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May 05, 2005
Reject Consumerism
You have lots of problems, your friends have lots of problems. You are in an emotional tailspin. You want to enjoy the things that money buys just like you were able to before, but no matter how much you work you can't ever seem to get ahead.
That's the trouble with consumerism... you try to hide from an emtionally and psychically unsatisfying life by buying things. But it doesn't work. The answer isn't to make more money, but simply think of money as a necessity for basic needs, not emotionally satisfying needs. Emotionally satisfying, psychologically satisfying activity is what life is all about. And if the the activities and material things that you are relying on for emotional satisfaction cause you to pimp yourself out economically to make more money than that is a good indication that you are deceiving yourself about the things by which you find satisfaction.
Most people are no different than they were at the onset of the industrial revolution, the birth of modern day economic slavery. The opiate of the people is television and other forms of entertainment to keep the mind off the fact that most of a worker's time is spent doing things that are unsatisfying...watching propaganda news, sports entertainment, mindless tv shows, entertainment gossip...
I find the most gratification when I am reading, walking, writing or doing kungfu, not when I am buying things, going someplace for entertainment, or watching television. History isn't the mindless drivel taught in school where everyone had to learn the chronology of wars and battles and battle heroes. Recently I read about the history of the Civil Rights movement and how deep south cops brutalized peaceful protestors, but the protestors had a resolve to help humanity and not just themselves. Reading good lyrical poetry puts you in touch with emotions, and helps put into words some of your own feelings. William Blake's poetry is spiritual and speaks to people of any religious inclination. Thomas Merton is a Catholic philosopher that was very open to Buddhism. Read about women and the liberation movement, read the literature of the different socialist political parties that get absolutely no coverage in the media.
These activities put you in tune with the world you live in and helps put yourself in perspective. It's this profound awareness of the self, the world and the things you can offer to the world that everyone is looking for, but are too tired and their minds too numb after the hours of economic slavery they are committed to. If you have religious inclinations study the history of your religion, or study other religions comparatively to understand your own perspective of God or Gods. To have spiritual rituals is to have an anchor for your existence and clears your vision and strengthens your commitment to life and all people you come into contact with.
We were born with a great inheritance-the mind. With this mind we have a profound ability to create a happy existence. It takes self criticism to pinpoint the areas of our lives where we can have more compassion for ourselves and others. It's compassion for the self that keeps us from the self defeating emotional turmoil created by Consumerism, and when you have compassion for the self you can have compassion for others. Someone who wants to be able to carry a gun in public has the detachment from community that will allow him to use it, but your compassion for others may keep someone from using a gun on themselves or someone else.
