Monday, September 28, 2009

Spirtualism in Materialism

I regularly take the Zogby Interactive poll and just got this question:
I believe God is angry and will soon begin punishing sinners in ever greater numbers.
 Wow.  I'm a tad frightened to think that Zogby thinks this question warrants asking.

Another question I've seen a few times asks about whether I think "the American Dream" involves material success or spirtual success, as well as questions asking me which I prefer.  But while I'm not into material success, I'm not into any sort of spirtualism either.  So I have no clue as to how I'm supposed to answer these questions.  If you saw the way I dress and the old car I drive, you'd know that materialism isn't my bag.  I live for comfort, not to score points with my neighbors; and I definitely could earn a lot more money if I wanted to. 

I'm about happiness and enjoyment.  And oftentimes that involves material stuff.  I like the internet and my computer.  I LOVE my Wii.  I'd be nothing without my music and I hate going without my iPod.  Material goods help give me the happiness I seek.  I wouldn't be the person I am today without my material possessions and if I were to be transported into a time long in the past, I'd be one unhappy dude. My stuff brings me happiness, yet I have no plan to accumulate much more of it (beyond the Wii Motion Plus, an essential I'll probably get next month).

But spirtualism, that's a bunch of hoohaw to me.  If it makes other people's lives better, than I'm happy for them.  But it sure ain't for me.  I don't believe in religion, don't understand what a soul is, don't commune with nature, and don't understand why anyone else does.  I'm genuinely happy.  Isn't that enough?

Overall, I'm offended at the paradigm that Zogby is offering me.  If I choose material goods, then I'm a soulless suit who doesn't understand the futility of seeking happiness in material goods.  So if I want to consider myself "deep," I need to say that I'm a spirtual fruitcake who doesn't need material goods.  But that would be a lie.  I'm a happy dude made happier by my stuff, and for as unhappy as many materialists are when they seek happiness at the bottom of a credit card, I've seen just as many unhappy spirtualists who have to pretend to eschew materialism while latching on to the materialist world they pretend to reject. 

But the right answer is to ignore what everyone else thinks, enjoy the stuff that makes you happy and not give a damn what John Zogby or anyone else thinks.  Trust me, no one was ever made happier by rejecting their Wii.  And if there's some higher power that has a problem with my life, then he can suck my tough titties, cause I'm doing the best in the situation I was given.  And honestly, I'm quite confident that if there is some higher being that judges us based upon how we live our lives, any truly intelligent one would have high respect for how I'm living mine.  Happiness has got to be a top goal for everyone.

1 comment:

Mike Goldman said...

Well, yeah, the higher being that will judge you is yourself...so if you live according to the values you profess you have nothing to worry about. The worst thing is to be a hypocrite.