Are You Working For What You Can Own?

In the ancient Maxims of Delphi at number 79, you will find the words, work for what you can own. On the surface, a lot of people might interpret it to mean, be self-employed, that to work for someone else is to be subjected to limited potential, and the attainment of only what that person wants you to have. Thus, you are not being the best version of yourself.

However, I think the Maxim means something far more deeply rooted in the human experience. It means to be fulfilled by your work. Your goal should be to work in a field that you enjoy, not hate. That pays you a living, not exploits you. And that you can feel a sense of purpose and even pride out of.

Self-employment can most certainly bring someone to these ends, but it is not the only road to them. It's possible to be self-employed and be miserable and unproductive. I know because I spent five years as an Independent Contractor, trying everything under the sun to make the job work, and it never did. I was overworked and financially broke when I decided that it wasn't worth it and something else had to be done if I was ever going to make any kind of living.

Since graduating high school in 2004, I have had at least 26 different jobs, and only recently did I finally obtain one that I liked, could keep, and that paid me a living wage. It was at this latter time that I truly came to understand the meaning of working for what you can own. It means to own everything about your work, like your financial stability, happiness and purpose. A slave, in any regard, is not working for what they can own.

Some people might say that having 26 different jobs throughout your life is reckless or even immature, especially if you left most of them because you quit or wanted to do something else. But it shows that, sometimes, you have to be willing to travel though roads, and not be content with unhappiness and neutrality, if you are to ever achieve the things you want out of life. You will find greater things along the way that you otherwise would not have.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Have City Loyalty; Your Greek Ancestors Would Be Proud

There was no mortal establishment more important to an ancient Greek than their City State (Polis). It was not only their place of residence, but their nationality and the identity of their particular part of Hellenic religion. 

Someone from Athens or Sparta would have called themselves Athenian or Spartan, not Greek in the sense of an all in one national people. In fact, Athenians and Spartans would have probably taken grave offense if you had called them the same people.

To an ancient Greek, cities also didn't have to be highly populated. In modern America, we call locations with only a few thousand people villages, but the Greeks would have considered them cities still. While places like Athens eventually boasted huge numbers, many cities had at, under or a little over 5,o00 people. And so my location (Machesney Park, Illinois), which houses well over 20,000, would certainly meet the definition.

Yesterday as I was driving home through Rockford and back into the Park, I thought on things I wanted to buy, and although I was several miles from home, I wanted to try there first, because I like keeping as much of my commerce as possible in the place where I reside. So I took the extra miles for my City, because that's what a Hellenist should do.

Since I set up my temple in Machesney, I've become increasingly involved in the City's politics and services. I've even considered running for office, but never actually have. The national identity, and even state identity stage, is of course very important, but your City literally hits home. It's where you spend most of your time, where you experience your love life, home, career and where you pray to your Gods.

You may not realize, but your City is of the most importance, because whatever happens there, has the greatest chance of happening to you as well. If the economy tanks, you will feel the bankruptcy. If crime spikes, you may need a few more locks. If the environment isn't kept clean, it could come out of your faucet or garden. 

If something, good or bad, happens in a City or State 2,000 miles away, you wouldn't even know it if not for the news. But if it happens where you live, the ripples are on their way to you. 

Therefore, make your City good and protect it from the bad. Stand up for her and her people. Run for office, go to the Council meetings, voice your concerns, write your representatives, get involved in community projects, spend your money at City businesses, and something else you may not consider, be kind to your fellow citizens. The more supported and happier a people are, the better their City will do.

You don't have to be the federal President or join the Marine Corps to serve. The opportunity to be of invaluable service is before each and every one of us right now, by the simple fact that we live there.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

I'll see you at the next Herm down the road,

Chris Aldridge.

Could Solon Solve Our Economic Crisis?

Class warfare isn't unique to America. The rich and poor have really never gotten along, and have had periods when they are ready to literally start throwing punches, especially when an economy deteriorates into those who have it all and those who have nothing. When the middle class vanishes, the society fractures. It's why Plutarch said that an imbalance between rich and poor is the most common and fatal error of all republics.

In our current political and economic atmosphere in the United States, we once again have the extremes that Athens faced some 2,500 years ago. We have the extremely rich and the extremely poor, and those in power and society who are for the rich or for the poor. Really no one stands on middle ground anymore. But in ancient Athens, one famous Reformer and Lawgiver seems to have done such a good job with these issues that his face was hung inside the United States House of Representatives, although it remains to be seen as to whether or not our government will ever live by his example. His name was Solon, someone who loved the Gods and the people.

He himself was not poor, but he also wasn't dishonest, deceitful or uncaring, which is why the poor loved and trusted him to improve their society. He did not make it illegal to be rich. He allowed success. But he also didn't permit it to be gained through the oppression or destruction of others. He forgave the debts of the poor and outlawed slavery as a condition for repaying debt, as was a custom at the time. In other words, no one could any longer turn you into an involuntary servant just because you owed money. He also repealed the harsh Draco Laws. These laws gave the death penalty even for minor offenses, which probably impacted the poor more than anyone else. Finally, he gave all citizens a voice in the government and established a kind of Athenian congress known as the Boule. Solon literally made life livable for all people.

Last night, I was thinking about how Solon would handle the situation today in the United States, which is much like the one he faced so long ago. What if the best way to handle our social and economic problems is not to destroy one side or the other, but to simply institute and enforce humanitarianism and civilized justice? And more so, has our country lost those two things? I think it has. We have become so obsessed with success and wealth that we actually devalue and exploit people who don't have it. The imbalance that Plutarch called the fatal error of all republics is growing by the day, and we are far past the declaration of war between the two classes; it's already raging.

Perhaps Solon would tell us to be humane and fair, that the best way to solve our problems is to simply give everyone the best quality of life possible. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.