I couldn't wait to up-vote this.

Ahead of his time, in so many ways.

legendary professor carlin

HA! "Everybody has a cell-phone that will make them pancakes and rub their balls!"

That's worth a *promote

http://videosift.com/video/George-Carlin-Saving-the-Planet

Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 6:39am PDT - promote requested by Ryjkyj.

"I'm divorced from it now." - because I got rich and now can afford to be. Show me someone w/o amazing talent that got that divorce, and I'll show you a guy that lives in a van down by the river.

>> ^Enzoblue:

"I'm divorced from it now." - because I got rich and now can afford to be. Show me someone w/o amazing talent that got that divorce, and I'll show you a guy that lives in a van down by the river.


Please, tell us your pay scale so we can respond appropriately. Me, myself, I'm at a satisfactory low-middle class income.

>> ^kceaton1:

>> ^Enzoblue:
"I'm divorced from it now." - because I got rich and now can afford to be. Show me someone w/o amazing talent that got that divorce, and I'll show you a guy that lives in a van down by the river.

Please, tell us your pay scale so we can respond appropriately. Me, myself, I'm at a satisfactory low-middle class income.


Same.
I guess my beef is he claims to have divorced himself from the rat race and is laughing at those of us still in it. A luxury few can afford. If he was at our income level and did this, he'd be the crazy hobo everyone avoids.
I'm a happy person myself, not very materialistic, but I do feel that until I throw in the towel and become a hobo, I'll always be a part of this downward slope of humanity. I am, willing or no, a part of this system. It makes me feel spiritially guilty that I keep going to work everyday, but I do and the material things make me feel better about it, (let's be honest here).
The people who call me a fool are either independantly wealthy, young with a parental fallback, or bums prattling as I walk by. Occasionally I see a nomadic guy near my age that sems to have it all in hand, but so far every one has had some base income to keep him afloat.

I feel that him being presumably independently wealthy at the time he made this, puts him in a questionable position. I am not saying he's wrong, but he definitely made a lot of money on his stance. And it's not as if he was turning around and donating the majority of his earnings. Looks like this was shot in his home, his house looked pretty nice...on the large size for a single guy and definitely not a mobile home.

Maybe he was less involved in it than others who have to work daily for their paycheck, but he was definitely involved in the very process he claims to be apart from.

I think until you could produce everything you'd ever need, grow it, make it, whatever with your own hands, tools you fashioned, or machines you designed and built.....you are going to be a part of this system. He's mostly describing greed (more and more stuff) and envy (He has a truck bigger than mine), with a sprinkling of the others. But really, if Carlin didn't care about getting and having stuff, he'd have did shows for free...definitely wouldn't have traveled all over doing his shows for money.

>> ^Porksandwich:

I feel that him being presumably independently wealthy at the time he made this, puts him in a questionable position. I am not saying he's wrong, but he definitely made a lot of money on his stance. And it's not as if he was turning around and donating the majority of his earnings. Looks like this was shot in his home, his house looked pretty nice...on the large size for a single guy and definitely not a mobile home.
Maybe he was less involved in it than others who have to work daily for their paycheck, but he was definitely involved in the very process he claims to be apart from.
I think until you could produce everything you'd ever need, grow it, make it, whatever with your own hands, tools you fashioned, or machines you designed and built.....you are going to be a part of this system. He's mostly describing greed (more and more stuff) and envy (He has a truck bigger than mine), with a sprinkling of the others. But really, if Carlin didn't care about getting and having stuff, he'd have did shows for free...definitely wouldn't have traveled all over doing his shows for money.


That's fairly correct. I'd even wager that the "nomads" got lucky and had family that bought land for them to use. Back in the day that was perhaps the best investment you can make. You can get rich barely lifting your finger.

(Except to sign your checks...)

Hahaha. I just recently realized how much of our society is shitty because we've cramped ourselves by sticking to shitty primitive patterns and just improving on them rather than replacing them, myself. I love Carlin now.

>> ^Porksandwich:

I feel that him being presumably independently wealthy at the time he made this, puts him in a questionable position. I am not saying he's wrong, but he definitely made a lot of money on his stance. And it's not as if he was turning around and donating the majority of his earnings. Looks like this was shot in his home, his house looked pretty nice...on the large size for a single guy and definitely not a mobile home.
Maybe he was less involved in it than others who have to work daily for their paycheck, but he was definitely involved in the very process he claims to be apart from.
I think until you could produce everything you'd ever need, grow it, make it, whatever with your own hands, tools you fashioned, or machines you designed and built.....you are going to be a part of this system. He's mostly describing greed (more and more stuff) and envy (He has a truck bigger than mine), with a sprinkling of the others. But really, if Carlin didn't care about getting and having stuff, he'd have did shows for free...definitely wouldn't have traveled all over doing his shows for money.


From everything I've ever read, Carlin was extremely grateful that he was able to divorce himself from society as much as he could. It certainly does take money to stand apart from it and still be comfortable but it's not like he didn't work his ass up from nothing to get there.

I don't think that he was against "having stuff", just that people are obsessed with useless bullshit. Trucks are a really good example too. I can't count how many absolutely flawless Ford F150s I see driving around every day. Trucks that are supposed to be cool because they're utilitarian but if they got a single scratch the owner would send them to the shop. They have leather interiors, not because it's the most useful material, but because it's the most expensive. And they're all enormous (and we all know why). Ten people in America actually need an F2500, but thousands of people have them. I think that's the kind of obsession we have with stuff that he's talking about. Not that we want things, but that we're desperate to have and keep them.

Oh, and it's a small point I know, but He wasn't single when this clip was shot. Perhaps his girl didn't see eye to eye on the stuff issue?

Made an account just to reply on this video. He was not single when this was made, and when he says "I'm divorced from that now" he's talking about an idea, not a literal marital divorce.

As for the comment that he's only able to be divorced from this idea because of how successful and wealthy he became, that's complete bullshit. He's not saying that people should refrain from participating in the economy, he's saying that people shouldn't focus on acquiring things for the sake of having things. If something brings you joy, I'm sure Carlin would be for it, his example with the trucks and the dvd players has to do with people buying things as a dick-measuring contest.

>> ^kaztheberserk:

I made an account to log on and basically say everything that Ryjkyj just said.


And how! Welcome to The Sift!