The “really really free market” movement – this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Someone, someone with a heart for community, organizes an event on a regular basis where people bring things from home that they no longer want or need and offer them freely to other attendees. That’s it. No bargaining. Just giving.
Why isn’t this happening in every city around the country on a weekly basis? Probably because, as with all good ideas, apathy has prevented it from taking root.
I have been asking myself, nearly every day, why there are so many really good ideas that never happen. Why is it always the bad ideas that flourish? I wonder things like: Why don’t people volunteer more? Why isn’t society more egalitarian? Why isn’t there a sensible healthcare system? Why is the education system unable to educate? Why is the political system so dysfunctional? Why is the economic system unsustainable?
I think these are very fair questions. Anyone with a modicum of common sense can look around and see that we, as a society, do not pursue good ideas. Instead, we insist on inexplicably pursuing only bad ones; ideas with no real future.
Of course, I harp on this very thing more often than my readers would like, I’m sure. But when the world is drowning in a sea of absurdity, it can sometimes be hard to focus on anything else.
So, let’s get back to this idea of the really really free market.
I started one six months ago and, despite quite a bit of advertising, no one attends. At the community resource center where I volunteer each week, the really really free market is advertised to thousands of people in desperate need of such a wonderful opportunity. The website, which gets 10,000 visits a month, very clearly and plainly advertises this amazing idea.
And still, no one comes.
The city where I’m trying to start this community marketplace has a population of 1.4 million people – 17% of whom are officially below the poverty level. That’s a minimum of 238,000 people who would benefit tremendously from such an event.
Yet, no one shows up.
Why, I ask you?
And the only answer I can come up with is a combination of apathy and a lack of foresightedness. It would seem that when people are presented with a good idea – an idea that would benefit them immeasurably – they either can’t see the potential benefit or just plain don’t care.
But we see this play out in almost every aspect of, especially, American life. Can you really imagine that anyone thinks fast food is good for them? Or smoking? Or drinking? Or taking drugs? Or being obese?
I don’t think the problem is that people can’t recognize what is good or bad for them. Frankly, I think people just plain don’t care.
For whatever reason, (especially) Americans can’t seem to find the willpower to do what makes sense. And this is not the case in every culture. There are countless examples of cultures where people show interest in things that are reasonable, things that are good for them and good for society. So what is it, exactly, that makes Americans so devoted to their self-destructive lack of interest in reasonability?
Pick your conspiracy theory, whether it be fluoride in the water or social programming. Whatever it is, it’s a sad state of affairs.
And as for me, I will keep offering the really really free market to a community of people that can’t seem to find the interest to help themselves.
Why would I do this?
Maybe it’s because I’m a glutton for punishment and just as self-destructive as everyone else. Who knows.
But every Saturday from noon to 5 PM, I will be there, hoping, most likely in vain, that someone will be sensible enough to join me.
Join us in making the world a better place. You’ll be glad that you did.
Cheers, friends.