Larry Johnson’s made his share of headlines this week. His agent, Peter Shaffer, has been in every one, not apologizing, but explaining away his client’s behavior. Yesterday, Shaffer told The Star on Monday that he advises Johnson and his other clients to be careful on Twitter. Kent Babb wrote: Schaffer said he preferred that his clients avoid social-networking sites, but the agent said he doesn’t force players to stop expressing themselves online.
But here’s the telling statement from Shaffer:
“They’re not making money on it. I don’t see (any benefit).”
Larry Johnson is surrounded by people telling him life is about getting paid. He is not a person, he is a corporation. Time is money, life is about money, so keep your head on straight so that you can get paid.
Humans are greedy, but LJ already knows money won’t buy him happiness. He’s got all the wealth a guy could want. But he’s not happy. Maybe winning would make him happy, but it was the offseason after going to the playoffs that caused Johnson the most trouble.
Larry Johnson could use some perspective. Don Miller would say he needs a better story. Wendell Berry would probably advise him to do something even more radical than the poem below, but I can’t help but think it’s the kind of life that LJ needs.
MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
by Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
