The pendulum may continue to swing until
Modern man doesn’t know how to do anything anymore
Except to work a job to pay someone else to do everything for him—
Farming out nearly everything out until he has forgotten how to do anything for himself.
Category Archives: Consumerism
The Marketplace Wearies Me So
Who Loves Excellence the Most
Who loves excellence the most
Is not the consumer
Who spends only money,
But the artisan who spends himself
To make things just so.
Life Outside the Market
Let us all give thanks
For the Internet and email and text messages and TV and radio—
Those unassailable domains of the marketers,
Who, being the heirs apparent of all humanity,
Have brought our race finally to this glorious maturity,
Born again by way of the ever-gushing font of ads—
That life-giving stream, as from Eden itself—
Without which no one could ever know
What to think of himself
Or what he needs
Or how to find
His own way
To market!
My Constant Frustration
I live my life under the constant frustration that things of fundamental and preeminent importance must so frequently take a back seat to the practical business of being a worker/consumer cog in the prevailing economic machine. And the machine does not care one iota for grand ideas such as reality, authenticity, and self correction. Rather, it does considerable and deliberate work to the detriment of these principles.
Philosophy in general, and societal reform in particular, are not pursuits well suited for those who lack the means for leisure. This is because Continue reading My Constant Frustration
Consumers Make The World Go ‘Round
Of all the millions of products, services, ideas, and causes that some salesman would deliberately try to sell you, how many of them are actually GOOD for you?
And how many are actually BAD for you?
How many would actually HARM you, and the salesman simply doesn’t care because all he wants is your money? Continue reading Consumers Make The World Go ‘Round
What is My “World View”?
Every once in a while, someone inquires about my “world view”. Here it is:
- There is nothing unreal in the entire known Universe, with the one exception of what happens in the imaginations of humans.
- Humans often get trapped in the unrealities that they (or others) have imagined, and attempt to practice or to adhere to those unrealities in the real world. This is and has always been, in every known case, bad. Continue reading What is My “World View”?
10 Quick Tips for Choosing a Political Party
Far be it from me to tell anybody to which political party he or she should belong, but for those of you who may be giving the issue some thought, I’ve written a few tips below for your own private consideration. Your primary goal—and I can’t stress this enough—should be to make a decision that is easy—both easy to make and easy to justify down the road. What you do not want to do is to put too much thought into it, to analyze anything, or to have to give careful consideration to the results of your choice later. So just pick your favorite question from the easy list below and answer it. Then find the political party that best matches your answer. It’s just that easy! Continue reading 10 Quick Tips for Choosing a Political Party
The Naked Brain by Richard Restak, M.D.
These are my brief notes about:
The Naked Brain: How the emerging neurosociety is changing how we live, work, and love
by Richard Restak, M.D. Continue reading The Naked Brain by Richard Restak, M.D.
We Love Our Labels!
I’m about to crack open a can of worms that can’t be fully dealt with in a single article. This is a topic that has been strongly on my mind lately and it seems time at least to get it on the record, if only briefly so.
I observe that a great many people seem to label themselves in various ways. This is a common behavior and we see examples of it every day. Here are a few examples, just to get the ball rolling: Continue reading We Love Our Labels!