Making a Living

So I saw Brokeback Mountain last night. Good flick, could've been ten minutes shorter but if they don't get at least a cinematogrophy, director and a couple of acting Oscar nominations, it'll be a crime. I don't really get why it's all that controversial. I mean really, are we still living in an era where homosexuality is controversial? Anyways, what the movie really made me think about for some strange reason is the concept of being broke. It's weird, I mean in reality, me and most of the people I know will never struggle like the characters in this movie did. There isn't really a modern day equivalent in the United States of truly being broke, at least as an individual-i mean, as long as you're working hard and don't fuck up with drugs and alcohol and don't have like 30 kids, almost anyone can earn a living. Well, I suppose you gotta keep your credit in decent shape as well. This, perhaps, is the dirty republican evil side of me speaking out. However, it's clear that an individual can support themselves almost anywhere in the country with enough hard work. Sure, I have some friends who are broke, but that is almost solely the result of their own decisions and has nothing to do with it being impossible to earn enough money to live. The concept of being an individual completely unable to support yourself is a concept that no longer exists in America.
Still though, there's some romance to working simply to earn enough to get by. I mean I've talked about this before-how blue collar jobs are more satisfying than white collar jobs. Perhaps not necessarily more satisfying, maybe it's just a different type of satisfaction. There's something nice about going to a job where you know what's to be expected of you, you know how to do it well, and you know you probably won't be challenged that day. There's something relieving knowing that you're working hard so you can go out to dinner on Friday night, not so that you can pad your portfolio. I mean, it just seems like the days of fisherman leaving on excursions for months at a time are over. The days of people ranching in Montana for the summer to support their kids through the winter are over. The days of doing odd jobs as a carpenter in a small seaside town are over. I mean, maybe this still exists somewhere in the country-but certainly not like it used to. The small town, and the jobs that are inherent in small towns are dying. The towns are being replaced by planned suburbs, gentrified inner cities, and "mixed communities." The jobs are being replaced by IT positions and spots in middle management. Kind of sad I suppose, not that I'm not completely perpetuating the death of the small town. For some reason, school and the city sometimes makes me want to go back to a day where all you worried about was where the next meal was coming from. Granted, this is probably incredibly stressful, but you gotta think that nothing can really be more stressful than the life I and a lot of my friends plan to embark on. I mean, how bad can a couple of hungry nights be? That's an insensitive and asinine statement but still. Well, maybe someday in retirement I'll cook at some seaside or ranch dive and get a final taste of small town America and blue collar life before I die-but probably not. Maybe I'll just name my boat after one of those towns. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
Quote:
"Opinions are like kittens, always giving them away."
Modest Mouse.