Shanghai Yummy

In many ways I don't conform to the "norms" of society. Most of the time I actually take pride in not being like everyone else, but there are times when my non-conformance presents special challenges.

The way our society's services are set up is to allow the service providers to handle the "norm" with greatest expediency. There are few instances where this is more obvious to me than in the expectation that you have a permanent address. In my ideal existence, I would not have a permanent address, ever. There are many reasons for this, but let's just sum it all up in one word: freedom.

But society is set up to expect you to have a permanent address. Take as an example the political system. You cast your votes based upon where you live. I consider this mode of determining voting parameters archaic. I understand that it was a convenient way to classify representation, but it's just as arbitrary as, say, using your occupation to determine representation. Who's to say that geographic representation is more valid than occupational representation? What would Congress be like if we had representatives for Engineers, Doctors, Construction Workers, Salesmen, etc.? I'm not saying that we should make a drastic change, but I want my readers to think about how arbitrary something like an address really is. Location is one of the most fluid concepts in my existence, and I resent our society expecting me to be a certain way just beause of where my "home" happens to be right now.

What about countries? From an individual's standpoint, the idea of borders is ludicrous. I may be proud to be an American, but to me being an American isn't about where I live. Being an American is a mindset, an ideal.

If I had a lot of money, I probably wouldn't spend it on a house. I'd just start a never-ending trip, staying in a different place every week. Truly leave behind the archaic concept of location being some part of identity.

PGP Signed Entry