"But in a society where only, say, 3% of people had to work some of the time to keep things running"

Okay, but why would 3% of people want to do that work while the other 97% just has leisure time? Wouldnt it make more sense for that work to just be spread thin amongst everyone? That way each person just contributes a very small ammount of work and things are equal while the same ammount of work is completed.

The ammount of work that people had to do if it was just 3% of people doing it would be rediculous. It would be as if a very tiny percent of the population were literally slaving away while the majority just sort of live it up. That sounds far from egalitarian to me.

I can't stand people that expect others to do the dirty work. I think no matter the level of technology, there will always be some dirty jobs that need to be done.

My job title says something like "assists developmentally disabled adults live more independently in their own homes". If you break it down though, I'm payed to enjoy the company of some of the most gracious, interesting, and beautiful friends I've ever had in my life(and clean up their places every so often). My employers call them "clients" but they're doing it wrong. Best job I've ever had. I can think of very few things that I would rather do to pay the bills. I need meaningful work with reward beyond payday, and I've got it.

I'm never surprised by the diversity of The Nexus. All can benefit from you gorgeous souls.
Whatever you do, do it well and love doing it.

My friend is going blind and got this guy like you to assist him. They're always just drinking beer and smoking pot when he's there They have become very good friends.

Great job done it for 6 years but got sick of cuts and power crazed management, they were glad to see me go as I challenged their crazy decisions all the time, and usually won! If you have good managers great job if it changes like it did with me ( whole new company took over ) then it can become a constant battle with robots with no common sense. My dad does similiar work and it felt like history repeating itself working with these complete idiots who are the laziest least caring people Ive ever come across, funny how these people end up in these jobs!

My career is mostly in the education area. Used to work doing activities to develop critical thinking for kids and teenagers, and also been doing some work with harm reduction for drug users and drug analysis which was great fun.

Now im working with teaching how to read and write based on some alternative education system, but also working at a restaurant some days a week to make ends meet.

Plans for the future are to eventually start an alternative school to help kids develop themselves instead of just memorize random BS, as well as being a full time hired teacher and live exclusively from education.

^ we need as many endlessnesses as we can get.

I also teach, but in the media area. Although what pays most of my bills are jobs in film production.

Matta keep playing that guitar. I was trained in art, since age 11 had been going to art schools. but once i hit my teens i really got into music. THen after taking mushrooms and acid when i was 14 i understood why jimi hendrix /jimi page (on dazed and confused live) did what they did on guitar. So i took some lessons for a couple of months at age 16. My grandfather-in-law asked me what i was going to do with my life. I asked what do you mean? He said you know for a career. I told him i like music and art. He said well that's fine but at some point you'll need to get a real job.

I then ended up getting scholarships for art, then ended up in bands without even trying(just followed the fun feedback and textures), toured 3 times to europe fully paid 60 shows in 72 days, 12 countries, once to japan. And all of this because i followed what i loved, not what was profitable. I would always encourage people to follow their dream and not the money. I now can come and go in hollywood painting because i have a good reputation for the love of art and they can rely on me, so i can leave for years at a time and i'm always welcomed back.

I totally agree with the 'do what you love' idea. Find your talents, your preferences, and go for it.

Playing the business game is fine, if that is what you want, if it at least to some extent matches your own talents and characteristics. But to chose a carreer solely for the money is bound to end up in unsatisfaction, personal crisis, sometimes straight up depression. I've seen it over and over again.

If you chose what you love, though, remember to stay realistic, think critical, and know also how to play the game if/when it is necessary. But stay true to your personal ethics and follow your own quality criteria even if it means some compromises in terms of money..... and I think more likely than not your career will pay off in many levels.

Not that I know anything for sure though, just my thoughts

I've never disagreed with a word you've said!

I likewise have a dichotimized, high-pressure life. I am not comfortable saying more than that.

Interesting posts.
I'm completely new here and I already feel... well, just a bit worried. This is a relatively normal discussion on the DMT nexus. Your descriptions and perspectives about what you feel, what you dream of achieving... it's all more important than you can think and none of it is trivial as long as you can be honest with yourself. You're all probably good people.
Each psychedelic perspective is always different. Myself, I'd only taken psilocybin a few times + Salvia and LSA on occasion. I have a weird tolerance for psilocybin so I'm soon going to be reading through all the information here about Syrian Rue/MAOIs/DMT etc. Other than that, I've yet to seriously participate in any type of a psychedelic discussion, which I have always found exciting just to listen to and study, especially all the McKenna talks, his lectures, his books/related books and just learning about shamanic initiation in general , it is definitely exciting, however limited the sources that prove this. WE have enjoyed this journey so far... that is, my ego and I. I've studied psychedelics for more than 2 years now, but why? I never even had a job! Let alone a career.
My closest friends also feel troubled... we all resent culture for it's ideology and people for their ignorance, even though our lives are comfortable even by modern standards. This is simply a very difficult time for us, possibly nearing 'the end of history', at least in our own experience. I'm sure it's the same with some of you. It won't prevent us from becoming creative people, of course, if we can survive this. I'm preparing for a high dose mushroom trip soon and then I'll be writing some stories/participating in discussions far more than I previously had, I can trust myself, at least, to be able to feel good about myself during and after the process.
I guess this is a sort of welcome post from me. I've lurked on other forums/boards too (actually far more) and posted there occasionally, but this one seems like it's best one to start with.

Yeah. It's important to keep in mind though that people are not necessarily to blame for the ignorance they've been born into. I resented society for a long time, thinking everyone was "in on it" to intentionally make this society as shitty and joyless as possible while only focusing on material comforts. But then an Anahuasca trip cured me in my soul as I puked all my beliefs into the toilet about that, and I realized that we're all just really finding ourselves in a random world and we tend to just choose a path that will benefit ourselves without having any greater notion of how it will impact society around us.

Everyone is confused all the time about nearly everything. It's extremely hard to have any clue whatsoever about what's even going on in this society and world.

And I don't believe we're in 'the end of history'; quite the opposite really. We're in the beginning stages, still. We haven't even begun yet! When I take anahuasca, I realize that this drug is the drug of the future, not of the ancient past. In an enlightened society, I can't even imagine it not being the drug of choice for people. Sure, we might be on the verge of transition in human life, but that doesn't mean that the end is near, it's just that we have a lot of readjustments ahead of us. I don't fear them, I look forward to them

And welcome man! I'm sure you'll fit right in

Iam a Carpenter. I like it most of the time.

welcome indra. this thread was about careers, maybe you post an introduction essay so people can get to know you. I hear and understand your concern for society in general but this thread seems to have a pretty positive vibe just stating what people enjoy doing with their skill sets.

My point of view also
But I'm expecting hard times. But birth is painful and we're seeing the birth of a new era for mankind. New system.

> Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself...

> I dropped-out of the "system" a long time back & for the last 20+ years I've been playing around with the buying & selling of Antiques, anything art-deco, some pre-1940's furniture, old kitchen stuff, really old drug bottles, old radios, phones & phonographs especially wind-up, a few jukeboxes & especially Pop Culture Collectibles... Collector Cards, Comics, Coins, Vintage Magazines, 1930'-40's Sci-Fi & Hero Pulps are my favorite, Old Toys of every kind from board games, Barbie & GI Joe, Aurora monster models, battery & wind-up tin toys especially Robots & Space Toys made in Japan in the 1950's & 60's, Records & Rare Books, learned a lot from reading them before they had to be sold!

> For many years I spent all my time looking for just about anything old or unusual ( sometimes after you drive 10 hours, set-up at 5;30 in the morning, buy & sell & haggle with people over prices till dark, it almost seems like "real work" ).

> I Started out at Flee Markets, worked in an Antique store, hung out with a few "pickers" helping them ( usually moving really Heavy furniture ) for free to learn the ropes & buy their rejects ( I knew more about the pop-culture stuff. Example; A 1962 Beany & Cecil vinyl lunch box I bought for $1, sold for $225 at toy show, the "expert" walked right past it at garage sale ).

> I Bought my Own Antique store in 1997 and kept it going till 2007, drove old chevy van with a 16 ft, trailer cross country to swap meets, collector shows, garage sales, thrift stores, friends houses & shops to Buy Large Collections of whatever seemed cool & could be sold at a profit ( Mr. Capitalist, that's me! ).

> Of course I had to really Like anything I bought, cause I might be stuck with it a long time.

> Got into ebay back in 1997, when you could make a killing, before prices became "rationalized" for the cool old stuff & ebay was flooded with millions of people selling brand-new stuff you could most likely get cheaper at Walmart! ( I'll admit I don't think very highly of those who only sell on the internet & never had to "pay their dues" & learn the Antique biz hard way ) .

> the old ebay did make it possible for me to pay for store in less than 2 years! Ended up selling store ( toward the end I mostly used it for storage ) & got lazy selling off left over stock on the net. Of course, there is no-way to replace any of it now-a-days, everybody has a computer & can look-up exactly what something is worth & tries to sell it for Twice as much! ( I always cut people deals as long as I didn't lose out, lots of them made good money off my finds ).

> So when the last few collections run-out, not long now. I may be faced with finding a "real-job". Oh Well, it was Fun while it lasted.

>I put my faith in the good old American Free-Market Capitalist system for a long time & did OK. I guess.

I'm in sales. Before you judge me please hear me out. I never "twist arms" when selling which many in sales are inclined to do. I only close sales on people that I feel can benefit from the product I'm selling and my main goal is to better my customer's lives. My job also allows me to interact with many people and develop a kind of permanent empathy for people of all different social/economic status which is very rewarding.
It also allows me to manage my own time which gives me time to focus on my art and music.
If despite all that you still loath me for playing a part in the rise of consumerism then please know at least on some level I understand where you're coming from. However, people will always buy things and I like knowing that at the very least there are many of us that will help them do it in a friendly manner.

There are salespeople, then there are salespeople. If the thing being sold isn't junk, there is no need for poor ethics to be selling that thing. I'd personally much rather talk to a psychonaut salesperson any day of the week.