There is an idea I’ve been having lately regarding how one should view the world. I have written in the past about different philosophical ideas as they interest me, stuff like being on the fringe of existence, etc. This one is another idea, a way of life. But this one is more about when you’re forced to join life. It’s how a person should view the world, and conduct themselves under the circumstances of everything. I’ve been calling it, “The Criminal Element,” and I will explain.
Being that this society and the structures of everything are built on lies (as discussed earlier in other posts), exploitation, labour, etcetera etfuckingcetera, it is in your best interest to view things in clear terms, and just as criminally as you are being treated. For example, something like the government taxing you highly and not being productive with your money is a pretty evil thing to do. They’ll take your money and tell you it’s for fixing potholes on the highway, and then you’ll be driving along and hit several of these potholes even though you’re already paying to have them fixed. Or you might try to take out a book from the library, but it turns out the library didn’t use your tax money to get the specific book you want. Paying your taxes for what often feels like no reason, is just one example of a cynical, business-minded decision that we are forced to deal with. I think a logical response to how we’re being taken advantage of in life on a regular basis is by looking at things in similar terms, and by trying to respond in ways that are similar. To be clear, I am not advocating being a criminal to anyone here, I’m just saying this stuff as a philosophical concept, an idea, a way of life. This is all for entertainment, I’m just a funny guy here. This is comedy, I’m a comedian. Haha.
Let’s say hypothetically speaking someone were to find a duffel bag full of money at the side of the road one night. This person has the intelligence to go back to school to become a doctor, but they don’t have enough money. Suddenly, they come across this duffel bag, and it is filled with the solution to all their problems: they can go to school without having to worry about working at the same time, they can get food, pay their bills, live comfortably, possibly even afford some hot Twitter hoes when they’re stressed out, and so forth. The good kinds that cost like $4000 an hour that only guys working in engineering or tech get to bang. You know: the usual stuff a guy likes in life. Haha.
Now, a normal so-called “well-adjusted” person would tell you that it’s the law for this hypothetical person to turn this duffel bag filled with cash to the police. They might tell you that they’ve seen movies like No Country For Old Men, and they think it’s a bad idea to keep the money because it could endanger the person, etc. Or someone else might say the best thing to do is leave it alone, walk away, go about your own business, and keep your nose clean in life. A religious person might tell you to donate it all to a church to balance the wrongs involved in that kind of cash hanging around. What I would suggest with this “Criminal Element” stuff is that the person keeps the money, goes home, and doesn’t tell anyone about it. Not their friends, parents, nothing. They continue to live as if it never happened, only now they can afford to pay their bills without worrying as much each month. If no one saw this person taking the money, and they didn’t personally harm anyone, I don’t see how taking what is most likely drug money is a bad decision.
If I’ve lost some of you, you should note that this concept doesn’t just apply to being an actual criminal, doing questionable things, and grey area morals. It’s a way of life, broadly speaking. For example, if you’re any kind of artist, you should have “The Criminal Element” in your approach to marketing. This is similar to the idea of hustling/hustle culture, and the “grinding” mindset, but I’m describing something slightly different: it’s not about always working and exhausting yourself, it’s about always looking for a way you can improve your situation that makes the most sense for you. Let’s say, for example, you want to work more on your art but you have no time. You work a day job and when you come home you’re too exhausted. Someone with “The Criminal Element” mindset might try to work in a different way: come home and take a nap, wake up at night, work for a couple hours, go back to sleep and get some rest for work again the next day. This type of person is clearly not working under the best conditions, but they are still making the time. An average person might just go home and watch Netflix until bed, completely forgetting about their art and what they really want to do, but this person following The Criminal Element understands they have to create new rules and work under a different system. It’s about realizing you’re an outlaw, so to speak, and working outside of these shitty existing structures that sometimes just don’t make any sense for where we are now. (This idea can also mean just simply waiting for the right time to make a move, and not getting too attached to one person, situation, or thing. Sometimes I think good things happen to people not because they are more deserving or better than anyone else, it is merely because they were more persistent and ready for any opportunity when it was made available to them: they had the Criminal Element/mindset, and were ready to adapt).
It’s also about turning your weaknesses into strengths, and doing anything possible to better your life regardless of what people tell you, etc. This way of viewing the world makes you unique, and will give you a different perspective than most people. It will be especially helpful in your creative work if you’re an artist, I feel, because it forces you to look outside the box constantly. It’s similar to how geniuses are described as paying more attention to things the average person can’t see; this Criminal Element forces you view the world as a fluid thing and see where you can break or bend rules to your advantage without harming anything or anyone. Very often, rules exist not because they make sense now, but because they made sense then. The phrase “reality is a shared hallucination” gets thrown around a lot for good reason, and it’s partly what I’m talking about here: sometimes you gotta know when not to take part in society’s “sharing,” if you catch my drift, dog.
For example, think about a starving person buying something at a convenience store. When the cashier isn’t looking, this person might consider stealing a pack of beef jerky or some such shit. This is what I’d argue a person needs to do on a larger scale: look for the moments in life to make your mark, execute, and make off like a motherfucking bandit. Once again, it’s important for me to remind you I don’t believe in harming other people or doing truly evil things. I don’t think a homeless person stealing food they need is that bad in the grand scheme of things. How is that any worse than the daily evils of capitalism in general? The shopkeep might disagree, but fuck him, he isn’t starving.
All I’m saying is: The Criminal Element idea is about keeping your ears and eyes open, being aware, and prepared to make a move. It’s like how a cat will often sleep for many hours at a time; they preserve their energy for things that actually matter, like hunting for food or being able to run away from potential threats. People are the same: we should be ready for when the truly important stuff to us makes an appearance. The Criminal Element is all about knowing there’s a whole subculture and world to be paying attention to beneath what purports to be important. Beneath the layer of horseshit we’re regularly being fed on a daily basis, there’s a whole other world of possibilities. Seek for ways you can beat the system at its own game when possible.
Another way of thinking about this concept that comes to mind is by looking at an actual criminal, Pablo Escobar. (Once again, I have to state that I don’t advocate any actual criminality, but this is a good example that fits. Also: wink wink, nudge nudge, do whatever you want if it makes you rich, haha). In the book Killing Pablo, there’s a passage that discusses Escobar’s marijuana use: “Pablo became a heavy doper early on and stayed that way throughout his life, sleeping until one or two in the afternoon, lighting up not long after waking up, and staying stoned for the rest of the day and night…..He looked out at the world through big, heavy-lidded hazel eyes, and cultivated the bemused boredom of the chronic doper. He dropped out of college several months before his 17th birthday, three years shy of graduation. His turn to crime appears to have been motivated as much by ennui as ambition.” I’m not saying that if you smoke marijuana every morning you’ll magically become a criminal mastermind who becomes rich, I’m just using this passage as an illustration of what I mean regarding looking at life in a certain way: I would argue that Escobar went on to do all the things he did because he could see what no one else did, the possibilities in life. Who else would have been able to tell the authorities that he would agree to being imprisoned as long as it was a prison of his choosing?
In summation, a person that isn’t looking for the possibility in life is not a real G, in my book lol. They don’t have the criminal mindset, they’re not searching. They’ve joined society and bought into the system. You should never accept everything that’s presented to you as 100% perfect and true, because life is rarely like that. People like Mark Zuckerberg had the Criminal Mindset when he stole the idea for Facebook off the Winklevi. MySpace Tom had it too when he envisioned one of the world’s first social networks. Look for what no one else does. If the government says it’s okay to smoke weed, maybe consider abstaining for awhile. If the government says magic mushrooms are bad, take a trip. If someone at some business somewhere tells you something “can’t be done,” ask someone else that works at the fucking store. And if you don’t get your refund, go home and write a bad review for them and show them who they’re fucking with until they offer you a coupon for compensation or something. Lie to the theatre manager about the movie fucking up and get a free ticket. Who gives a fuck? If it’s a major corporation, they can afford it. There’s always a way to better your situation, don’t listen to doubting ass people. Be stubborn, fuck everyone. IYKYK.
