Friday, December 4, 2009

Mo Money, Mo Problems

"Possessions are a way of turning money into problems." - Brian Eno

Yet another quality quote from Bono's 14 November New York Times column. In our "if some is good, more is better" society, Eno's quote succinctly summarizes the overall problem.

It's difficult to get out of the spending cycle. We've created a society where our way of life - our economy - depends on Americans spending and accumulating.

We buy stuff to replace perfectly good stuff, only to throw perfectly good stuff away (which causes environmental problems), and buy more stuff. And that stuff is bought on credit, which many Americans can't afford to pay off. It's a vicious cycle.

It's hard to break the cycle because we all want. We want the best stuff for ourselves and the best stuff for our kids.

Maybe if we wanted a little less and appreciated a little more, life would be easier.

How much stuff do you need? Does that stuff really make you happy? Is that stuff really what is important?

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