> On Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:16:21 -0700, Ben Goren trumpetpower.com>
> wrote:
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>

>>default wrote:

>

>>> Leon Hoeneveld wrote:

>>>> default wrote:

>

>>>>>> But  I think  when  all  kinds of  collectives  are gone  the
>>>>>> individuals will start to  make groups again, implement rules
>>>>>> of community, and start  all over again. Warmth-seeking is in
>>>>>> our nature.

>

>>>>> Don't try  to make it  more complicated  than it is.   Life is
>>>>> simple, people can screw anything up, period.

>

>>>>> Be good, help your neighbor, love and appreciate what you have
>>>>> - and throw out the TV, radio and "newspapers."

>

>>>>> Don't think too  much about it - just  embrace the philosophy,
>>>>> grow and if you can help others.

>

>>>> The secret of succes.  If that's what you're after of course.

>

>>> Sure.  The marketeers want to create needs and wants - but do we
>>> really need all that stuff?  "Just say no" to consumerism.

>

>>> I don't need a  cell phone, no one NEEDS a  cell phone.  I don't
>>> need to impress others, I just  need to be satisfied with my own
>>> behavior - not some life style Madison Avenue tries to create.

>

>>> Success is  defined by yourself,  not others, and  certainly not
>>> the advertising industry.  I don't  want to be "successful," I'd
>>> rather be happy.

>

>>For that matter, you don't even need to be alive.

>

>>If there's some material thing that I think will make my life more
>>enjoyable, and if  I can afford to buy it  without jeopardizing my
>>ability to  buy other things  I might want  more (such as  food or
>>shelter), then I have no problem buying it.

>
> No problem there - I'm railing against the mindless "need" created by
> advertising.  It even impacts the thought processes or lexicon . . .
>
> Someone asks if I "need another beer."  Hardly - I didn't "need" the
> first one.   Would I "like" another?  Well, yes.
>

>>As it turns out, I tend to  be rather frugal, for the most part --
>>but that's  because I generally  see things as  a means to  an end
>>rather than as  an end unto themselves. But if it  makes you happy
>>knowing  that  you've bought  the  entire  set of  ``collectible''
>>plates, knock yourself out.

>
> I don't know how many people are able to distinguish the means from
> the end today.
>
> Everything has a price to the environment even the collectible dust
> gathering plates aren't benign - from the kiln and energy they take to
> fire or the lead in the glaze, cadmium in the pigments, etc..
>
>
>

>>But do, of course, kindly  refrain from overly indulging in things
>>-- like SUVs -- that make the  world a worse place for the rest of
>>us....

>
> SUV's . . . I agree.