why make stuff?

my friend tom knew i needed a boost, sent me this snip he received from a friend of his:

"On this shore, we shall raise our monuments of stones,
of wood, of mud, of color, of labor, of belief, of being,
of life, of love, of self, of man expressed
in self-determined compliance, or willful revolt,
secure in this avowed truth, that no man is our master,
nor can any ever be, at any time in time to come."
-Bob Kaufman
from "To My Son Parker, Asleep in the Next Room"

(i especially like the self-determined part...)