Before I launch into my new post, I want to add another thought to my conversation with a Jehovah's Witness.
What was pretty new for me in this conversation with a JW was that I was honestly interested in how he understood faith. In the past I had assumed that I already knew everything because I understood their doctrine and could present it as well as they could but I didn't know why they believed it or how they understood faith in God.
The change for me was that I saw this person as a person and not the embodiment of an institution against which I was to fight. He did not represent an overly religious parent, a former abusive, rule-based church, that I was still rebelling against. The other change for me was that I no longer saw my faith as a set of beliefs, superior, more intelligent, more evolved than the rest or more importantly, as the way to heaven.
On to the new post:
I'm reading this book called, The High Price of Materialism by Tim Kasser in which he argues that what actually detracts from our sense of well being is materialism which abounds in this country. Earlier in the book, he describes the four basic human needs the last one being human need for connection.
There was no surprise to me that what contributes to family, friend relationships and to society meets these needs but what caught my attention was his thoughts on how the results of capitalism fight against it.
I've always been a big fan of capitalism in large part because I got to experience leaving poverty and by age 27 I owned a beautiful home in Woburn. Certainly, being a white male and young at the time puts me in a more advantaged class. But what Kasser pounds away at is that once you have your basic needs met, anything above and beyond that provides no more happiness and actually begins going the other direction as we become more materialistic.
He suggests that we actually lose ourselves in the process of earning more and and more. We think that owning more provides us with a true sense of autonomy, something he describes as a basic human need, when the opposite is true. The more we own, the less we are in touch with our true hunger which is human connection and other more intrinsic desires.
The way to return to this would be for us to do less watching of TV, which bombards us with ads that appeal to materialism, train our children from early on to detect the truth of commercials, to elect politicians that care about equality, to invest in organizations that fight poverty instead of purely seeking monetary returns, to find ways of spending more time with our kids instead of purchasing gifts for them.
He challenges what has been often the unquestioned value and unmitigated push for progress. Is it bad to suggest less consumption? Is it anti-American? Is it a bad thing if we don't return to a pre-recession/depression economic vitality?
What do you think?
Good Evening Joel,
ReplyDeleteOn my own personal Journey to Faith I recount how many encounters I had with those in the public square who like the JW's you spoke of wanted to share their beliefs as much as I did. Though I have always been comfortable in my faith beliefs it took me many years to trust God more than myself in these encounters. When I was trying to prove God was (the "was" is not a typo) the encounter were always a battle. Now I approach these meeting believing God is big enough to address the matters of the heart that are at stake here. Each encounter is unique and God knows exactly what the purpose for each encounter is. I love going along for the ride.
I will have to get back to you in the AM on your new blog... my ten minutes are up and the Boss Man Calleth!
I read this article a lot of years back, and I never forgot it: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2004/08/01/you-only-need-40000-to-be-happy/.
ReplyDeleteThis is one little piece of the article in case you don't want to link over there to read it all:
"The rule is well established in research: The first 40 thousand makes a big difference in one’s level of happiness. Happiness is dependent on being able to meet basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing. After meeting those needs you need to turn to something other than consumerism. Because additional money has negligible impact on how happy you are. Your level of happiness is largely dependent on your outlook.
"Maybe you’re thinking there’s another magic threshold beyond forty thousand. Like maybe 40 million. But you’re wrong. When I ran in circles of venture capitalists, there was a common phrase, “It’s not jet money." Which was a way of saying, it was a good deal, but it won’t earn enough money to pay for a private jet. No matter what size the pile of money is, there’s always a way to see it as small."
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That attitude of "there's always a way to see it as small" is the one that I do my best to fight against every day. Whether I'm getting a promotion or a pay-cut, my salary shouldn't control my mindset of plenty or poverty. I want to feel rich - because of things like relationships, connections, the beauty of the world around me (at risk of sounding cheesey!) - not because of the cash in my bank account.
Having said that, if $40,000 isn't enough to pay for those basic needs, of course whatever amount IS enough to pay for those things, then imagine that number in your head (this was written 7 years ago and probably considers the US average, not living in an expensive area of the country), but you get the point. Once our basic needs are met, striving after lots more stuff is just empty striving.
Hi Joel,
ReplyDeleteI just learned a lesson of googling while writing my comment. "DON'T!
What did Horace say to Dolly in the musical Hello Dolly? "Money is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow." It's about perspective. Materialism is when we use capitalism for me, myself and I. But when we use capitalism for the purpose of gaining wealth and we include charity as one of our core values it embraces me, my family, my neghbor, my co-workers, my employers, my city or town, my state, my nation and quite possibly the world. I believe the system can foster connectedness everywhere. What would my father say, Balance and moderation,balance and morderation! What is important in life son? Money has its place but people are more important than money and things. Be charitable and help your fellow man. Then you will be truly rich!