Let us therefore act, in all our plans and conduct, just as we are accustomed to act whenever we approach a huckster who has certain wares for sale: let us see how much we must pay for that which we crave.
Very often the things that cost nothing cost us the most heavily; I can show you many objects the quest and acquisition of which have wrested freedom from our hands.
We should belong to ourselves, if only these things did not belong to us.
Very often the things that cost nothing cost us the most heavily; I can show you many objects the quest and acquisition of which have wrested freedom from our hands.
We should belong to ourselves, if only these things did not belong to us.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 42
We can make it look as refined and as civilized as we like, but a purely consumer society can ultimately be nothing more than a system ruled by the lust for profit. There is a vast difference between the artisan, who takes pride in the quality of his craft, and the salesman, who will try to gain as much as he can, while offering you as little as he has to.
One seeks to give of himself, the other wishes to receive for himself.
Whenever I question capitalism, people assume I must be a socialist, wishing to forcibly redistribute wealth. No, I am instead wary of any attitude where value is reduced to money, and so I have little patience for any kind of materialism, either from the right or from the left.
Once people exist for the sake of property, or for the sake of the state, and not the other way around, we have a problem.
Do I wish to change something about how we get things done? Let me start with myself, before I command the world what to do. It begins at home. However my neighbors may choose to live, I will define my values for myself, and I will act accordingly.
Everything has its price, in one form or another. In looking at the things that tickle my fancy, let me first ask two pertinent questions:
First, do I really need it? The answer is usually “no.” Even when shopping for groceries, most of what I justify in my cart is completely extraneous. In various experiments at self-discipline, I have found that I can be perfectly healthy, as well as perfectly content, with the simplest, and thereby usually the purest, of food and drink.
Second, given that I am quite free to pursue a preference, as long as it does not infringe upon my conscience, am I certain I am not trading principles for gratification? Careful now—slippery excuses come all too easily. If it is in any way hindering me from becoming prudent, courageous, temperate, and just, it is best to leave it be.
I keep a watchful eye on the intentions of the tradesman, though it should not sour me to the practice of any trade. I must only retain power over myself, treating him as I too would wish to be treated, and looking closely at what is really changing hands. The money is one thing, the human dignity is another.
You agree that the price should be fair? By what standards? In the current climate, I will remain the oddball who insists that decency is the currency that counts, not cash.
It may have cost me little or nothing out of my wallet, and it may have cost me no time or effort at all. That doesn’t mean it was free. One man trades the market while sipping his martinis; another does an honest day of work and can’t afford to pay the rent. Be mindful about who you think is better or worse.
Far too often, the price is far too high. I can’t stop you if you believe that your bank account matters more than your conscience; I will respectfully choose a different path.
When I was younger, used car salesmen were the butt of many jokes, yet that is quite unfair, since lawyers, doctors, bankers, and yes, even teachers are tempted to worship Mammon.
Just the other week, a fellow tried to get away with charging us twice for mowing our lawn. Did he think his trickery made him free? No, it made him a slave to his greed.
The last sentence in this passage has now been banging around in my head for some time: how quickly I lose myself by clinging to fortune and fame.
We can make it look as refined and as civilized as we like, but a purely consumer society can ultimately be nothing more than a system ruled by the lust for profit. There is a vast difference between the artisan, who takes pride in the quality of his craft, and the salesman, who will try to gain as much as he can, while offering you as little as he has to.
One seeks to give of himself, the other wishes to receive for himself.
Whenever I question capitalism, people assume I must be a socialist, wishing to forcibly redistribute wealth. No, I am instead wary of any attitude where value is reduced to money, and so I have little patience for any kind of materialism, either from the right or from the left.
Once people exist for the sake of property, or for the sake of the state, and not the other way around, we have a problem.
Do I wish to change something about how we get things done? Let me start with myself, before I command the world what to do. It begins at home. However my neighbors may choose to live, I will define my values for myself, and I will act accordingly.
Everything has its price, in one form or another. In looking at the things that tickle my fancy, let me first ask two pertinent questions:
First, do I really need it? The answer is usually “no.” Even when shopping for groceries, most of what I justify in my cart is completely extraneous. In various experiments at self-discipline, I have found that I can be perfectly healthy, as well as perfectly content, with the simplest, and thereby usually the purest, of food and drink.
Second, given that I am quite free to pursue a preference, as long as it does not infringe upon my conscience, am I certain I am not trading principles for gratification? Careful now—slippery excuses come all too easily. If it is in any way hindering me from becoming prudent, courageous, temperate, and just, it is best to leave it be.
I keep a watchful eye on the intentions of the tradesman, though it should not sour me to the practice of any trade. I must only retain power over myself, treating him as I too would wish to be treated, and looking closely at what is really changing hands. The money is one thing, the human dignity is another.
You agree that the price should be fair? By what standards? In the current climate, I will remain the oddball who insists that decency is the currency that counts, not cash.
It may have cost me little or nothing out of my wallet, and it may have cost me no time or effort at all. That doesn’t mean it was free. One man trades the market while sipping his martinis; another does an honest day of work and can’t afford to pay the rent. Be mindful about who you think is better or worse.
Far too often, the price is far too high. I can’t stop you if you believe that your bank account matters more than your conscience; I will respectfully choose a different path.
When I was younger, used car salesmen were the butt of many jokes, yet that is quite unfair, since lawyers, doctors, bankers, and yes, even teachers are tempted to worship Mammon.
Just the other week, a fellow tried to get away with charging us twice for mowing our lawn. Did he think his trickery made him free? No, it made him a slave to his greed.
The last sentence in this passage has now been banging around in my head for some time: how quickly I lose myself by clinging to fortune and fame.
—Reflection written in 1/2013
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