Conversation in a Bar

(Now today's message is a little long, but it has to be that way, so just stay with it and pay attention, OK?)

A bar is a place where strange characters show up. That is one fact nobody will deny. It is the main reason self-actualized people gather there. They know themselves to be strange, and they know that other truly self-actualized humans have a similar awareness of themselves.

So consciously or subconsciously, they go to bars to find each other; it’s as simple as that.

What a transcendent does is, he or she begins frequenting a bar in search of other revolutionary, transcendent minds. When a self-actualized person tells another person his perspective on things, and the other quickly finds another place to sit, the self-actualized individual realizes that he has misjudged the other, and he leaves that one alone.

But the strange people continue searching each other out, and when a self-actualized person discovers one who is willing to listen, the possibility of a genuinely philosophical companionship (not anything resembling an alliance, just a companionship) hangs in the balance.

A conversation occurs. It is a kind of negotiation. The two tentatively admit that they have no conventional position on any political matters; they have very few certainties about what "must" be done about __________ (fill in the blank). All they have is total agreement that the current establishment is deeply flawed, and their only remedies are revolutionary, unusual, wild, and extremely difficult for most people to fathom. Consider this exchange:

"I don't know what all the fuss is about. Democrats want economic stimulus. So do Republicans," says one to the other.

"Yeah. Democrats want poor people to get food stamps and they don’t seem to mind if rich people get tax breaks," replies the other, sipping reflectively on a cheap beer, nodding his head. “And of course, in government, the Democrats are rich themselves. So they don’t mind.”

"Republicans are no different, except they want rich people to get more tax breaks and poor people to get fewer food stamps."

[Chuckle, chuckle, nodding of heads, smiles, sipping of beers, mutual agreement.]

Says one, "Maybe they should experiment; make it so that rich people get the food stamps and poor people get the equivalent of all the tax breaks given out over the past ten years." [Tentative chuckle.]

[Laugh. Quizzical expression, but one obviously meant to encourage elaboration.] "Yeah? That would be different."

[Responding to the encouragement, a bit more bravely now,] "Yeah, but the money would stay right in the country. The poor people would buy booze and drugs and clothes, and the money would go to local businesses and entrepreneurs."

"But a lot of the money would go to criminals and con artists. It might go to illegal drugs, gambling, prostitution - -"

"Rich people buy illegal drugs too, a lot more drugs than the poor. It wouldn't make much difference. Sure, there’d be illegal transactions, but who knows? Maybe there wouldn’t be as many. Poor people need food and clothing. Rich people already have all they need.”

“You know, the really rich already have about everything they need and everything they want, too.”

“Well, of course, and over the past ten or twelve years, if you gave poor people the tax breaks that the rich people got, and gave the rich people food stamps, maybe the rich would’ve spent their food stamp entitlement on drugs just as much as the poor people did, but one thing they wouldn’t do is put it into their Swiss bank accounts!” [Chuckle.]

“Ha! Nope. Swiss banks don’t take food stamps, I don’t believe!” [Laughter.]

“But the rich could probably find more effective ways to buy their drugs with their food stamps! Don’t you think?”

"Hmmm. Now that you mention it, maybe not much else would be different.”

Now, that is one crazy conversation. If you overhear it, try not to disturb it; listen for a little while. Make sure you get all of it before you interrupt. Don’t be rude!

All right. That’s enough for you to think about today. I’ll give you the rest of it tomorrow.