Thanks to a little help from Tivo and some dilligence on my part, I've nearly quit watching commercials all together. I also made a vow in 2006 to buy nothing new, and save for a few things needed for work or safety, I did not.
With the shopping gene supressed, I find I have a lot more money and time for things I actually value. We got rid of our second car and took up cycling and bought a scooter. Our milage dropped from 41,000 in 2005 to 1500 for 2006. We're running a bit higher for 2007.
I'm starting to see this artificial state of want and need, coupled to this never ending cycle of consumption as being at the heart of ALL our problems today from terrorism to global warming. Wal-Mart has become a big symbol in my mind of the high costs masked by those low prices. Sure, those costs are paid by little brown people on teh other side of the world, but that makes them no less real.
Anyone else thinking along these lines?
With the shopping gene supressed, I find I have a lot more money and time for things I actually value. We got rid of our second car and took up cycling and bought a scooter. Our milage dropped from 41,000 in 2005 to 1500 for 2006. We're running a bit higher for 2007.
I'm starting to see this artificial state of want and need, coupled to this never ending cycle of consumption as being at the heart of ALL our problems today from terrorism to global warming. Wal-Mart has become a big symbol in my mind of the high costs masked by those low prices. Sure, those costs are paid by little brown people on teh other side of the world, but that makes them no less real.
Anyone else thinking along these lines?
