Abraham Lincoln defined Mudsill Theory as: “Nobody labors, unless someone else, owning capital, by the use of that capital, induces him to it. Having assumed this, they proceed to consider whether it is best that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent; or buy them, and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded so far, they naturally conclude that all laborers are necessarily either hired laborers, or slaves. They further assume that whoever is once a hired laborer is fatally fixed in the condition for life, and thence again that his condition is as bad as or worse than that of a slave.”

What does this have to do with the Internet? If you looked at the title, then you knew that this is where I was going. You should also notice that the quote is from Abraham Lincoln and the quote involves slaves, but that is off topic and I digress. Look around the Internet and you will see something that should not exist under Mudsill theory.

“Secrets of the Universe,” “Pariah Online Magazine” and “freshmeat.net” all contain things that were created by hackers. In the old vocabulary of computers, a hacker is somebody who works with computers for periods of time when he does not get paid. This can include time in addition to the computer time for which the hacker actually gets paid. You could use terms like computer hobbyist. Incidentally, Abraham Lincoln did not believe in Mudsill Theory.

As I understand it, hacker used to refer to an unlicenced cabby. I have no clear reference on how this got connected to computer users, even though computers were once bigger than cars. So, the Internet should put the biggest nail in the coffin of Mudsill theory. In fact, this stand up philosopher doubts that you have ever heard of Mudsill Theory. It was something that this stand up philosopher came across while reading “The Underground History of Education,” which is also available on the Internet for free.

The insult of Mudsill Theory is that people are generally too lazy to take initiative without being driven to action. If you have lived through the years that I have, this comes to look more likely even though I discount that idea. What I see is that we’ve condemned success, building up resentment over our perceived inferiority to the people around us that we’ve robbed ourselves of the passion to succeed. Why would anybody want to spend a lifetime on public assistance if there is a choice? You should not start out in a job counting down the days to your retirement.

You will never see your own skill. When you want to know what you are good at, look at the people around you. They will turn to you for whatever they feel that you are good at. Since it will be a skill that they lack, something that they can be jealous of you for being able to do, they will be able to see what you cannot. Develop that skill and you stand a good chance at success. Always be happy with what gift you were given.

Admitting that I have the motivation of a mud pie, I know that this may sound strange to you. Also remember that, if you give up essential liberty for temporary comfort, then you deserve neither comfort or liberty. You will find it easier to admit that you went for the brass ring that is out there and failed than spending the rest of eternity wondering what if. Do not let ‘The Matson’ take that away from you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Mulligan Adventures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.