“The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope.” — Karl Marx.

Karl Marx said the whole idea about capitalism is creating a system that gets people to buy things all the time, 90 percent of which they don’t really need.

I’ve never been rich, but until recently, I always had enough money to buy things I wanted and was led to believe I needed.

Maria never really had enough money to buy most of the things she wanted, so her perspective is different.

I’ve thought a lot about money because I wasted so much and finally gave almost all of my money away when I cracked up. Take fish tanks, for example.

When I was young, they were my alternate universe; I used fish tanks to hide from the world and lose myself in another realm. They have always been calming and meditative to me.

And like most fish hobbyists, I always bought various rocks, sculptures, and natural creations (lava rocks) to make the tank look beautiful and stimulating for the fish.

One day last year, while we were re-imagining our tank, I bought some expensive imported red lava rocks. They were the hot thing for fish tanks. The ones I got were flawed; they gave off reddish rust and clogged the tank. They came from Indonesia.

I had to throw them out and change all the water in the tank.

I went out to the pasture, picked up a couple of rocks, and put them in the tank. They looked simple, the fish were just as happy with them, and they were free.

I called it the Lesson Of The Rock.

I can almost picture Moses coming down from the mount and telling the Israelites “do not pay for rock. It is in your backyard.”

This seems to be something the Amish have known for five hundred years but I am still learning.

We are refurbishing the tank again, and that means new rocks in the tank.

I had a moment of insight.

I went out into the pasture and picked up a dozen flat rocks. I brought them into the house and boiled them, and spent an hour experimenting with them.

It is not easy to balance a dozen rocks into one column, especially when they need to have an aesthetic.

I decided to make a sculpture out of them (actually two), and I liked them a lot. Maria, who is an artist, loved the idea.

The fish seemed quite content with them, and they didn’t mess up the tank or shed strange colors or kill fish.

Just for the hell of it, I went online to a website I’ve used called Modern Aquarium. They were showcasing what they called “aquascaping rock,” which is sold by the pound. There was Gold Slate for $59.95, $43.95, and $47.95.

I rolled up my sleeves, put on an apron, and had a lovely, quiet, and peaceful half-hour building my own rock sculpture from my own pasture rocks, a part of Bedlam Farm.

I got to scrub and wash them. They fit well together.

Maria showered me with praise, for my artistry and I liked the sculpture a lot. It’s a nice backdrop against some new plants we got yesterday at Petco.

How did I get lured into “aquascaping rock” for so many years?”

I really can’t say. Advertising is all around me, and on the Internet, it has been raised to the level of mind control and subconscious manipulation.

In this case, I buy fish food online, and it wasn’t long before photos of beautiful fish tanks with exotic and expensive “aquascaping” appeared in my inbox.

I was like one of those zombies in the movies whose mind has been taken over by evil forces, in this case, the capitalists, who put suggestions into my weak mind I didn’t even know were there.

Divorce helped to wake me up, of course, suddenly I really had to think about money. Bankruptcy was also a powerful motive. I felt lured into buying things that weren’t wise and then blamed for not affording them.

It is my fault, of course, better learn later than not at all. Aquascaping seems ridiculous to me now,  I am aware of all those subtle beams pouring into my e-mail box and Iphone and computer.

They are on me every second, and most of the time I don’t even realize it. Ads used to be labeled clearly, but even CNN mixes them up with the news stories so skillfully you can miss that they are not stories.

I wouldn’t make a good Communist, but that doesn’t mean that Marx didn’t have a point. Capitalism has often made me stupid, and as I get older, some of the stupid genes are peeling off, I think.

I pay so much more attention to what I need rather than what I want. Marx came to believe that the capitalists had to be hung or shot in order to stop them.

I’m not there yet.

I am looking at one of those new apps that take all of the ads out of your cellphone. That might be something worth buying, and it’s a lot cheaper than an aquascape rock.

I am quite proud of my sculpture. It is the absolute very least a person who claims to be creative should do.

“Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.” – Karl Marx