Up@dawn 2.0

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Discovering the pleasures of the necessary

(H2)
"...[H]e is rich who lacks for nothing...the cynic lacked for nothing because he had discovered the pleasures of the necessary."
I believe we could all agree with the fact that in today's society, we're all about "stuff". We buy stuff to put stuff on our stuff shelves, stuff ourselves full of food; we live in a very "stuff" heavy society. It seems with an increase of our social stuff level that our regard for how important or privileged we are to simply live in a "stuff society" decreases. People are unhappy, even with all this amazing stuff. From knick knacks to iPhone's to larger houses and more expensive cars, we as a society have exponentially grown are stuff level to new heights. Now, does this particularly mean we should suddenly give away our things and live on the streets as Cynic's (or dogs)? I suppose nothing is stopping someone from simply live on the street, living as a beggar, and yelling random things on the street corner (though, we already have a population "Cynic's" here, though I don't think they call themselves philosophers). However, my modern day take is to:
One: appreciate our stuff more, and
Two: live with less stuff; only the necessities.
Or perhaps a combination of both. The common phrase "money doesn't buy happiness" is relevant here. With all our stuff, is our society collectively more happier? I can't be a hypocrite here; I too love my iPhone, my comfortable bed, wifi, my coffee maker. However, would I be happier with out these things? I think the answer varies. I take away from this chapter in the Philosophy of Walking that we should appreciate the things we have, and try, at least, to look at the things we own and to ask "do I really need this?"

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