posted
Time to start thinking about what's important in life. Our culture is built on materialistic excess. Buy, buy, buy, more, more, more. Doesn't matter if the clothes that you have are in perfectly good shape, clean, nice - seems like there's always a new style to buy - this year's colors.
Our kids can't go to school without the latest and greatest of everything. Just because they got a new iPod for Christmas, all of a sudden, it's not good enough - there's a new model out.
DVD players, Game Boys, cell phones...can't possibly have last year's model. You can't play video games on your phone? God, what are you living in the middle ages?!?!
How on earth did this happen? We let it happen. The companies put out the latest and greatest of something and we run out like lemmings and buy it all.
I remember going to the movies - you watch the movie and maybe if you're lucky, you get to see it again on tv or if you're really rich, you actually had cable and got to see it on HBO. Now, everyone has to buy every movie the day they come out on DVD. Why? Take a look at the DVDs you own and honestly tell me how many times you've watched them. Multiply that pile you have by $20 and see how much money that is.
I'm not lecturing anyone here, god knows my family and I have more STUFF than any 10 families truly need. I guess I'm just sitting here, thinking about a family that I know who is down in Louisiana with NOTHING but the small suitcases that they took when they evacuated. They need EVERYTHING now. Clothes, shoes, school supplies for the kids and once they are able to get back to their house - months from now - they will need all of the stuff that we take for granted every single day. Sheets, towels, kitchen stuff, etc, etc, etc.
There is already a mass of Christmas stuff out there in the stores. Do you really NEED more dust-collecting kitschy decorations? Do you have to buy every single aunt, uncle, cousin, brother-in-law, friend a gift that will undoubtedly end up in someone's closet by the end of January? Think about that before you grab your Visa card and run out to the mall to go Christmas Shopping just because Macy's and Nordstrom's and Target told us that it's time to go buy stuff.
I was telling someone this morning - the main reason I'd love to have a lot of money would be to have it to give away. My idea of being successful would be to be able to write checks without a second thought and give them to people who really needed them.
We may not be rich but we sure as hell don't need that set of 1000 thread count sheets I was going to buy or the DVD recorder to replace the perfectly good working VCR in the living room. The last thing my daughter needs is another DVD or stuffed animal. I'm sure that my husband can manage without more sports memoribilia to hang on his already over crowded walls or a new set of golf clubs.
It's time to reasses our prioities and think beyond our own small universe. What can YOU do to make the world a better place?
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I like the comment about Christmas the best Kimberly. I was just replying to Mike Pipes about agreeing with his suggestion of decal production as an excellent vehicle for fund raising... I've seen enough of those "support our troops" ribbons (not the best design in the world, but I'm NOT knocking that cause)... & a cool letterhead style "delta relief" decal would help folks open their wallet to raise funds... & sticking the decal on the car will raise awareness...
..so now, I see another whole dimension to this... everyone on my christmas list could recieve a small card with a decal saying $X amount of dollars was donated to the Red Cross IN YOUR NAME!!! (oh boy, my grandkids are going to love you for this ...actually I will make sure they really do)
posted
I couldn't agree more. We still don't have a DVD player. I bought a new truck in 1988 and just replaced it a few months ago, both our computers are ancient and will be around til they stop working altogether. I still work out of Corel 8, it still does what I need it to. Bells and whistles never did a damn thing to impress me. As far as clothing styles, I never was a slave to fashion. Jeans and a t-shirt or flannel. We get a real kick out of watching "what not to wear" these folks love to strip everybody of any individuality and put them in jackets and pointy toed shoes, everybody comes off looking like stepford wives. Most looked better before the makeovers with the exception of the haircuts and makeup.
POINTY TOED SHOES sorry, I've seen them come and go fashion wise at least three times in my history and the damn things are STILL ugly as hell. But we have to push them as they are in "fashion".
" A man comes on the radio telling me more and more about how white my shirts should be but he can't be a man cause he dosen't smoke the same cigarettes as me"
And don't get me started on Christmas, they used to wait until after Thanksgiving before they started the big push, now Halloween gets trampled. You can't buy weedeater line at WalMart in September, but Christmas lights are readily available. At the rate they are going, the red necks that leave their lights up all year long will be "in season" all the time
[ September 04, 2005, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: George Perkins ]
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
I left out part of what I meant to include in my first reply... I agreed most with the thought that so much wasteful expenditures are squandered on Christmas kitsch...
but I forgot to add to the topic of my own culturally influenced materialism. People who've read some of my longer ramblings here over the years may have already heard me describe much of my past as self-imposed poverty. I was so against the materialistic culture... & convinced that it could not last... that I refused to buy in for most of 2 decades. & in that time, learned a lot about perma-culture, gardening, wholistic health, home building, alternative energy, cooperative business practices (co-op's), community living... & basically finding happiness from the wealth of all that was provided by our creator, rather then what is provided by wal-mart. I raised my daughter as a vegetarian, & enrolled her in the Waldorf school, lived in intentional communities on shared land with autonomous families cooperating to make better use of the land & our resources by sharing work, tools, objectives & energy... guess you could just say an "old hippie" ...but based on altruistic ideals... NOT on looking & dressing the part just to fit into a clique.
Later I think it turned into a clique & the schitt hadn't hit the fan yet... Capitalism was still intact & opportunities that once looked/felt like traps... were starting to pass me by.
Now I own a business & a home, have an IRA & health insurance, drive a new (& not-so-fuel-efficient )truck... & overall, am pretty damn materialistic
I think the conundrum here is that as a culture, we have needed to reverse a lot of trends for a long time. As a culture, we have not, but rather we have went further away from a place that would be best for the planet. As individuals we can, and many of us are (or were) already. I've often described my entrance into societies mainstream as a decision to "play the game". I guess it seemed like somewhat of a victimless crime to burn a lot of gas, buy (& discard) a lot of plastic crap, waste a lot of money & resources, & trade the bulk of my god given time & talent for the almighty dollar.
Another conundrum I thought about when I was younger was "crime doesn't pay" ...this may not be the best example, but to attempt to make a point... being around the dope growing 70's, I saw people work like dogs, hiking back in the wilderness to conceal a small crop... then I became aware that months later thieves could actually afford to rent planes & spot these crops & steal them. How could they afford this? Because their willingness to take months of hard work away from dozens of people in a single day made them wealthy beyond belief... I guess this example suffers where both victims & thieves are criminal... but I think my point is this.. the excesses of capitalism, land ownership, materialism & wealth are all legal & the power available as a result of those excesses are legally used to dominate over those who do not exploit them. Those excesses, in the big picture, really do add up to crimes against humanity (& I am as guilty as the next guy... far more so then many) Does crime pay? ... well in this world, yes it seems that it does. If I went back to a downtrodden life of poverty... I may be rewarded in the next world... maybe I could even regain the peace & simplicity of the old days, but I must confess, I too have become somewhat addicted to the "American dream" & feel that I now have to feed that addiction with a continuation of my materialistic life, & if I don't, it will be taken from me by those that do.
Kimberly, I hope my tangent doesn't threaten to hijack you post, & if it does, or you think it will... I will remove it.
Anyway, voluntarily going back in time is difficult for an individual & near impossible for a culture.. but I think everyone of us with his or her eyes open has known for a long time that the materialistic ways of the "civilized" nations in general, & the USA specifically... will be forced to change & if there is any silver lining to this current national disaster.. I think it will be the awakening among the masses of the truth & importance of Kimberly's observations in this post.
[ September 04, 2005, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
posted
LOL Doug...no one will ever call you a man of few words! :-) :-) You know I say that with all due affection.
I hear you about the grandkid's presents. Samantha is the ONLY child in our entire family - mine or Clay's. Think she's spoiled? LOL Plus we have LOTS of friends who have never had kids. They dote on her.
I'm hoping to be able to convince some of these people to ease up on the piles of toys, etc and do something worthwhile in her name instead. Trust me, she would think it was a grand idea. She's a very cool kid.
One of my dear friends is having a birthday in a couple of weeks. I was planning on buying her a nice present but instead I emailed her this morning and told her that I was going to add another $50 to my Letterhead donation fund.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
It has to start with us. That's who's been left in charge. Want to come to my garage sale? It is going to have some darn legible signs ahead of time to donate as a percentage of profits will go to our southern brothers and sisters. Plus, if I don't "unspoil" my kids and grandkids, they won't be able to handle any crisis when it comes.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
| IP: Logged |
My wardrobe consists of 1 t-shirt for each day of the week, 5 pairs of shorts, a pair of jeans, and socks/underwear for a week. It all fits into one load of laundry, and if I travel it all fits into one carry-on bag. LOL.
OK OK.. I used to have on the order of 1500 CD's.. many of them were destroyed when the drunk hit my house, still hadnt unpacked many since moving here 6 years ago.. the rest were given to St Vincent De Paul - Good riddance! I now have 10 CD's left.
Got a DVD player but no DVD's.. a VCR but no tapes - rent is the name of the game here.
No cable TV, no satellite. My TV is a 19" unit, picked up for $100 - don't have want nor need for big screens - don't spend enough time watching TV and keeping the box small ensures I don't want to spend much time in front of it.
I just cut my driving and gasoline bill by 60% at the flip of a switch, now that I think more about it I could probably cut that even more, eliminating my need for a vehicle altogether then renting a car if I gotta drive 3 hours to Phoenix or Vegas airports. I could just use one out of the five bicycles I own as transportation. Hmm ya got me.
I prepare all my meals myself, rarely ever eat out. A 1lb slab of meat provides me with 4 meals. I don't drink coffee, nor am I one of those caffiene latte' addicts that I see outside of Starbucks in the morning waiting for the doors to open so they can get their fix. I don't drink.. don't smoke.
I still love my camera gear though, however it's business investment so I can justify it. I use an old PNC-5000 as a plotter and an old 700MHz laptop to drive it. All business equipment is free and clear, all mine, no credit, virtually no cost to operate it.
My life wasn't always simple though. It became simple out of shear need when I moved to the desert, leaving a very well paying job that afforded all kinds of fun stuff.
The debt load caught up after moving and starting a new biz.
That's probably the single best thing to happen to me too. It forced me to look in the mirror, comb through all my crap and determine what was absolutely neccessary for survival and what wasn't. Lots of stuff went bye-bye but I did keep some vices like the jetski, bikes, R/C cars and junk - gotta have a little fun you know. I took some jobs I didnt really care for, like that boring contract engineering stuff, but it paid the bills - they're bankrupt now, guess I won't see that last $1,000 bill they owe. Oh well, I don't need it now, they already paid for my debt.
Now I can live happily, not caring if I have the latest, greatest, fastest. It doesn't matter.
It feels good knowing my bills are only $12,000 per year and I don't have to work like a dog just to give my money to banks and credit card companies. The beauty of being single? They'd be even less if I didn't have $640 in rent, and I'm working on that one.
I love this simpler life - I don't have near the baggage to carry around!!
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
EXCELLENT thread, Kimberly. Jon & I went to a fair last night, & it was sickening to see how many 10-13 year olds were roaming the fair with cell phones stuck to their ears!!!! I don't even have one yet, & yes, we need one. (I fear for Jon when he cuts trees down in the woods alone!)
Most of my clothes were given to me, & I forgot the "stylish" thing long ago. Lol! George, I wonder how their toes fit them shoes!
I grew up in a high school near the Amish, & there are quite a few around me now. I have often thought of how smart these people are. I remember telling a couple of them, too, how wonderful it is that they don't have to rely on all these modern inventions. And they do not have to worry about what their kids are watching on the tube!!!!
I have listened to stories of people telling how close their family got after they quit watching the tv, & began to spend real time with each other.
I love it when you said you would love to be able to write checks to people in need. ME too!!! And don't forget, when we give & it is a sacrifice, we are truly blessed. Sometimes when we give up something in order to give to someone else, it is the ultimate gift.
Good girl!
-------------------- The Word in Signs Bobbie Rochow Jamestown, PA 16134
724-927-6471
thewordinsigns@alltel.net Posts: 3485 | From: Jamestown, PA 16134 | Registered: Oct 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Shirley and I don't need to cut back..we have been doing it all our lives...
Before anyone jumps over that statement..here's how and why.
We got together 24 years ago in our very late 30's..Both divorced and both penniless and both with monitary commitments (YES..I had to make child support payments and so did SHE!). We "KNEW" how to pinch pennies.
We bought a house, with financial co-signing by a dear firend of ours.
It was a cheap, run down place but it was ours and the bank's. We still live in it today and it has been paid for for many years. (it looks a lot different these days, thank god!) Over the years we have invested money into the property and bought more.
We buy our clothes when they are on sale.
We seldom eat out at restaurants. We buy food products when they are on sale and stockpile them in the pantry or in the freezer.
Yes, we both drink and I smoke (no excuses and no apologies!)
We drive reasonably new vehicles because we have, over the many years, figured out the basic fact..it is nicer and more easily manageable paying a monthly payment for a new vehicle that has a warantee than paying unexpected bills to fix a piece of junk that isn't worth the money that was just put into it.
We spend as much time in Mexico in the winter as we can because we don't like being cold...BUT..when we are there, our heating costs go WAY down and our monthly spending is cut in half (bottom line is that we save money by being there, sorta)
I like "toys", so I have some of the latest technology available..but a blank DVD disk is cheaper than a blank VCR tape..The new laptop is about as good as it gets, but even it was bought as an "open box" special that cost me 1/2 what it was retailing for, and I spent 2 months searching for the "good deal".
Renovated the computer room recently..a HUGE expense of $500!!! (one reasonably priced job)
I could think of other things to say, I guess, but my fingers are tired and I have had an expensive ciggie and drink!!!
Hopefully, Shirley and I have our priorities well under control!!
Sorry for the long post..but I DO feel that a lot of folks don't have what "SHOULD BE" their priorities straight..and a few of us DO.
(actually, I have a feeling that a lot of the Letterville folks are in the group of those who DO have things figured out and don't represent the majority of Canadians or Americans)
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Priorities, Kimberley, yes, but also the way children are brought up.
I spent the last two weekends doing voluntary work at a local museum having a heritage festival. One part is where a lot of children dress up in old clothes & go into an old class room and with a 'teacher', they re-enact school life 100 years ago. It's impromptu and very clever. The kids involved, some as young as 3 & 4, all quickly learn to 'act' the part & love it.
But...
there was one kid-of about 15 years- who kept back, and in the discussion between the teacher & the kids about possible roles to play before it all begins, this kid kept scrunching his coke can left & right just as the teacher was about to speak. This went of for 15 minutes. He was doing everything he could legally do in public to irritate & disrupt her and the class who were keen to continue. I came along late & learnt he'd been like that in the morning session too, so I went up to him to ask for his can since he'd obviously finished drinking its contents-either hand it to me or put it in a bin.
He refused to do either, but continued with his antics. I then hunted him away, by standing between him and the kids till he was out of earshot. When class began he came back to one of the windows as he'd done in the morning & began to crunch the can & spit, so I went over toward him to tell him that that wasn't acceptible and he was not welcome on the complex, and he'd better clear off as neither the kids nor the public appreciated him.
Well what came next left me dumbfounded. He yelled at the top of his voice, in front of maybe 150 public, " I know my rights, get your effing hands off me you f-ing p-ter, I'l going to smash your f-ing face in you f....." and on it went. I won't continue. I never touched him, but someone who hadn't seen it could have been convinced I was murdering him, which is what he needed. My jaw dropped. All I could do was to tell him quietly to clear off he was not welcome here & to hunt him away.
That evening I eventually found his grandparents & let them know what happened. The story wasn't the same as he'd told them, in which he was innocent of anything & I chased him away. He was fluent at being a very convincing liar.
They told me he was a foster-child taken in by their daughter to try to help the kid, but that so far, even after 6 months, all he'd done was to lead her own son of the same age, down his path, instead of the other way around.
A decent smack was what he needed, 10 years earlier, in my opinion, but at this stage of his life, he'd had 'his rights' drilled perfectly into his brain by whatever bit of the dept of education he'd listened to, and as far as he was concerned, life was about him doing whatever he wished,whenever he wished, and no adult had any right to prevent him. He was very cocky, pushy, a bully, biggish, foul-mouthed and I'm blowed if I can see how his 'guardians' will ever turn him into becoming a 'useful citizen in society'.
It would be a real challenge to 'convert' him. He has no respect for anyone whatsoever. (I don't know if his foster-mother could tie him up and starve him into submission!)
I have a name amongst our children's friends for being strict, and having minimal tolerance to bad manners, incorrect speech, and bad language, but it's brought respect from any kids around us, as they all know where they stand. When I ran athletics training over the last two years, we had nearly a third of the local school turn up regularly. Even ones the teachers had difficulties with, were obedient to me. I'm not saying I have any answers for others' problems here, but to me "priorities" also need to begin with youngsters learning manners & respect for elders. Society has already turned some awfully wrong corners in this direction, in my opinion.
Anyway, it rained a tad last night, so it's a lovely day here now & I'd better sign off! Kimberley, you're right about 'keeping up with the Joneses', and excesses of materialism.
I wonder if you can blame it on the mass media, and furthermore, on advertising, and from there, specifically those industries that help promote selling things, and even moreso on signs & billboards, and even more deeply, on the industry of signwriting- those practitioners really have a lot to answer for!
-------------------- "Stewey" on chat
"...there are no limits when you aim for perfection..." Jonathan Livingston Seagull Posts: 7014 | From: Highgrove via Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Oh so much could be said about all this. Maybe I'll come back to it later. Maybe people are trying to fill a void that can't be filled with things.
But what about DOUG"S IDEA? you know, the cool graphics Katrina relief deal? Good idea Doug.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Gump and I raised $230 cash for the American Red Cross today with our efforts. Gump did a ten hour day fighting a cold and was nothing short of a trooper. I've never been so pround of him as I am right now. I'm going back in the morning to try to increase that number and have found a way to double the total with matching funds. I'll paint anything that stops moving long enough if it makes that total higher.
Before I leave, I'll ask Gump to go through his clothes for Curtis's kids and we'll send them off immediately. I have the address they are at. (Thanks Kissy for bringing it to our attention.)
Since this morning..
Curtis has been out there in the trenches of hell. Last I heard, Gavin was heading into that same mind numbing hell.
People who lived in Louisiana, Missisippi and Alabama last week are spending the night sleeping in the Astrodome and anywhere they can get to...if at all. Survivors spending another night in hell.
A man is hungry.
A body was found and the family is mourning.
A child is crying.
"What can YOU do to make the world a better place? " Any and everything you can...the sooner the better.
Do or do not...there is no try. Rapid
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I found this quote just recently and would like to share it: "To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony." - William Henry Channing
One doesn't have to have lot's of money and/or "things" to be rich. What's in your heart is what matters. To give to those in need makes one a very rich person indeed! Bomba-Dear
-------------------- Bomba-Dear Jackie Vaughn #5115 Volcano, California www.chocoholic.com Posts: 761 | From: Volcano, California, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
"Happiness is a place between too little and too much."
May we all live there.
-------------------- Kimberly Zanetti Purcell www.amethystProductivity.com Folsom, CA email: Kimberly@AmethystProductivity.com
“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” AA Milne Posts: 3722 | From: Folsom, CA | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
...actually I will make sure they really do)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
sorry, I've seen them come and go fashion wise at least three times in my history and the damn things are STILL ugly as hell. But we have to push them as they are in "fashion".![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
)truck... & overall, am pretty damn materialistic 
![[Applause]](graemlins/applause.gif)
![[Rolling On The Floor]](graemlins/rolf.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic