The only way to make up for that inequity is to have a totally socialist regime. I, for one, would not like my hard-earned cash, through my own diligence, etc., to be handed over to a few people I know who scam the system constantly with cons, just so they can buy cigarettes/booze/drugs.
It's not like there's only X finite amount of money and good luck in the world, and the more I or anyone else has, the less is available out there to be grabbed by others.
That being said, I do think those who have more than enough would be better people if they stopped throwing it away on crap and donated it to those who don't have, especially during the holidays.
That being said, I think we make far too much out of HAVING to BUY STUFF just to have a good holiday. I remember sitting on a bus and overhearing a guy say to his companion that he "had" to overdraft his credit card just to get his kids stuff. But what could he do, he reasoned? Kids just "have" to have stuff, otherwise, what, they'll be traumatized by their lack of love (as evidenced by more and expensive stuff) and then parents will have to spend fortunes for their psychotherapy in the coming years, so they don't turn to robbery to get "theirs"? It's NUTS!! And it's our fault. And of course the "free market" and the media. But in the end they are just selling us what we buy/what we want. Demand and supply.
That being said: (sigh) I realize it's one thing for an adult to Just Say No to consumerism, quite another for a kid who is inundated by the culture s/he has to operate in, or be teased/shunned, etc. I have no easy answers, other than an all-out social revolution. And that's no easy answer. And won't happen.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2012-11-25 10:26 pm (UTC)It's not like there's only X finite amount of money and good luck in the world, and the more I or anyone else has, the less is available out there to be grabbed by others.
That being said, I do think those who have more than enough would be better people if they stopped throwing it away on crap and donated it to those who don't have, especially during the holidays.
That being said, I think we make far too much out of HAVING to BUY STUFF just to have a good holiday. I remember sitting on a bus and overhearing a guy say to his companion that he "had" to overdraft his credit card just to get his kids stuff. But what could he do, he reasoned? Kids just "have" to have stuff, otherwise, what, they'll be traumatized by their lack of love (as evidenced by more and expensive stuff) and then parents will have to spend fortunes for their psychotherapy in the coming years, so they don't turn to robbery to get "theirs"? It's NUTS!! And it's our fault. And of course the "free market" and the media. But in the end they are just selling us what we buy/what we want. Demand and supply.
That being said: (sigh) I realize it's one thing for an adult to Just Say No to consumerism, quite another for a kid who is inundated by the culture s/he has to operate in, or be teased/shunned, etc. I have no easy answers, other than an all-out social revolution. And that's no easy answer. And won't happen.