DABOISASTRGLEDT (phrases) – by Ivaniel “Ivo” Georgiev
DABOIS, how are you doing?
Your boy is back with another fantastic phrase for this week’s edition. Fantastic because, well—this one hits everyone. Always has. Always will. Life’s capitalist shitstorm is on the verge of breaking—or at least that’s what I read at Bloomberg.
Anyway, you can see that I’m referencing the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.
C.R.E.A.M.—Cash Rules Everything Around Me (blasts the truth like a Molotov).
Iconic and Timeless—and honestly, it deserves its own blog. However, I have to admit—the idea for today’s post came from somewhere else. I’ll weave the Wu in, but what really triggered it was something completely unrelated… or so I thought.
See, I watched a movie recently. Well, “watched” is generous—I started it and haven’t finished yet.
The film? My Dinner with Andre. 1981. Two guys talking over dinner. That’s it. No explosions. No dramatic score. Just pure, unfiltered conversation. Cinema at its best.
And still, somehow, it got me. The dialogue was so rich, I couldn’t even keep up with what they were talking about. (There was a part in the woods and hallucinogens, I think?) All I remember—all that stuck with me—was one line, right at the start.
Wallace, one of the main characters, is waiting for the subway in old-school New York, and he says:
“Now I’m 36, and all I think about is money.”
That line. It hit me like the train guy from ASDF sketches spams a train. I won’t spoil the rest—go watch it if you’re curious—but I will tell you what I felt. (I also had some very pleasant flashbacks living in NYC, but it’s a much different city compared to 1981.)
Lately, I’ve changed my views about money. A lot. Especially in the past few years.
I used to believe I’d get support from more people on this mindset shift, especially as the world seems to lean more into “conscious living”—but pretending or not… we are everything but saints. We want what we want. And money’s always right there.
I won’t be naïve about it either. Whatever’s meant to happen will happen.
I lost time, lost cash, lost trust. Wallace’s subway lament in Andre nails it: money’s a mind-fuck.
But let’s get high with my drug nowadays—honesty. When was the last time you truly cared about something that had nothing to do with money—or what it could buy you?
Because I’ve been there. Oh, man. I spoke about that in one way or another in past blogs.
Obsessed. Hustling. Chasing wealth for all the wrong reasons—none of them sincere. Trying to make off money from people close to me—and very oftenn doing things I was never asked for, but still being pissed off I did not receive a financial benefit—only lost time, and actually lost money while doing so.
And I’ve come to believe something kind of dark: Money might be one of humanity’s biggest scourges.
It doesn’t just drive greed. It defines what we value, how we spend our time, and who we respect.
It’s not just currency—it’s culture.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ll probably dedicate a whole blog to greed down the line. But for now, I can’t separate it from this topic. Because when you talk about money, you’re talking about people. About us—which also fits in the greed and much more in the picture…but I assume you already know that.
Before we go further—welcome back, BOIS and GALS.
Thanks to everyone of you for giving a piece of your precious time to tune in, week after week.
I’d love this platform to grow more, and I hope it becomes a space for more forgiveness, more understanding, and most importantly… more effort.
So if you’re out here struggling—you’re not alone. DABOISASTRGLEDT is the perfect place for you. We’re all in this huddle together.
And if you missed last week’s post (or you just want to catch up), check the archive or click here for the latest: What We Can and Can’t Control? What Difference Does It Make? And…
If you like the type of content I’m sharing here, you can definitely check out my daily newsletter for some more interesting twists about different aspects of life (and some free goodies) – Subscribe to My Newsletter.
Europe tour checkpoint: Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands were great. I tried to convince my dad to see a techno party in Antwerp, then to try some psychedelic mushrooms walking around Amsterdam in the daytime, but he is super conservative about such things, and I got shut down. We are on the way to Hamburg, Germany, now and after that, Copenhagen, Denmark. Will be in touch.
C.R.E.A.M.
Stayin’ alive was no jive—and still isn’t. It’s been twenty-two long (twenty-four), hard years, I’m still strugglin’. Survival got me buggin’, but I’m alive on arrival.
I don’t think there’s a better way to dive into today’s topic.
After all, money rules our lives—not necessarily because we want it to, but because someone who already has a lot of it always wants more.
Sure, there will always be folks who try to challenge that claim—and they’re free to. But the truth remains: money is supposed to be a means, not an end. The problem is, from the moment we started trading shells, salt, or slips of paper, we’ve mistaken the tool for the goal.
I mean, think about that situation from the bible. Though I never read the book, I grasped some interesting stories—however, I don’t know the parts. So in this one I’m referring to, Jesus entered the Temple in Jerusalem and saw people buying and selling animals for sacrifices, as well as money changers exchanging currency at unfair rates. Filled with righteous anger, he overturned their tables and drove them out, declaring, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.” His actions emphasised that the Temple was meant for worship, not for profit—I actually got all this stuff from AI (I thought Jesus was a calm guy, but it seems he had his moments too).
So, yeah, that’s one of the many examples I can give you—but you’ve probably seen many, so use this as a reflection.
Anyway, money is one of humanity’s many creations—and maybe one of its least useful in the bigger picture. Why? Because it’s a scheme.
Think about it: what truly positive things has money ever brought? Yes, you can list what it lets you buy, but those are just outcomes. Behind each transaction is still this: someone gets to decide what something is worth, and that decision alone shapes the lives of everyone else.
If Wallace, in My Dinner with Andre, was deeply interested in art and what it does to the soul, why do you think he became more and more obsessed with money over time?
Because money grants access. And lack of it denies it.
And when access becomes the gatekeeper to status, to comfort, to human dignity… well, we all know what happens. People with it get love, admiration, and attention—even if they’ve done nothing to deserve any of those things or are complete selfless beings.
Unless you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a real friend, or a lover who doesn’t care about material wealth… but that’s one of—you finish the sentence.
Cash rules everything around me—I mean, what more is there to say? You may want to deny it, but what cliché are you gonna throw at me, hm?
Truth’s a switchblade: money’s a tool, not God.
However, more than ever, it feels like money is God—more widely worshipped than any divine figure—or religion. If you don’t believe it, maybe it’s because you’re too far gone—either in hunger for it, or high off having too much of it.
This is not an accusation, nor is it a joke—however, it’s funny and sad… mostly sad to be honest.
Now look—I’m not saying we don’t need money. A system of exchange brings order, creates structure. Payment keeps things moving. But the version of capitalism we’re all drowning in today? It’s taken a wrong turn—and never came back (Just going down the hatch until… I don’t know, I guess we are yet to see.)
Just look around. Hospitals—places meant to heal—are now corporate machines. Their goal? Keep you just sick enough to come back. Over and over. So they can squeeze a few more dollars out of your pain—healing for profit. I’m not trying to be biased. You can ask anyone who went to the hospital—for whatever reason.
- Is this the dream?
- Is this what our ancestors bled for?
- Is this the freedom millions died to protect?
It sure doesn’t feel fair. Not when some people eat caviar and spray champagne for likes, while others can’t even feed their kids dinner. I know—“fair” and “unfair” don’t technically exist. But this still feels wrong—especially when people like DiCaprio are trying to save the planet (I mean, c’mon, Mr. ambassador of the UN).
Now, I understand that some people worked hard and used their minds to build something. Something valuable. Useful. Maybe even beautiful. But does that entitle them to generate wealth so astronomical that they couldn’t spend it in a couple of lifetimes—not even their children could?
And then come the ones I really can’t stand.
The pretenders. The manipulators. The ones who think they’re modern-day philosophers just because they flipped a product and cashed out. Always brag about how they “help people” or “build something from nothing.” Most of the time, all they built was a funnel—for reselling, for marketing, for hype.
I remember how in ’23 I was blowing rent on weed, dreaming of “stacks”. Social media algorithms send me more of those “hustle hard, flex big” reels, “buy your freedom” ads—sell the scam: cash equals worth. It doesn’t.
Not real value. Just access.
I’m not saying there aren’t good people among them—there are. But if we had to measure, truly measure, the ratio between those who build society up and those who just ride it like a wave?
You already know the numbers won’t look good. Same as the way money is distributed across the planet. Same as always.
Parasites feed on the healthy organism… until the organism turns into carrion—and not a small number still feed on what’s left.
So I ask again: Why does cash rule everything around me?
What do you see, BOIS and GALS? How does this all feel through your eyes?
Why is the most widely practised religion today—though no one admits it—a dollar bill, y’all?
Do you think I’m wrong? If you do, I genuinely want to hear it. But as I said before, don’t give some clichés. Let’s talk for real. I’m not claiming to be right. I’m just defending what I believe. And if you’ve been through even a fraction of this world’s mess, you probably believe in things that others often try to tell you that you are mistaken—so, let’s have it.
Why Do We Need Money and Why They Matter
In this part, I should focus on the positive side of money.
- Why, I sensed that in Wallace’s words, there’s more than just desire driving the scarcity of material goods?
- What else is embodied in this chase?
- And most importantly—is there anything positive in the whole thing?
Money is a great thing—if(IF) we know how to manage it. More precisely, if(IF) we know what we’re doing with it, and why.
But the problem—once again—lies in who wants to get it out of our pockets, how they do it, and to what end.
Let’s be real: money is absolutely imposing in our lives. If we didn’t have it, we’d probably be living in absolute slave times—though, even back then, some sort of payment system existed.
Barter, livestock, salt, grain, favours—some form of trade was always there, you name it.
That’s kind of the point. Without money, how do you acquire something you can’t produce or offer in return? The obvious answer is violence. And that’s the ugly truth—when you can’t trade, history shows we often take. By force. And force often ends in blood.
So the appearance of money can’t be entirely negative.
In one form or another—and for a thousand messy reasons—money became part of human evolution. It helped us move forward. It played a massive role in the development of civilisation.
Yes, its origins are unnatural—because nature knows nothing of bills, coins, or credit scores—but its effect is undeniably human.
Still, even in nature, we see exchanges—of food, shelter, care, and power. Maybe not money, but the principle of exchange is everywhere.
I may have overlooked things like gold, food, land, or even your children (in some times and places, sadly)—but now, out of all these, only land and gold are still accepted as substitutes for money, and even those barely hold up without skill or strategy.
The truth? I use money. Every single day—as much as I try not to.
Whether is for the internet, for electricity, for the gas I cook with—all of it.
If I wanted to truly live without money, I’d have to build my own well, generate my own electricity, grow my own crops, raise my own livestock, slaughter, clean, and process everything.
It’s crossed my mind more than once—I even told my dad once I come back from America, I’m going to have that “farm life”, but I never did. (I’m not the type to tend to chickens and goats unless my back is up against the wall.)
And yard work? Not exactly my dream either—though I have realised that work like that connects you deeply with the land, with your food, with your self.
It teaches. It humbles. It grounds. It’s physical. It’s human.
All of that sounds incredible, but I’m a lazy ass person when it comes to the following things.
And then there’s the other thing… we’re modern—and I’m part of that modernity. (I probably—not probably, who I am lying to—will eat the crops or the animals that are built in labs… If I don’t do it already, but do I care, or should I?)
I’m talking about those who are digitising gardens and automating coops, and I’m not a fan of it—but here I am, working just enough to afford everything I complain about.
I pay to stay alive while complaining about how broken the system is, about how everyone is trying to exploit me—I just imagined how Mark Normand is saying the same thing. (Does that make it funny?)
Hence, there might be some hypocrisy in my words—after all, I’m always trying to sound so wise and stuff. That said, I very much try to do what I talk about—and this is why I try not to mention food. (Although I usually have a balanced diet, my idea was that I’m very careful about how the product is made and what its ingredients are, but I rarely care where and how they are grown… you get the idea.)
And yeah, there’s irony here. But this is the game. Nothing changes unless I change.
Whether I earn money or trade some as-yet-undiscovered skill for it doesn’t matter—because at the end of the day, I still have to interact with people who use it.
And like it or not, I want to be part of the world—whatever that world may be.
Running away from something you can’t run away from while craving the things it provides?
That’s my paradox.
I don’t want the money—but I want what it offers.
I don’t want to work—but I can’t live without working.
Money’s a chain, but you can snap it. Wu-Tang’s C.R.E.A.M. spits it: survival’s a grind, but cash ain’t the goal. I’m done worshipping bills—until those from next month are due.
I want to be revolutionary—to spark a movement or an awakening—but most days, that revolution doesn’t leave my doorstep… or my screen (which isn’t exactly a revolution… or is it?
So as much as I push back, I have to acknowledge: Money can be handled well. It can be used, not worshipped. It can help us build, not break.
DABOIS, can we shake hands despite our differences? Can we talk honestly about how we feel about this game we’re all in—please?
Life Beyond Money
And although today’s topic is money—and Wally, with his hunger to have more, to own what he can’t because of their lack—like us—life is so much more than money, my fellow struggling fellas.
If you haven’t realised that yet, I truly hope today’s blog helps you see beyond it. Though I’ll admit—I doubt it will. (I doubt anything will—until you truly want to dive into the small details.)
It’s true. I don’t own anything worth boasting about—least of all, money. But still, I must try to convince you of what I believe. Whether my words make sense or not… is for you to decide.
If there’s one thing I crave most in life, it’s truth—and she is neither good, nor bad—just truth, for within it lies the essence of existence.
Sure, truth may look different for each of us, but there are some truths we cannot deny—and those are the ones I seek.
Like love. Like understanding. And so much more.
Because life is not money. It never has been—it never will be.
That we’ve created a world ordered by money is our choice. Our burden.
I’ve ditched hustling for greed—now I’m all about truth, writing this and that, and building bonds.
Any advertised culture’s a con; real wealth’s love, grit, time.
And here comes the age-old question: “If we divided money equally among everyone, would the world be a better place?”
Maybe. Probably. But until we see it with our own eyes, it’s just a utopia — and likely to remain one.
Why can’t we see beyond money? What blinds us—or binds us?
Personally, I believe societies, like people, move in cycles. From birth, to growth, to frustration, to desperate attempts at something better—which feels like where we are today—and finally… death.
But what is death, in this case? Something new. A revolution. A breaking point. People who can’t—or won’t—live like this anymore.
And yet, we don’t seem to care. We scroll. We snack. We carry on—I’m part of this group.
But I also know that it doesn’t mean the bomb isn’t ticking.
It’s there—always has been. We just don’t know how long until detonation. And while many try to predict the end, they usually do it for profit—because this too, like everything else, is a lucrative niche.
The life we’ve been given is like the sun and the moon—necessary, blinding, beautiful, and sometimes too much.
We need a break. But no matter how we try, there’s little we can change—and when I say little (that’s the you part, everything else… nada).
Still, we complicate life with endless commentary—what we hate, why we hate it, how it could be better “but…”—as people say, “the but always smells”.
It’s crude, sure, but true. There’s no point in debating things we can’t control—not that we won’t do it anyway, but it won’t change them (no matter how much we spit in our faces or how many times we poke each other in social media).
And it sure as hell won’t stop us from suffering over them.
And yet, there’s one thing we do have some control over: money. Not mass capital—not wealth. But what we earn, what we spend, and how we treat it.
When you don’t obsess over it, you can look at money from a logical, even humane, point of view—free from greed (I believe so, but history proves me wrong).
So, try to live a life as unbound by money as possible. And even if you need it—as we all do—try to think over the following: The most beautiful things in life aren’t bought. You only miss them because your thoughts are too busy chasing something that seems valuable until you own it.
C.R.E.A.M.—but not me
Money gives power — yet, at the same time it destroys you.
Everyone’s craving a piece — and forget their morals.
A devil’s gift, it tempts the mind — corrupts all souls;
With or without it, you’ll drown in the same old bitter stew.
If money were the grail — the universal savior of all,
It’d still be folly to think it erases every hidden pain.
It lends aid — but the crown is fake, so is the reign.
To unshackle, one must be conscious — free to fall.
To those who speak of wealth and wield it so unfair,
I say: “I refuse to bow. I don’t believe in C.R.E.A.M.”
Like a seahorse — or starving bear on its spree;
hardship is the path… I’ll face it, I’ll rise, I swear.
I stand by my name — with honour, defending my belief.
I crave just enough — but when the truth comes and calls;
I’ll demand it whole. If someone must die — I give my all.
Money — enticing, deadly… shame on you, human sleaze.
Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to see the world through my eyes.
It doesn’t matter who understands or how—the only thing that matters is reflection.
Think about what I’ve said. Question its logic. Question me. Question yourself. Question everything.
Whether you’re poor, rich, or filthy loaded—It all means nothing if you’re not human to begin with.
Yes, you might ask, “But Ivo, what does it mean to not be human? That’s such a stupid thing to say.”
I don’t mean it literally, of course—we’re all born that way. But very few of us stay human as we grow.
So, this time, I leave you no final message.
Not because there isn’t one—but because none of this blog is meant to preach or moralise.
Everyone earns what they earn. Honestly, or not. Everyone decides what to do with what they’ve got. That’s freedom—here we go again, I know, I know… it’s time to shut it off, but bear with me just a little bit more.
Freedom is power. Freedom is responsibility.
Freedom can be beautiful—but it’s ridiculously painful.
It all depends on what you call “freedom”… and how you use it.
Is it true that cash rules? Nah, I refuse that. I’m not Wu-Tang, not Wallace—just Ivo, who’s dreaming and flopping. Whether that’s the streets of Sofia, LA, NYC, or any other place… my past is filled with many so many lessons—that said, a great mixtape may come of all this.
I’m building, BOIS and GALS—greed and stupidity kept me in the dark; truth’s my God.
People may describe me as “this or that” kind of fool—but money has no value if the one who holds them don’t.
I hope something useful found its way to you. Until next time!
Sincerely yours,
Ivaniel “C.R.E.A.M.—but not me” Georgiev
Leave a Reply