We're dancing very close to the over-broad territory that I wanted to avoid so I want to focus in on the topic of consumption. I think the concept that consumption is somehow bad is downright offensive, and its one of the most purely fallacious ideas that has been bandied about over the last couple of decades. I guess it became such a sexy idea for young people when Fight Club became so popular. I confess that I was even seduced by the anti-consumerism frenzy when I was younger.

I can totally have a respectful debate about the virtues of capitalism if your reasons for disagreeing with it are related to poverty or healthcare. These are real problems that capitalism only has indirect and uncertain solutions for. But this idea that modern people have too many luxuries, buy too many things, and just generally live too comfortable lives, I dunno. When someone starts talking like that I wonder if I am on the same planet as them. I just wish I could drag anti-consumer people into a time machine to 500 or 150 or or even 50 years ago, so they could truly understand what a life of strife and struggle and want is like. People on welfare today have a higher standard of living than the kings of a few centuries ago, and I hope people a few centuries from now have every luxury that is unimaginable in the present day. This is kind of the primary goal of human beings.