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Tramps are not necessarily poor people, vagabonds, or street-dwellers. On the contrary, they can occupy very high positions in everyday life. Tramps can be not only rich, they can be very well established in life and still be in tramp in their attitude to life. The tramp does not understand that one must work in order to eat. The tramp does not like to pay its way. The tramp does not like to be responsible; it wants things to be free and easy and casual; it does not like rules, not realizing that without rules there is no school, no society, no culture, and no civilization.
The tramp is characterized by not really being interested in anything. It has no values. It has no discipline. With no values, everything is the same for it, good and bad do not exist for it, and due to and in connection with that, it has no discipline. The tramp does not complete octaves.
The tramp considers itself to be on a higher level than, and despises the Good Householder and their values, which insist that one must work for what one gets. The tramp does not value what they produce, and does not realize that without the good householder they could not exist, as the good householder keeps society functioning. The tramp believes it is owed a living for merely existing. The tramp wants and expects something for nothing, without making effort.
Tramp is a parasite. Tramp takes other people's resources, time, and money as though it belongs to them.
The tramp has elements of vanity and nonexistence. The vanity element will scoff at, despise, and ridicule the efforts, work, and achievements of the good householder, or plunge into self-pity.
The tramp does not value others, or their efforts, and it does not value itself. It often feels a vague sense of guilt. A combination of `high self-love' and `low self-esteem'.
The tramp often attempts to evoke sympathy and pity from other people so they will give it the results of their efforts for free.
The nonexistence element will vegetate and delay through inaction, allowing incomplete octaves to accumulate. Then, it will try to complete them all at once, usually unsuccessfully.
The tramp does not realize, and does not want to hear, that a regular consistent effort is necessary to accomplish even simple tasks. For example, in the simple and practical case of keeping one's living quarters neat and clean, rather than making a small consistent effort, it will let a mess accumulate, then try to clean it up all at once. This usually results in it defeating itself, and it will plunge again into low self-esteem, self-pity, and guilt. One has to work one small step at a time, one drop at a time. As Benjamin Franklin said, `Water, by constant dripping, wears away stone'.
To the tramp, everything is relative. The tramp does not like to commit itself, because it wants to be free to change its mind as its whims change. The tramp wants things on its own terms without commitment, leaving itself open to the option to do nothing, but asking for a commitment from others to be there reliably when something in it gets around to where it `might' want something---for nothing. `I don't want to be tied down to a certain time because I might change my mind'.
The tramp avoids responsibility and is always ready to throw everything away or overboard at a moment's notice, `throwing the baby out with the bath water'.
Two of the tramp's favourite phrases to justify itself are some variation of `Oh, it doesn't matter anyway' and `Everything is relative'. For example, `Nothing is worth anything', `What's the point of working so hard', `There are no values in the world', `The government owes me a living and a place to live', `Nothing is worth anything', `I could have done that, if I had been given the chance', `Nothing really matters anyway'.
The tramp often considers that it has `higher' or `nobler' aspirations than the `mere' earning of one's daily bread or fulfilling one's duties in life. The tramp wants something for nothing and is therefore often attracted to drugs, alcohol, and gambling. Habitual use of drugs, habitual drunkenness, and habitual gambling indicates tramp.
The tramp may know many beautiful words and speak very easily, for example, using the pleasant word `traveller' to describe itself, yet it is very far from the possibility of development.
The tramp is often occupied with pleasant dreams, illusions, and `lofty ideas' about, for example, a `perfect society', `free love', or a `new social order', where everyone is provided for and no one will have to work. The tramp will often be attracted to socialist or communist philosophies, especially the aspects of free public services and the redistribution of wealth without having to earn it.
Tramp is a weakness which is widespread in contemporary Western culture. Contemporary artists, poets, and popular musicians usually belong to this category.
The tramp wants a miracle; it wants everything to change suddenly, without effort. For example, along with the Lunatic, it will be attracted to the ideas of `channelling', `seances', `spirit mediums', `spirit guides', and anything else in this category called by any other name, which in reality is simply imagination and self-deception.
The lunatic and tramp often attract `strange people'---other lunatics and tramps. Tramp attracts tramp.
The tramp cannot develop. To overcome the tramp, we must struggle against laziness and irresponsibility in ourselves and cultivate right values. We need school discipline and a general inner discipline. The weakness of tramp can be transformed into reliability. The tramp can be overcome with work and effort.
As Thomas Edison said:
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.