industries and hegemonic powers don't try to
influence you that way. Really? Check out this article from India
<http://www.blonnet.com/iw/2002/06/16/stories/2002061600281300.htm>.
Who's driving? The industry, that is. Small and big car manufacturers.
However, it should be mentioned, that for the best of places we want
to go, our minds or our feet are enough. We don't need buses, trains
or cars to achieve happiness. We can achieve happiness, what we really
want, by going to the kitchen and fetching ourselves something
(preferable with chocolate, and/or ice cream). That requires our feet.
We can sit here online and travel with our minds to far away places.
All of that requires nothing but our bodies.
Summary: Where do you want to go today?
--------------------------------------
Don't believe in anyone else, telling you they know where you want to
go today (yes, I know I am shooting myself in the leg. Neil Young once
wrote "Take my advice, don't listen to me"). Especially, be always
suspicious when one of the richest people on Earth asks you that. Try
to set your own agenda, and not let it be set by others, especially
advertisers, trying to tell you what to want.
You want to be in a place where you'll be happy. You'll get there only
with your mind. A person can be extremely happy in his house, reading
my answer and eating some ice cream or pizza. A person can be
extremely sad, going out in a hot day like today (unless you're in
Australia, and than change the ending to "a rainy day like today").
The one who can get you there, the one who drives the bus, is only
you.
And, wherever you go, you must go with a song -
<http://www.geocities.com/funkywizard/backstreetparody.htm>
My search strategy and further sources:
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Where+Do+I+want+to+go+today%3F%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22+How+am+I+getting+there%3F%22
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22Who%27s+driving%22
Greetings for happiness,
Politicalguru-ga |
