I want more…
The goal of the Daily Eclectic is to write a daily post, but alas I have already failed at my task. Perhaps setting a goal of daily blogging is too much for me, but is it not better to want more rather than less?
When I think of more, I think of all the people who say they want more money. Almost everyone wants more money, no matter how well off one is. To me the issue of money is more about management than anything. I am relatively broke, and yes I would want more money. But, what good would it do me? I would just spend it on frivolous things anyways. I need new clothes, no I really do, but I would never spend extra money on a necessity. For me, and many others, extra money is generally wasted and it allows us to still consider ourselves broke because we cannot buy clothes, or get the washing machine fixed. Our priorities are off as a society. I am guilty of this as well. If indeed we have more money, it inevitably leads to wanting more material goods. Everyone at some point in their lives have pulled out the broke card, yet they still have money to drink, smoke, buy cds, movies, or whatever your like happens to be. I have heard people say they cannot afford groceries, yet that $8.50 pack of cigarettes you smoke every day could buy a whole lot of food. I think our society believes in indulgence, rather than frugality. I am very hedonistic, and I do not look at it as a bad thing. It is important to realize that by giving into our indulgences, we often must sacrifice elsewhere. I like to eat out, and have my weekly beers with friends. I know that by doing those things, I cannot eat the quality of food I would like at home, or that I cannot afford to rent movies as much as I would like. I accept that to stay in balance, I must give up something else along the way. That is always the problem with more.
With more, comes even more, and so on and so forth. What we have is never enough. You could have a fabulous meal, but maybe you want more (how many second helpings can one person have?). More fries please, let’s upgrade our value meal. Single cheeseburger? Not when you can have a double. Why get one scoop of ice cream when you can have three. It seems as if we are conditioned to want more, whether we need it or not. Restaurants that give good size portions are always praised, when those that supply little are not. Grocery stores are inundated with products that have 25% more in them. Wholesale stores provide more, more more.
What about television? There are more shows being produced then anytime in history, and yet people often feel there is nothing on. How is that possible? They want more. Even with everything there is to watch, in every genre impossible, the joy of On Demand, and DVRs, they still want more!
What if we society wanted more education? What then? Why do we not crave something as important as education, the way we crave our super-sized value meals? Imagine if everyone could not get enough of books or lectures. You never hear any college person ask for longer class times or more schoolwork. We seem to want more when it comes to instant gratification, but not anything that is sustainable over time. I do not feel we can all be academicians, but how refreshing would it be to meet people that do not want more food, more money, more television, but instead want more to learn about? I often feel those that do not desire to be educated (disclaimer: by educated I do not necessarily mean formal education, I mean people who absorb knowledge and understand the power of it), are those that perhaps find knowledge wasteful. What purpose is knowledge if we have such a short time on this earth? Really, is there a good argument for it? Probably not, yet my priority is knowledge because that is what is needed to change the world and make a difference. We are wasteful, when so many underdeveloped countries would love to learn all that we just simply disregard.
Perhaps more is not always better, perhaps moderation is. More does drive us though, for better jobs, better lives, and better material goods. But maybe it is better to be satisfied, have less, and share MORE with others who need your help. I have less than I have ever had in my life, but I have so much more than I have ever had in my life just the same.
