“As we asymptotically erode poverty, hunger, strife, and economic hardship away, the amount of “things” we own become increasingly worthless. Yes we need food. Yes we need transportation. Yes we need lodging. And I will even admit the occasional indulgence in renting a Ferrari or eating sushi is called for in life. But soon (I would argue today) most everybody has all their material needs satisfied. You’re not starving. You’re not homeless. You’re not even uncomfortable. The “biggest problem” you face in life is that your dad didn’t buy you the latest iPhone as you major in Sociology at Middlebury. So if material things no longer matter, nor determine true standards of living, what does?
Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
(9) And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
(10) The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
(11) The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
(12) And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
(13) Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear (revere) God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
(14) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
There are metaphors in there that will escape most young readers, including bible-illiterate me, especially since simile is stuck in brains of the ‘like, like ya know’ crowd. Old time religion-speak is not understood by many. And the left doesn’t like being preached to by anyone who isn’t a secular, socialist politician. I don’t think bible sales are doing well at this time in history. It’s probably gonna take guns to clean up this current mess.
Nice try though.
Again the captain misses the point.
True, gdp and it’s derivatives and subsets measure quantity and yes, at the fringes it becomes a numb figure – the difference in a person with a billion dollars potential standard of living is no different than a person with two billion.
And there is a falsity to the cliche “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. That’s because while quantitatively that is true – and I hope our society continues to widen the gap (it’s easy to become penniless – even a very wealthy person can blow their fortune in a couple weeks in Vegas) – QUALITATIVELY the gap has never been closer than it is today. Bill Gates cellphone isn’t a heck of a lot better than the one I am typing on. And yes while he may have many cars he can only drive one and it too is only marginally better than the one I have. And his water is no cleaner; his food no safer; my house has heat and electricity.
Compare that to JD Rockefeller’s day.
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And you are completely off base regarding Steve Jobs and free time.
Yes, he was a hard worker. Arguably a workaholic. But he didn’t HAVE to work. He chose to work. He could have lived the jimmy buffett lifestyle if he wanted. He had 100% free time. That you miss that point is startling.
I think the Steve Jobs example was a particularly bad one. It may come as a shock, but there are actually people who are “working” because what they are working at is what they want to do with their time.
When asked what he would do if he knew if he only had one day to live, Isaac Asimov answered, “Type faster.”
I agree with Gord on this thread. I say this as a person who immigrated to Canada years ago, lived in dire poverty for roughly three years, before going to university and slowly earning a comfortable living (now retired with a low six-figure income).
I am a church-going Christian, and basic Christianity teaches us to eschew glutton-like consumption. One Christian video even uses the same terminology (“we are buying too much stuff”) as the writer in the post. I get that.
Where I disagree with the writer is that he claims that there is no widening disparity in incomes. I retired as an economics professor, making $160,000 three years ago, and often talked investment strategy, our real estate purchased, etc. But at the same time I have been running our church’s free store (mostly food and toiletries), and over the years I have seen poverty first hand. There are people out there who are struggling. The basic Statistics Canada data shows a widening income disparity
My wife and me are pinching pennies, maintain a decently managed budget, to send two young boys, from poor families at our church, to Christian summer camp for a week. This is where I part company from the writer. I am a greedy economist who watches the stock market carefully, and who tries to make capital gains here and there. The question is sharing “stuff”with others in need.
Then Steve Jobs was a good choice of example to illustrate Clarey’s message. Even if he loved what he was doing and he wanted to do nothing else, he still got a noticeably shorter life span than the statistical normal expected, and all the money he got didn’t change that and the fact that he could afford a bigger, nicer house or extra houses and faster, more luxurious cars didn’t change that. If he was happy because he was doing what he wanted with his time that example should be instructive to people that they may be wasting their lives trying to get more stuff by doing work that is not in itself making them happy.
Wordsworth had it. “Getting and spending we lay waste our powers”
” Even if he loved what he was doing and he wanted to do nothing else, he still got a noticeably shorter life span than the statistical normal expected . . .”
So did George Mallory.
True but would be a better essay if he didn’t condescendingly call other people names.
I buy cigars at a head shop where the walls are festooned with brightly colored bongs and posters as you can imagine. They keep a small cabinet of Cubans for a few customers like me. I got to know one of the two staff. He is right around 30 years old. Over the past couple of years a learned that this young guy who sports only small nose ring, but no tats, was very bright and well read.
I asked him why he is content to work retail, selling mostly pot paraphernalia and cigarettes to pot-heads and street-people who still smoke. He said that he enjoys the gig. It’s pressure free, no stress. He lives only a couple of blocks away from the store so, doesn’t need a car. Living downtown in a rather shabby apartment is cheap and convenient.
He says he makes enough working at the shop to pay his nut. He dabbles a bit in the market and sells a bit of weed for the extras and to build some savings. He doesn’t want the RISK of a spouse, nor the high cost, and often low rewards of children. He actually has no reason to grow up as Jordan Peterson would likely advise, but I say … why? Our society is now so messed up that what were the norms 40 or 50 years ago are now, just other choices.
We are far down the line as a culture and a way of life. All things come to an end. All the promises by politicians to deliver the good life are hollow. With global mass migration and no one in our countries with the balls to fend it off, perhaps except for a few countries like Poland and Hungary. Canada will follow Sweden down the rabbit hole. May substitute with camel or goat if rabbits aren’t your thing.
The disparity between the wealthy and the poor …. with 7 Billion poor and only a handful of really wealthy, things may not go well for the very wealthy … unless the can institute and solidify the NEW WORLD ORDER with globalism … you know … a global feudal state. But that won’t happen unless they can manage to DISARM AMERICAN CITIZENS. and they are working hard on that.
I guess the point of my ramblings is simply. The world is now so messed up with ever changing technology and truly stupid politicians … a quickly deteriorating western world …. well … It’s getting hard to stay focused on much. The distractions are huge as the brains are growing dimmer with each new generation. How the rich live compared to the rest of us, is now less important than taking their money away from them and wasting it on the zombies of the left. It gets more interesting and scary by the day.
“Never, ever, give up your guns.” – Aristotle
“Never, ever, give up your guns.” – Aristotle.
And which Aristotle was that? 384 – 322 BC? If so, I don’t believe guns were invented then.
Or perhaps you were referring to Aristotle Onassis? That would be believable.