What Matters

Posted on by under Economic issues, Personal, Social commentary

Yesterday evening I came across something on my friend Carolyn’s ‘Tuesday Thoughts’ post that stopped me in my tracks.  I said, to nobody in particular, “YES!  THAT IS SO SPOT ON!”  Just … take a little minute to think about this one, to ponder on the simplicity.  I often criticize those who have or who seek great wealth, and this … this one little meme sums it all up for me.  It reminds me of some of the wisdom of the fictional Forrest Gump.  THIS, my friends, speaks to us of what is important with very few words.  Do you agree?

Thank you, Carolyn, for permission to ‘borrow’ this one … it says so much … so very much.

32 thoughts on “What Matters”

  7. That is exactly what I always say; I have never been a competitive person, why compete for more? There is enough for everybody, if we all are satisfied with less. Many of us have way more than we need anyway. Same with companies, why do profits have to increase every year? There is no economy reason for that at all, it is all personal greed. I am with Paul Lafargue (son in law of Karl Marx), who wrote the little book “la droit de la paresse” (the right to lazyness as against “Das Recht auf Arbeit” (the right to work) ), which shows that we all could live a happy life with everybody working three hours every day. No need to say that Paul was not Karl Marx’s favourite son in law. 😉

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    • You are exactly right! There is plenty for everyone if we all take only what we need. I’ll never understand the allure of being a millionaire or billionaire, of owning mansions, yachts and private planes, or of having more money in the bank that one could ever use in ten lifetimes! If every millionaire in the world gave half of their money to those less fortunate, nobody would ever go to bed hungry. Heh heh … no, I don’t imagine that Lafargue was Karl’s favourite!

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      • I guess from a certain point onwards, this amassing of wealth becomes an unhealthy obsession. It doesn’t seem to make people feel happier either. Sometimes I also think that the cause for this mania is a need for safety (anxiety), but no matter how much wealth one accumulates, will that help when a meteor strikes or a super volcano erupts? We would all be toast then (haha, pun was not intended, haha).

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        • The one thing that I think will eventually happen is there will be a catastrophe of major proportions … could be a nuclear ‘event’ or an EMP, but something will change the landscape forever. Imagine those wealthy people without electricity for months or years … their money would be of no more value than a used paper towel! The rest of us would be better equipped to survive than the wealthy and there would be nothing they could buy that would help them. Ha ha … I like your pun, intended or not!

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          • I think the people who are best equipped to survive another cataclysm are those, who live in and off nature right now. We others will perish.
            I have seen some efforts of rich people to design comfortable “survival islands” for the next flood, pathetic, as if they would be able to withstand the oncoming forces. But maybe that is why settling on other planets is so popular right now … 😉

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            • You are so right! Most of us do not have the skills to grow our own food, let alone survive a frigid winter without electricity. You’re right, in part, about the reason for space exploration, but also because we are destroying the Earth’s environment and at some point, it won’t be able to sustain human life, possibly by the end of this century if we don’t start taking climate change much more seriously! But the reality is that the only way humans will survive on any other planet is to live in controlled environment communities, and for me … no thanks. If I couldn’t walk outside, see the flowers and trees, it just wouldn’t be living, y’know?

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  11. The way the wealthy think: More! More! More! They can never be satisfied.
    The way a simple person thinks: I have enough. Happiness is more important than money — and much less stressful.

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