By having less they have a better community. Sometimes we as Americans are so consumed with life (work, family, school, technology, etc.) that we lose sight of our what really matters by having all of these things. Only when we lose these things do we find a sense of peace and understanding… At least that was the case for me. I remember going through undergrad having a busy life and felt that I was fulfilling my life’s goal, which I was, but I was still missing something in life. The article talked about the Mennonite society, in which they live off of very few luxuries like farming technology (fertilizer). Their lives center around a higher purpose of their religion and not the ways of the world. It seems that the US tries to control nature and the world by figuring it out and creating technologies that helps us live comfortably. In doing so, adverse effects take place to the environment like pollution, recycling, poor diet and exercise, and a society based on one upping another person, which does what is right for one, but detrimental for another and society at large.
It’s interesting to hear how people say how America is the greatest country, but haven’t lived abroad, how America is the greatest country, but have problems with education, how America is the greatest country, but doesn’t provide health care as a fundamental right to all people. How America is the greatest country, but is behind the world in education and environmental concerns. How can America be the greatest country when others are ahead of us? How can America be the greatest country when many American’s rarely travel to another country? Often we see the good in ourselves and the flaws of others, we make others look worse to better ourselves, but it’s not the accurate or right way to approach how we compare ourselves. We can’t compare an innovative capitalistic society valuing the here and now to a society that lives for the afterlife my living modestly and establishing religion in every facet of their lives. Instead of comparing, we can learn how to create a society that lives with content instead of excess and wants. We can learn how to live off of less and find peace in life, rather than the insatiable appetite for more and more.
Yes, Michael. When I lived in West Africa (Ghana) I experienced people who always conveyed a sense of peace and happiness yet they had very little in material possessions. My experience in other countries shows me there are, in many cases, better ways to do things and to live than what Americans are used to.
ReplyDeleteWhat's that old saying? "Ignorance is bliss?"