It turns out that not participating in the the economy is really hard. Not buying CDs and other consumer goods isn’t so hard. I’ve got a Vespa now. I can while away my time by driving aimlessly. It’s the restaurants and bars that have been hard. While I have been able to keep my eating out to a minimum it’s still happened. On my way to or from work or anywhere else and there is barely enough time to drive there let alone stop and prepare food and I’m famished…. *sigh*
Regardless this has been a good exercise. Every time I’ve bought something that pesky little voice in the back of my head has said “Hey! Aren’t you not buying stuff this month?” Then I quickly run through the rationalizations and continue with the transaction. Being able to observe the low level cognitive dissonance1 alone is worth the mild discomfort.
Not surprisingly it gets me thinking. Sure I can rationalize spending my own money despite my little experiment but how is it that culturally we rationalize starving children? I’m not talking about foreign countries, I’m talking abject poverty in the good ol’ U.S. of A. It’s a pointless question. We don’t rationalize starving children we ignore them. For those of us who can’t we donate time, money, prayers, or whatever we feel is appropriate. In the worse case scenario we just feel bad and then continue doing nothing.
I spent a long time last night talking with a friend of mine who had done work with the U.N. We went back and forth on the how’s and why’s of trying to make the world a better place. Does it matter if you lie to people to get them to do the “right” thing? Should the FCC set an ethical standard for advertising? Is marketing inherently deceptive? As the conversation turned to the big issues it became clear to me that even people who breath rarefied air don’t have the answers. That part of me that gets me out of the office and into the meditation hall knows that. I just wish it was easier to integrate that sort of understanding in to daily living.
It is useful for me to remember that even really, really, smart people are just people. I think there is a myth amongst the general populace that “Oh, those people at <insert Ivy league school /> will find answer to <insert problem here />.” Or more frightening, “What problem?” All of this and still I find myself believing that people really are doing the best they know how to. It leaves me wondering, is humanity naturally inclined to destroying itself?
Now, despite my rant, I’m now going to go back to work, forget that their are serious problems that could use my attention, and get another cup of tea. Maybe I’ll have the courage of my convictions tomorrow.
1. There are three steps for resolving dissonance if one doesn’t work we move on to the next. The steps are to eliminate the cause, rationalize the behavior, or add the cause into our current belief structure and modify our behavior accordingly. The wikipedia entry for cognitive dissonance is alright. This woman although boring was also rather informative
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