Man Lives without Money for 9 Years.

From http://matadorchange.com/man-has-lived-9-years-without-money%E2%80%94social-rebel-or-simply-a-mooch/, written by Gabriela Garcia. (Quoted here just in case that disappears; I've simple taken the article, and attached a couple of interesting comments to the end. By all means, visit the original site to give a hit to their page, and give them the chance to hit you in the eye with advertising, which gives them money to pay for this article which you read now for free.... ;)

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Daniel Suelo, 48, has been living without money or any barter system, and no food stamps or government help, for the past nine years. While in Ecuador on a Peace Corps mission, he witnessed a rural community acquire increased monetary wealth through farming and shift their traditional lifestyle towards a diet of unhealthy, processed food and a newfound addiction to television.

The experience led Suelo on a spiritual quest that realized itself in India, where he was particularly moved by the Sadhus, wandering monks who renounce all money and possessions. He made the conscious decision to return home, quit his job, and carve out a life without money.

As he put it, “I simply got tired of being unreal. Money is one of those intriguing things that seem real and functional because two or more people believe it is real and functional.”

Photo: platschi

Today, Suelo lives in a cave in Utah and gets around by hopping trains or hitchhiking. For food he relies on dumpster diving, foraging, fishing, and, occasionally, hunting. From the public library he authors a blog and a website where he discusses his everyday life and offers up deep philosophical musings on why a society based on the concept of money is harmful and contrary to our true nature.

He says he’s never been happier, living like “ants and deer and slugs and sparrows and bacteria and atoms and galaxies.”

Though Suelo’s story is a particularly riveting one, less radical communities of “freegans” are cropping up in places like San Francisco and New York. These groups have risen out of a desire to boycott what is seen as an unethical corporate system and to minimize the waste of resources. To varying degrees, freegans salvage edible food from dumpsters, squat in abandoned buildings, and encourage a reconsideration of the benefits of leisure and play as opposed to excessive work.

These movements have not flourished without criticism. Freegans are often dismissed as freeloaders. Others assess the lifestyle as a way to deal with extreme liberal guilt while still living within the confines of privilege and comfort. Daniel Suelo frequently receives hate mail expounding him to get a job and stop mooching off society.

It’s a valid discourse. It’s nearly impossible to be completely self sufficient. Suelo frequently relies on hitched rides, a library that’s supported by taxes, and the various cast off excesses of consumer society. He dismisses that this devalues his philosophy, asking “Are swallows nesting in house attics dependent upon money?”

He cites that goods flow from producers (laborers) to bankers, brokers, and landlords who produce nothing. He frequently touts his lifestyle as a return to a way of living more in line with the natural world, a way towards freedom from things that don’t exist towards one of generosity and truth.

However, it can be argued that a system of barter is indeed a part of our nature. Our nearest relatives, the chimpanzee, frequently barter food for grooming and sex. Even Neolithic cavemen bartered. A return to a world without money would be possible only if human beings, like bees and ants, decided to utilize our skills equally so that we may benefit from each other freely.

Photo: scriptingnews

Knowing the history of humanity, however, it doesn’t seem that we can adhere to such noble principles. Furthermore, even without money or a bartering system, human beings could still find ways to oppress each other.

It’s also important to note that Suelo’s lifestyle would not work if he lived in a less monetarily wealthy country. Many people live with virtually no money, and there are no overabundant dumpsters or gifts from generous neighbors to compensate for a lack of “monetary illusion.” In those places, not being a slave to a piece of paper also results in starvation and death.

Many travelers often walk a thin line between admiring a community and romanticizing poverty. It’s possible to question whether Suelo’s motives lie in some kind of imperialist nostalgia towards the communities he encountered on his travels.

However, philosophically speaking it is true that we tend to live in a real-life matrix. Our society as a whole is comprised of things that exist only in our collective consciousness rather than in reality.

“It is interesting to witness someone who disagrees with conventional society to such a degree that he opts out of it completely.”

Take for instance, the idea of borders. In the 19th century, Native Americans referred to the border between Canada and the United States as the “medicine line” because they were perplexed that the American troops would chase them through the land but suddenly stop when they crossed that invisible line. They thought it was magic; to the Native Americans, all of it was just land.

Just like borders, money is a concept that becomes real only because we believe in it collectively. As Suelo says, “If a dollar bill represented itself, it would no longer be money. It would simply be a piece of paper with pretty art on it.” The fact that people will kill each other and ruin the earth for an abstract concept seems almost ludicrous when analyzed from that angle. It’s downright maddening when multiple psychological studies confirm the old adage that money really does not buy happiness.

Who really understands our complex monetary system, other than the few who benefit tremendously from such knowledge? Henry Ford once said, “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” Rarely do we ever question our entire financial system until some kind of disaster, like the current economic recession, sparks the discussion.

Regardless of any stance, it is interesting to witness someone who disagrees with conventional society to such a degree that he opts out of it completely.

Do you find Daniel Suelo’s lifestyle commendable or outrageous? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Two notable comments that appeard on the page:

1.

By Damien:

Great article, Gabriela, about one of my oldest and closest friends. Unlike some other pieces written about Daniel, yours gives him the respect and dignity he deserves, focusing on global issues of poverty, wealth, spirituality and human happiness. Daniel has a degree in Anthropology from CU, Boulder, which is where we met in the 1980’s, in a course on the Psychology of Religion.

My favorite anecdote about Daniel is the way he made it to my wedding in 2001. At the time he was living in a swamp in Florida, rich in wildlife, taking meals with the Hare Krishnas and spending his days doing research in the university library. To get to the wedding in Utah he contacted the Drive-away company and offered to transport a vehicle. They set him up with a brand new Mercedes convertible. Along the way he would park this $60,000 new convertible adjacent to dumpsters so he could rummage for some food “to go.”

Daniel’s lifestyle over the last decade can be portrayed as anthopological research, living in a fringe subculture of a powerful and wealthy society. What he notices about the rest of us is both intriguing and compelling. But Daniel is also a great biblical scholar who reads Hebrew and other ancient languages, finding profound nuances in scriptural passages, then conveying deep truth in a way that awakens more conventional people like me. His current lifestyle is driven by a passionate, mystical philosophy that will never allow him to feel homeless on a planet that is entirely owned by God.

Although Daniel tries never to barter, at one level he does participate in the same kind of barter system known for centuries to Franciscan or Buddhist monks. His presence in our house “adds value” to the quality of life experience that my wife and I enjoy. He brings peace with him wherever he goes. We adore him, and so do all of our animals, whom he often “babysits” when we travel. You could even say our many fruit trees adore Daniel. He has helped prune and cultivate them over the years, thoroughly enjoyed many afternoon naps in a hammock in their shade, and savored their bounty with a kind of deep, mystical gratitude that few of us humans ever really feel.

If anyone could call Daniel a “mooch” it would be me and my wife, because our home (and refrigerator) are always and unconditionally open to him. Yet we have never felt mooched, or otherwise taken advantage of. Quite the opposite, we look forward to his arrivals, feel enriched during his stays, and are saddened by his departures. Daniel is not a weight on society, holding us all back, as the word “mooch” implies. Instead, he is more like an angel who asks for nothing, but lifts us up others with his peace, love and wisdom.

Perhaps the “mooching” equation should be turned around. How many in the world, who enjoy great material wealth, truly have an endless supply of love, wisdom, inner peace and happiness that they share freely with others around them? In many respects Daniel can be thought of as a saintly leader, one who has made great personal sacrifices in order to develop broadband access to God. Now the rest of us get to “mooch” off of his free internet wi-fi connection to heaven whenever he is around.

2. By Daniel Suelo, about whom this article is written.

Thank you, Gabriela. A well-written article that raises thoughtful questions & does not tout assumptions & opinions as fact.

I’m actually sitting by my friend, Damian in a Moab coffee shop right now. He wanted to show me your article & his comment above, making my head swell

To those who assume I don’t work. It may or may not be true! But why do you assume it? Must one toot one’s own horn before work is valid? Must one work for one’s own credit (money), publish it, before work exists?

About comments on “what would happen if everybody did what Suelo does?” I don’t expect everybody to live in a cave & dumpster dive. I do implore everybody to take only what they know in their own hearts cwhat [sic] they need, and give up excess to those who have less than they need. If this happened, I certainly wouldn’t have to dumpster dive. I do envision money going obsolete. I envision communal living, making it possible for families to live moneyless. Communal living already exists in every society, even here in the most capitalistic. It’s called sharing, what we learn in kindergarten. We must cultivate it until it chokes out our selfish system naturally.

To those who say it isn’t possible to live this way in a poor country. If that is so, why then are there sadhus & monks & bikkhus & faqirs in poor countries, living without money, and they are actually respected? I’ve traveled & lived in “developing” countries. I’ve seen intense poverty. What astounded me was the incredible generosity there. Making sure anybody, friend or foe, has food & even a place to lay a head, when they visit, is common practice in poor countries. It’s called hospitality. It’s not about throwing money at organizations, it’s about actually loving your neighbor as yourself.

I’ve observed that the amount of waste a region produces is inversely proportional to its generosity. By the grace of God, in regions where people are stingy, I can find food in dumpsters. People who are generous also usually don’t waste, & they don’t question you whether or not you are deserving of their hospitality. The Universe always provides, everywhere, as it has for zillions of years, to the just and the unjust.

Also, when wasteful people don’t rape the environment, you can actually live off the land.

Why is it that an American in suburbia deserves his or her opulence, while a child working 14 hours in a sweat shop overseas to support American opulence does not? Who is the mooch? [blogger's note here: see thestoryofstuff.com concerning that statement; 'we don't pay for the stuff we buy. those underpaid elsewhere pay the costs.'] Do you really receive your wealth by your own skill & work or by Grace? Isn’t this exactly what your Holy books (Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon, Buddhist sutras) say?

Look up & see. Virtually all energy on earth, including that running this computer, is given totally by Grace from the sun. You can’t even pay the sun back if you wanted to! But a middle man has taken possession of what was free & decided you owe him for what was given freely to him. Every acre of land we think we own was openly stolen, even by our own legal treaties. One day we might get it.

Yes, every single life-form in the universe is a mooch, dependent upon every other life form. Get that mooch-ness in balance!