Consuming for Survival
January 21st, 2008
It’s extremely interesting to me to look around at all the things I have and realize that sometimes it’s just not enough. This summer I bought two books(the Road and Long way gone) and right now I am just getting around to reading them, you know at the time I was thinking how much I needed to get these books to help expand my realm of thought. Obviously I didn’t need them right then if I don’t actually get around to reading the books until now. The thing about this is I actually had some good nourishing food for my soul and decided to put it off for other things, like video games, sporting events and floor time with Sophie…. Wait that last one is more important than the others:)
It makes me think about a part in Blue Like Jazz I was reading a couple of years ago, basically goes something like this “our consuming products makes us want to consume more products.” The author (Donald Miller) uses an example from his own life to really drive the point home, he goes to Home Depot to buy a screw driver or something and ends up coming out with 3 or 4 extra things. He realizes on his way home that he probably won’t even use the extra things that he has bought. How often do we walk around places of commerce and feel a drawing to just randomly buy? It would be an interesting study to do.
The reason for my blog today is to simply say “The Road” is a terrific read focusing on what life in America would be like if everything burned, if all of our consuming was done to survive.
Peace out
Categories: Thoughts |
You hit me right in the heart man…how often do I feel the need or even the want to get something that I never end up using.
I think the U.S. is going to be getting a bucket of cold water thrown on them to wake them out of their slumber pretty soon. The economic stimulus package that the government is trying fool us with is nothing more than advertising for our politicians so that we can say they did something for us and they can keep them in office. Really they are just putting us deeper into debt. Have they not learned from the Sub Prime mortgage mess??? Isn’t the lesson not to bite off more than you can chew?
The best thing the government could do is get the market/economy out of the government and go back Democracy. Preferably moving into a Living Democracy as described by Frances Moore Lappe in Getting A Grip. I highly recommend the book and that you go to her website for Getting A Grip or The Small Planet Institute.