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Long Term Happiness Can’t Be Bought
Why we need to stop being sold false happiness with unbridled consumerism
All coins have two sides.
If we are doing one thing — we are not doing something else.
If we are needlessly buying something — what are we not investing in?
If we are being compelled to acquire a thing, what are we then depriving ourselves of?
I was recently in a store to pick up a few necessities and for some reason, felt out of place. As I stood in line to check out I surveyed the area and people and noticed something odd. No one was smiling. Enslaved by consumerism, they all had a dead look about them while holding the items they were going to buy.
Some of the patrons were going to be buying needed items but others had accessories; things that were just going to give their lives a little added flare.
Still — nothing, no smile, no emotion to be found.
I’ve quoted this in another article, but it seems to be fitting once again:
“After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.”
-Spock “Amok Time”
Those poor souls stood in line waiting to buy something that they probably didn’t…