We've built a consumer culture where, as Neil Postman said, we amuse ourselves to death. Most of us have too much "stuff". Our society's labor and capital go toward lawyers, marketing, tacky fashions, and bad culture.
It's not for me to say how others live. I would wave no magic wand. I would propose no "leveling" legislation. But I think we would all be a lot better off if we lived frugally, ate basic food, wore simple clothing, and spent less time with electronic toys. We're not poor -- but many of us sure seem unhappy.
Tell that to the poor people who try to steel my Samsung Galaxy S III, my Dodge Ram, my 47 inch TV, my computers...
And yet, they want more. When the global economic collapse comes - and it is coming - the poor will really understand what life is like in Africa and India.
I wouldn't be surprised if we don't enter a new age of feudalism
I quite agree.
30 years ago I was doing some work for a lady who was complaining bitterly about how difficult the economy was. Her prime example was that she’d only been able to spend a month in Europe that year rather than her usual two months.
I was at the time literally in a position where I’d sometimes sit by the phone hoping it would ring so I could get a project, make some money and buy groceries so the family could eat that night. Her complain rang a little hollow for me.
This goes with the topic we discussed in my Sunday School class this morning. Our teacher pointed out many wealthy people he knew, who had lots of toys and the latest gadgets, were very unhappy because their primary focus was on material possessions and not a relationship with the Lord and other people in their lives.
Unless conservatives have Dem friends, like I do, they probably don't realize the depths of envy possessed by those people. Even though they had more dough than me, all I'd hear from two close Dem friends is how unfair life was. I occasionally reminded them that (1) people in third world countries didn't have 1/10 or 1/100 of the material stuff they had and (2) they had more money than me, but I didn't whine about others having more like they did. That's how I see Democrats...mostly whiners and complainers.
Hail Emperor ClearCase_guy - This man has all of the answers for all of use. Just like Hilary. Let us make him Dictator for life
This guys is correct that we need to remember that family is important
Dallas -- those are criminals. More to the point, they are as much worshipers of mammon as rich folks who forget about church and head to the mall each sunday to worship.
All of what you said are useful as you use it. Some folks just buy the latest to have the latest.... and others steal to have the latest....
In my view, poverty is a spiritual condition, and has only a tangential relationship to money.
Money is just one form of wealth. Having good friendships and loving familial relationships is another. Yet another is a talent- an ability to produce something that others value, whether that something is visual art, music, software applications, or a robust statistical model.
To paraphrase a Nietzsche quote: When it rains, the poor people sit around their flats, yell at one another, and make one another miserable. This is the true poverty of the poor.
To Le Bon’s point, of course the standard of living in India is lower. There are many reasons for this, not least the fact that property rights (including intellectual property rights) are much weaker than in the developed West.
I do agree with Le Bon that one should put a recession in perspective. This doesn’t excuse the bad policy decisions and hostility to success that are evidenced by the President and his administration.