What do I do for work? the life of an unemployed Australian.

Obsessed with efficiency and a limitless capacity to learn, so what went wrong?

What do I do for work?

(This is an answer to my 'Ask me anything' blog post found HERE )

Simple answer Technically I am unemployed ....

But for information purposes:
The unemployment rate is South Australia is 6.0% (at time of writing, the highest in the country) although it should also be noted that only 56% of the population has full time work, but they try and make the statistics look as good as possible. Still Were about number 65 globally, and inline with the global average. Adelaide (my closest capital city) ranks in at number 55 on the highest cost of living list globally.

Australia does however have a very good (depending who you ask (its better than nothing) social security system. So I receive 'looking for work' payment. currently a massive AU$220 per week. For reverence the "poverty line" in Australia is officially $426.30 a week.

Why am I not working?

High functioning Asperger? (That's the official diagnoses) For all intensive purposes I am am considered quite intelligent ( I test quite highly) I do a pretty good job of pretending to be a functioning adult, but I lack social skills and don't really process emotion. (I find interacting with 'regular' people quite tedious)

So honestly, its by choice.... but like all things its not a simple answer.
On of my favorite sayings is "It's actually really hard to die. Given basic food, water and shelter your pretty well set, the rest is just details) Practice makes perfect and I have gotten pretty good at living on a low income, much better than anyone else I know. I do embrace a minimalist lifestyle, I eat healthy food (actual food too, no packets here) and I maintain a relative amount of freedom.

I have worked many many jobs in the past, usually involving some kind of physical labor and despite my aptitude for such things, I have reached a point in my life where I will no longer accept the deterioration of my physical and mental health. You only get one life and I intent on making the most of mine. I have made the decision that I am no longer willing to sell my body (physical labor) and would rather sell my mind. Ideally I don't want to sell myself at all, but a utopian sharing society is a long way off yet. I am willing to spend the rest of my life finding a preferable solution and being poor rather than the return to the suicidal though inducing world of minimum wage laboring.

This post is getting kinda long, here's a baby rabbit

Am I just a lazy freeloader?

I don't believe so. Statistically being born in a low socioeconomic environment means you will die in one, but Breaking rules is fun. I am willing to take advantage of the opportunities afforded me to improve my life, at the same time, the economic system of this country, and most capitalist countries in general is designed to keep people where they are.
If I didn't receive money from the government I would find another way, but our entire life we get told if you need help just ask, sure our mental health system is absolute rubbish, but the government seems content enough with keeping its citizens alive and fed. I do consider myself EXTREMELY lucky to live in Australia, please don't take anything I have written so far as a complaint.

As stated before I have worked many jobs in my life, including:
(These are some of my legal jobs, I have spent time in the criminal underworld, but this article is getting pretty long as it is)
Electronics technician, Forklift driver, Factory laborer, Truck driver, Automotive manufacturing, Mining construction, Engineering, Sound Engineer, Lighting technician, Festival organiser and promoter, DJ, Writer, Film production assistant and a whole lot more. I have worked in the military, and I have picked up trash, I have worked on feature films and I have spent days picking up boxes and putting them down again. I have a wealth of experience and can do almost anything, but at some point in my life I realized I was suicidally depressed and was sick of repeating the cycle over and over again, so I made the conscious decision to find a better life. Turns out money doesn't buy happiness after all.

The future?

I should have stuck with programming 15 years ago, but the thing about life is there's no handbook on how to do it, and I have spent a great deal of mine living it the way other people think it should have been. So I'm back to square one, I'm learning C++ and maybe one day I will write that piece of code that will change the world. I am a compulsive learner, I also spend my days learning languages, creating art and finding interesting ways to express myself. If nothing else, my life isn't boring and I have some really good stories to tell.

I am actively trying to find a way to be self supportive and not need government money.
I am quite involved in the cryptocurrency space and see it as a potential long term future. Other avenues such as writing on Steemit bring about possibilities. I could quite comfortably live on even less than I currently do but I am not there yet (I spend more on SBD than I make). I have never actually tried selling any of my art either its certainly on my todo list.

So what do I really do for work?

We work to live and I think I am doing a pretty good job of living. I try and make the world a better place and share my knowledge and experience with others. With a global audience maybe one day someone will take an interest in my skills and trade me money for them, or I will find a better way.

(Original title image by me)
(Bunny from rabbit.org)

Thanks for reading :)