Green Team Tidbits
Possessing Happiness
~ Jim Anderson, November 09
“Things are in the saddle and ride mankind.”
- Emerson
Anyone who has suffered an automotive breakdown on the way to an important engagement knows how suddenly and completely our cars can take over our lives – getting out of a busy road, arranging towing, rescheduling the missed engagement (if possible), paying for repairs – our cars ride us at these times.
Karl Marx said, “Labour is, first of all, a process between man and nature, a process by which man, through his own actions, mediates, regulates and controls the metabolism between himself and nature.” The “metabolism” in our lives, through which and by which we obtain and maintain our possessions can become diseased, just as the metabolism in our bodies can.
If we accept the influence of corporate propaganda and come to believe that our happiness depends upon the quantity and quality of our possessions we can become just as sick as if we had a serious disease. No one is happy when they are sick.
Helen Caldicott said, “Living in affluence does not necessarily make us happier than we would be if we lived close to the land, grew our own food, rode bicycles, and read by candlelight. After all, Dickens, Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Brahms wrote by candlelight.”
Thinking deeply about what truly brings happiness reveals the truth of the saying, “The best things in life aren’t things.” The question to be asked, perhaps, is: are convenience and happiness the same? More broadly: how much stuff do we need to be happy? How much is enough? Do we own our possessions or do they own us?
These are the kinds of questions asked by many who are exploring Voluntary Simplicity. Evergreen Fellowship is now sponsoring two Voluntary Simplicity circles where you can look into these issues.