Greed
We Live a Greed-Based Economy
We live in a greed-based economy
Were it not for greed, the wheels of our economy would grind to a standstill, and then fall off; I’m pretty sure about that, for when I look out my window I see two worlds: the consuming one (ours) and the producing one, making things for us to consume (say, China).
I’m reminded of a great Non Sequitur cartoon (by the totally brilliant Wiley Miller) where the perfectly groomed American male is being interviewed by his loan officer: Why does he need a third mortgage on his house? the loan officer wants to know.
“To buy stuff,” is the reply.
Could things be plainer?
I have been a Buddhist now for many years, and I have lived the principle of renunciation for just as long: a path leading away from “having to have” in order to be happy. As a result, these days I find myself in a sparsely furnitured and decorated cabin, where few things, if any, exist without a plain reason and purpose — the lamp is there to illuminate my keyboard, not to pretty things up; my dictionaries are there to hunt for or verify meanings, not to impress visitors (of which I have at most two or three a year); the single armchair and footstool are for sitting in when I read, not to liven the place up; my bedroom nightstand serves a very specific nighstandish purpose and none other.
And amidst this almost in-your-face simplicity, I find myself very content.
These days, when it comes to acquisitions, I seem to have only one weakness: Kindle books (which I do read). But they don’t take up any space, so don’t clutter things up — and you should see how well organized my Kindle reader library is.
Well, there’s the occasional mp3 version of remastered brilliant albums, say David Crosby’s “If I Only Could Remember my Name”, but they don’t take up any space either.
I know people who are very different from me, people who (as many do) go to the mall just to, like the third mortgage guy, buy stuff.
Or cruise Amazon, just to buy stuff.
Needed stuff? No.
Greeded stuff? Yes.
And that’s what keeps our economy going.
© Wolfstuff
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