Is the western world living in excess? And by what meaning? I believe that it is living in excess. Excess, in my opinion, being that people want too much, and when they get too much, they become greedy and expect too much. Being greedy leads to self-righetousness (from personal experience), and that leads to foolish pride, which leads to ignorance. Sonund off and lets discuss this issue.


The western world is a great civilization, however the word "civil" in our civilization is a word to be questioned. Are we any more civil today than we were decades or centuries ago? Yes, technology is great, but when human minds are subject to being just as neanderthal as they were years ago, and at the same time having access to all of the dangerous technologies of the 21st century just a button's push away, doesn't it make you wonder?

Peace,
JD

Is there anybody home?

JD

Okay... I'll bite...

Material possessions are a trick... we buy things that we don't need and create vast markets of new things that we do not need. Consumerism is a culture that is self-proliferating... as more things are bought and sold, more things are created to get consumers to consume.

Our purpose in life is to be a consumer. If you are not a consumer, you are not a productive member of society, as all productive members of society are dependent upon corporations and their flashy, yet useless products.

And when we go shopping, we are not really being greedy, we just buy things that we haven't got. That may be also replacement for something missing in our lives.

Shopping is Theraputic.

Greed is Theraputic

Sex is Theraputic

All three I can live with quite happily.

My aunt buys unnecessary material items, especially relating to Barbie dolls, to make up for her need to have a child that she is unable to have. She has now completely crossed the line of neurosis to psychosis, and actually believes alot of her delusions.


Peace,
JD

JDODSON said:

My friend had a contract to design and make real barbie shoes, for her Barbie doll, from real pigskin leather. The woman who ordered them paid £100 a pair! (About $155 US)

Was this your aunt???

Probably...


JD

IceNine said:

Whoa Ice! Nicely said!

Are you sure you don't write for the NPGMC?

JDODSON said:

awww.poor thing.

Well, Not that I don't agree with the whole trap of consumerism theme here. But, having things you don't need is not exactly excess. Having a lot of a things or things you do not need is excess. I can say, I would care for a scoop of ice cream after dinner tonight. Or I may like to enjoy a nice glass of port wine. If I do, am I indulging in excess? I may not need these things, but that does not mean I am pataking in them in excess. Just because you have the opportunity to have something you do not absolutely need to survive does not constitute excess. If you are striving after things you do not need to the detriment of other more important aspects of your life such as your relationship with God, your family, or your health, you may be living in excess, as you say. Excess is relative. What is excess for one person may not be for another. If we strive to ballance our lives, putting first the more important things and letting the other things fall in their respective place, we will be the better for it. Ballance is the key. Not obsessing over excess, but not leading some self-depriving ascetic lifestyle either. Falling into the trap of materialism and greed will result in our lack of true happiness. Human greed and self-centeredness is one of the formost problems of mankind. Do we want to be part of the problem or do we want to help set the right example for others, including our children?

All this reminds me of that line from Fightclub... something like:

The things you own end up owning you

Hey, u only live once... pig out once in a while if u want to... We will all be dead soon, so who gives a monkeys?

EXcesses are anything but a form of therapy beause they lead to self-distruction. After all your money is spent and all is consumed the feeling of emptiness is still there.

I think you can buy things you don't need and it's not excess. I think if you buy things and you waste it, that's excess, too much. If I'm blessed with 200 million dollars and I buy 3 homes, that's not excess unless I NEVER use two of them.

But we are now a country of consumers and not producers. We don't produce anything that feeds the soul.

Isnt that what kapitalism is all about? Produce and consume stuff we dont need...and its mos def bad for the soul. But can we get out of it? Most of us know thats its wrong but we cant stop it.
Commercials everywhere...Since the day we born we saw commercials. We dont know better. And those commercials have an effect on us. More then we know. So we just keep buying stuff we dont really want or need.

Very utopian of you to bring this up, hustleboy...I thought you gave up politics? lol

Since we grew up together, you know how I feel about this, and I agree that a new system of economics needs to come about. But as you know J, love is key. Love is what will bring change, nothing else.

Your friend,
Suzie

my life by its very essence is the definition of excess, so i say live and let live.

what else would u have us restless, consistently bored heathens do???

define > Excess

ScarLett said:

excess >

then that'll do me, darling!!!

good thread, JDODSON

i just watched a PBS show called 'affluenza' the other day; same notion. the show was fascinating. let me see if i remember the gist of it.

they broke the disease of compulsive over-consumption down into basic categories, showing the effect this kind of lifestyle has on everyone's lives. bankruptcies - people using credit buy products they really don't need; broken families - since marriages mostly dissolve over money issues; serious environmental consequences - garbage piles, all the toxic by-products of industrialization; people are also becoming more depressed and stressed out - have to work more hours to pay off their mortgages, credit cards etc. bad effect on the psyche!

and why do we westerners over consume? aggressive advertising campaigns designed to affect [read:brainwash] those who spend time watching movies, on the internet, watching television etc., ads in schools, ads on billboards, ads on buses, ads on cars, ads on people fer cryin out loud! in fact it's an all-out assault on our senses.

the show went on and took a peek at history to see how we got so sick and it sorta stemmed from our can'do attitude regarding our national recovery from the great depression. economic growth was essential then. we all had a duty to make stuff and to buy stuff other people made. as long as trade was brisk things were good. the concept of credit cards was introduced. trade grew even brisker. we judged ourselves prosperous. you see unfortunately the measures we use to determine our national prosperity depend on an ever-increasing level of trade, meaning more and more $$$ always being generated. but who's really getting rich?

you see, an ever increasing economy means products which are designed for obsolescence. clothes we wore yesertday aren't good enough for today, because they're not 'in', and etc.

so is that kind of lifestyle of over-consumption something we can maintain forever? if our population continues to grow simultaneous with the mass extinction and current pollution rate won't we kill the planet?

that would seem to be the direction we're heading, because, as we know, this century has seen an unprecedented number of extinctions globally, due to the toxins we're emitting and the strain humanity is putting on the natural balance of the planet by multiplying and multiplying and mulitplying and wasting and wasting and wasting. . .

and when that tiny butterfly dropped dead at one end of the food chain, the dinosaurs themselves fell. at this rate humanity will be history just like the dinosaurs, nuts, ain't it?

final message of the show was that humans can change the direction of this thing IF we try. meaning, every single one of us needs to reevaluate our current lifestyles and simplify.
carpool, recycle, barter, use wind and solar power, work together to grow organic food, live closer to home, spend time with people instead of TV.

dream on, eh?
we could do it but it'd be hard because it'd have to be counter-culture, like in the 60s. and this is the 02s, and we're all supposed to be good little consumers.
you see it's like this: mr corporate exec doesn't want us to stop over-consuming and filling his wallet with bonuses and commissions. and therefore you KNOW we'll get precious little political support for our cause from our friend mr congressman, whose wallet is fat from mr corporate execs 'campaign donations'.
so since it's far, far easier to keep on keeping on and let our kids' kids worry about the mess we're making we should all maybe just shut up and just eat and buy and consume twice as much as we need. good little consumers.

i have the sneaking suspicion our species is doomed to die by its own hand. unless jesus or buddha or the dalai lama or mohammed or superman or someone stands up and shows us all a new way. but, if we do, finally manage to kill the natural balance and off all of our fellow creatures in such a heartless way imo we'd deserve god's fullest wrath anyway so we'll see