I was kicking a pebble as I walked towards my apartment.

You ever kick a pebble?

It has so many facets that even when it’s kicked along a certain path, it will almost certainly deviate from that path. It’s going to hit an edge and change diretion.

Life is a lot like that: uncontrollable. You can steer it in a direction but, inevitably, it’s going to change without warning.

All you can do is keep steering.

In my lifetime, I have seen rise to the internet.

I think it’s reasonable to assume that most people don’t really know how the internet works. Most people assume its just a place you can go with a computer. And that’s the incorrect assumption: that the internet is a place.

So before I start contemplating on the internet, let me give you the short-and-sweet explanation.

The internet is not a single entity, but rather an incredibly large number of computer files. these files are stored on lots of different computers. The internet lets us access these computers, and look at their files.  As the internet became more widely used, people started designing files to be more user-friendly. These were the first web pages.

So… I think it’s interesting to thnk about the amount of useless crap out there on the Internet. When people don’t update their websites, those sites become stagnant, but they don’t go away. These old web pages still exist on a computer somewhere, and they are still accessible.

So where does it all go? Where is the web page that a 7th grader made for his English class? Where is the blog that hasn’t been updated in years?

This connection of computers has irrevocably changed life on the planet. Information is accessible at incredible speeds.

There have been lots of great things done with this new capability. Information is being spread to raise awareness on imprtant topics: Politics, STD’s, World hunger, etc. Now less people will suffer from the lack of being informed.

I think the Internet can be a great benifit to human life. Where is the next step? Where will we take this powerful tool?

I think the world is obsessed with money.

Those who are obscenely rich tend to define themselves by their wealth; if they lose it, then they have nothing.
They tend to become obsessed with keeping, maintaining, and increasing their money. They can never have enough.

Those who don’t have enough tend worry about it continuously. It’s always on the forefront of their minds. Concerns regarding: “can I afford this?” “do I really need this” “Is this a good deal?” are always prevalent. So this group can never have enough to be satisfied, either.

So how is it that the majority of the (arguably) most advanced species on the planet became so obsessed over the small paper rectangles we call money? As a kid, I used to wonder why the barter system was not used so much anymore (the problem being subjectivity). As I grew older, I saw a TV program that told of a future time when mankind didn’t worry about doing their jobs for individual benefit, but they did their jobs to benefit mankind as as whole (I find this to be a little Utopian, if not Marxist).

So we find our society using this arbitrary rectangle as an intermediary for value. Okay, I can accept that. And I can accept that the nation I reside in is a nation of ccapitalism. I just wish that money didn’t have to be so overwhelmingly important.

Why do people bend rules for money? Why do people kill for money? Why do people kill themselves for money?

Is there a better way? I wonder if the “dollar” system will ever change, or if it is apermament fixture of human life?