Bravo to
Lost Cause for asking some really fundamental and difficult questions about why things are the way they are and why we do the things we do.
Another “Bravo” to
Duffman and
hvatum for answering these difficult questions quite well. It’s nice to see learned people take time to teach someone they don’t even know about a difficult subject. A corresponding big “Booh!” to our school system for not addressing these economic principles a step at a time beginning in early grade school.
Just so you know,
Lost Cause, many feel it’s impossible to be truly enlightened without going through a period in your life when you question
everything around you. You seem to be at that point now. Don’t worry, if you don’t do anything crazy (self destructive) you’ll get through it and be a much better person as a result. As Obi-Wan said to Luke Skywalker: “You’ve just taken your first step into a much larger world.”
I loved the bit about improving life through the consumption of resources. Of course, it really isn’t that way (as already pointed out) but it gave me a chuckle and reminded me of the saying about higher education: The longer you stay in school, the more you know about less and less … until eventually you know everything about nothing.
That’s the great thing about freedom.
Lost Cause, we can
choose whether we want to be the hot shot billionaire on wall street or instead leave a very simple life like the Amish … or one of about a million degrees in between.
To add one bitty factoid to the end of the discussion. People’s life expectancy keeps going up as we pursue wealth and technology ... even if it doesn’t seem that way sometimes. The people with the most disposable income have the longest lives. If having a long life means a great deal to you (as it does most people) then that’s something to consider.
However, the fact that we in this age are as prosperous as we are also means that we have the luxury of sitting around and thinking of the meaning of life. That’s another form of wealth that may mean something to you.
Don’t worry about trying to figure it all out in one day, one week or one year. Some people go their whole lives and they don’t get nearly where you are right now.
