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enough

2021-11-02 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning · mode: Personal essay · tags: heavy topic

Starting from Joseph Heller's reply 'enough' to Kurt Vonnegut, John argues that escaping precarity is impossible (everyone dies) and undesirable, and that if having enough means insulating himself from others' suffering, enough is simply too much.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller at a billionaire's party: Heller has 'enough'

  • ★★★ John tells the story of Vonnegut noting at a billionaire's party that the host earns more in a day than Heller made from Catch-22, and Heller replying he has what the host never will: enough. — 00:00:00

00:00:27 — Most people lack enough, those who have it feel they don't; John's fear of precarity

  • ★★★ John uses the story to remind himself that he has enough, and that most people on Earth do not: many lack food or clean water, most lack savings or access to excellent medical care. — 00:00:27
  • ★★★ John says even those who have enough often feel they don't: more security, power or money always seems to stand between them and true enoughness. — 00:00:44
  • ★★ For John it has always been about security: the feeling he constantly tries to avoid is precarity, being close to the edge with no say in whether he goes over it. — 00:00:56
  • ★★★ John says having adequate distance from precarity is, one, impossible and, two, insofar as it is possible, a pretty terrible idea. — 00:01:05
  • ★★ John says wealth and privilege insulate people from many kinds of precarity in profoundly unjust ways, which is important to acknowledge. — 00:01:15

00:01:25 — Precarity is inescapable: death, books that won't last, a philanthropic legacy, giving now; how John insulates himself

  • ★★★ John says there is no getting around the big precarity: he and everyone he loves will die. — 00:01:25
  • ★★ When young, John thought he could solve death by writing books that would outlast him, but realized that is a fool's errand: books don't live forever either. — 00:01:30
  • ★★ John says lasting is not why books exist: they exist to be helpful to the people who find them. — 00:01:44
  • ★★ John's next idea was a legacy through philanthropy: a huge charitable trust that, once big, would donate about 5% a year to great charities so his impact would stretch through the years. — 00:01:55
  • ★★ John says the problem with that strategy was that he was still trying to keep control or agency that would survive his body. — 00:02:07
  • ★★★ John says money donated now still grows, as more kids surviving to adulthood and more educational opportunities, growth far more transformational than stock appreciation. — 00:02:16 · child mortality
  • ★★ John says he insulates himself from precarity as much as possible: he quit smoking 20 years ago, has insurance, and has financial security that eases stress and allows professional risks and support for his kids. — 00:02:36

00:02:53 — Rich people feel normal among the rich; insulation from precarity is distance from suffering, so enough can be too much; sign-off

  • ★★ John says it is human, wonderfully human, to try to protect those we love, and there is nothing wrong with that. — 00:02:56
  • ★★★ John has noticed that when rich people spend time only with other rich people they do not feel rich; they feel normal. — 00:03:02
  • ★★★ John says he forgets he has enough because insulating himself from precarity distances him from suffering; closer to it he would use more of his resources to alleviate it, instead of looking away from injustice. — 00:03:15

  • ★★★ John concludes that if having enough means having enough not to face the realities of suffering and injustice, then enough is simply too much. — 00:03:45

    “then enough is simply too much”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the Awesome Socks Club opens on November 5 and all proceeds go to charity, not least because Hank and John have more than enough. — video description · Awesome Socks Club
  • ★ In a comment John says the Awesome Socks Club is live and urges viewers to get great socks; 100% of proceeds support reducing maternal and child mortality. — creator comment · Awesome Socks Club, maternal death, child mortality
  • ★★ Replying to a viewer's hotel analogy for wealth, John comments that people can travel between floors but the wealthy often choose not to. — creator comment · economic inequality
  • ★ In a comment John says he quit smoking by chewing Nicorette, which gave him nicotine and something to do. — creator comment
  • ★ Answering a viewer upset that the video did not start with 'Good', John comments that he is trying to vary things up just a little. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Joseph Heller · precarity

Also: Catch-22 · Charity (practice) · child mortality · death anxiety · Kurt Vonnegut · social privilege · tobacco smoking

Only in the description or credits: Awesome Socks Club

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