[andrisLV]

Someone recently posted the following comments onto a Kunstler comments page: ..........

....."What else is there to do? Where else is there to go?
Shop, eat. Eat, shop.
Go to a movie. Drive around.
Eat. Fuck. Sleep.

Sit in front of a television or a computer. Talk on a cellphone. Live from paycheck to paycheck.
Listen to reports of "the war".
Read another magazine. Go back
to work on Monday. The comfort of unanimous stupidity "


Now, I am really not trying to be provocative or stupid, but could someone please tell me what would be a 'better' lifestyle rather than talking, reading and working?.....I know this sounds like an amazingly stupid question........but don't we all need to go back to work on monday?....we also watch the news to see the mess we are in and try to eke out a living?
How many a lucky enough to not live ' from paycheck to paycheck'?
I know this sounds like a question about "what is life all about".......but I dont get it?...maybe join the 'cafe latte set' and drink cappucinos, or go for walks in the forest?

What do you suppose the writer has in mind for HIS great lifestyle?
Thanks........Andy

[kevincarter]

could someone please tell me what would be a 'better' lifestyle rather than talking, reading and working?

Well, not having to work would be a good start.

I know the following may sound like a stupid answer as well, but life is about life.

And from my side, unanimous stupidity gives me no confort what so ever.

[Colorado-Valley]

I've spent much of my life on a small farm, where battling with nature and taking care of land and animals is really high drama much of the time.

It's also very beautiful if you can to see the wonders of the universe that immanate through nature.

This kind of existence seems very close to what it means to be human and have a "meaning" to your life.

I think the writer was talking about the existential banality of consumer culture, which can dull your senses and make you feel like a pawn in some sort of huge and uncaring machine.

Certainly not a new idea, of course ...

[gego]

We each are dealt a certain hand by the time frame for our lives. It cannot be any other way because you can only be born when you were born and not years earlier or later. Whatever is going on in the world in your time is what you are stuck with.

I personally think most of you are lucky to be alive now and to have seen what will probably be the only peak in technological civilization, along with all the related benefits like long life span, lots of toys and excitement, mostly peace, and relatively easy work. Of course it has been better for those of us closer to the end than the beginning of our lives.

Other than that which you cannot control, your life is what you make it. If you are miserable and think that everything is wrong in the world, taking little joy from life, it is because you chose to see life, and live life that way. If you are happy in spite of the little bumps in the road, then that is the way you choose to live.

It is true that we are approaching a very bad time during the decline in energy availibality. Each of us is choosing, either by default, or by active planning, the road to be on during the future. Knowing what is likely to happen and making the right choices in advance can certainly alleviate many problems, and prevent suffering and death. Even as things get less pleasant in the world in general, it is within one's power to have a mindset that makes life a joyous experience. I won't say it is all in you head, but your attitude is, and a good plan, well executed can help for reality to match your good attitude.

All despair will do is drain the energy that you could otherwise use to your benefit.

[mididoctors]

life is a bunch of stuff that happens

Boris
London

[Neuromancer]

I think it's all about choices.
Comparing the life in the city and the one in the country I still choose the city life, FOR NOW. It's easy, it's affordable, confortable. And most important you have quick access to medical care. Try experiencing an alergenic atack in the countryside with no doctors or medication available on a 100 mile range. Quick death.

Of course we are parts of the Machine, but this is the time stamp for most of us. When changes come we'll have to adapt or die.
It would be foolish (at least for me) to go and work the land (which I do own in a small village, along with an old house) instead of working for a big IT company (what I do now). The differences are masive. Clothing, heating, food (I try to eat 95% fresh vegetals), medication, medical care, culture ... there is a very big difference.

It's a "dull" existence. It seems so. But those who live on the Path with Heart will experience the joy and the fullfilment of life ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.

My2c. Live at max. But be aware and prepare.
And of course, when TSHTF I will move to the small vilage and start working the land . Until then, the keyboard is my axe.

[andrisLV]

Great responses people! Thanks!
I guessed that those were the type of responses I was going to get!
I really appreciate the well thought out and ample replies that you people put into this.....meaningful, considered thoughts and feelings..not just some knee-jerk smart-arse one-liners! (and not acting like an arse-hole about it)
Perhaps this should be a part-time philosophers forum:-)

Thanks again for your time!

[o2ny]

I also saw that post on Kunstler's forum, but you need to put it in context to get the full gist of the post:

Yesterday (Saturday) we were returning to Austin after a morning San Antonio visiting my wife's folks. Nearing San Marcos, we saw sign after sign advertising a "factory outlet mall" with over 100 stores. Never been to one of before, so we deicided to take a look. It was utterly surreal. Acres of parking lots filled with SUVs packed with obese families in shorts, tennis shoes, & basball caps. Most of the people (male & female) looked like "guys"--the kind you'd normally find slumped on a couch watching "the game", a beer in one hand & a bag of chips between their meaty thighs.

We walked past shop after shop after shop. And hundreds of people. Probably from the many suburbs that surround Austin & San Antonio. There were license plates from Mexico, too. And as we moved with crowds, we heard Spanish, various Indian & Chinese dialects. People carrying huge bags like it was Christmas. I asked a salesperson about the crowds, & she said it's like this EVERY Saturday & Sunday, all year. An eternal Christmas "rush". Teenagers flashing credit cards. Children screaming for this or that. Dazed elderly persons. A kind of mania in the air, & subtle panic/agression -- especially in the long lines to get in & out of the parking lots.

Where does all this "stuff" come from? Who makes it? Where do we put it all after we buy it?

What else is there to do? Where else is there to go?
Shop, eat. Eat, shop.
Go to a movie. Drive around.
Eat. Fuck. Sleep.

Sit in front of a television or a computer. Talk on a cellphone. Live from paycheck to paycheck.
Listen to reports of "the war".
Read another magazine. Go back
to work on Monday. The comfort of unanimous stupidity.

He's talking about the 'trapped in a box' cycle of big-growth American consumerism that seems so devoid of meaning upon closer (or any) inspection.

[KrellEnergySource]

I think the writer was talking about the existential banality of consumer culture, which can dull your senses and make you feel like a pawn in some sort of huge and uncaring machine.

Certainly not a new idea, of course ...

Great phrase. The feeling was summed up almost perfectly in the opening scenes of Tom Hanks's "Joe vs. the Volcano". An admin job at a company that makes rectal probes. Eight hours a day under failing flourescent lights. To put food on the table so you can live to report back the next day.

On the other hand, I do agree that some people could make the best of even that environment and enjoy life. It would be tough for me....