This latest blog post was inspired by a somewhat frustrating/disturbing/annoying interaction I recently had with a coworker. I don't want to go into too much detail but basically I made a comment that Americans need to learn to live within their means, to not be so wasteful and that it's pretty disgusting and disturbing that our country has people who eat enough in one day to feed a large family, yet in too many areas of the world, people go without. This comment was translated into me apparently saying that Americans should 'go without' because others in the world don't have enough. **rolling eyes** Anyways, on to the more important stuff, enough time has already been wasted on this...
Oh wait, here's a disclaimer of sorts. I don't believe for a second, that because I've spent time overseas in the developing world, that I'm somehow more enlightened or special than the rest of the world. I do believe, however, that my experiences have given me a somewhat unique perspective and due to this, I feel obligated to make occasional commentary on matters that I feel strongly about. :)
If someone were to ask me what I got the most out of my experiences in the developing world, I'd probably say, very broadly, that I learned a lot about myself, which is very true. Going into more detail, I'd say that one of the most important things I learned is how to live with less. As someone who has put themselves in astronomical debt in order to have nice 'stuff', I understand what it's like to live outside your means. For a number of years I was motivated by very little other than the desire to be wealthy and have lots of nice things, especially cars. Priorities changed, I made some smart moves, put myself in a good position, learned my lessons and headed overseas. Living overseas certainly had it's challenges, as any returned Peace Corps volunteer (or current :-P ) will tell you but you adjust, you make due, you adapt. In no time at all, you learn to live comfortably without the things you are used to. Care packages certainly help quite a bit but I know of people who received very few or none and managed to survive. Not owning a car, not having insurance or car payments, not being barraged with various types of media telling me what I needed or what I should have, certainly made living frugally a lot easier. Sure there were times where I wished I had access to a massive grocery store with eight hundred different types of potato chips but it wasn't so bad. Having a wonderful site mate who loved to try new recipes on my taste buds certainly helped too, but overall I definitely learned that there are a lot of things available in this world that I do not need to survive. In many ways, it's been one of the most important and refreshing lessons I've learned in my 28 years.
Being back in the U.S.A. for almost three months has been interesting and challenging in a lot of ways. I will be the first one to admit that the temptation to buy all sorts of stuff that I don't need is ever present. Seeing all the new cars that have come out over the past three years, seeing the prices on cars that I wanted a few years ago come down, and just seeing fast/nice/fun cars on the road again has me drooling, daydreaming and constantly browsing autotrader. That's just the beginning of it. Fast food, snacks, aisles and aisles of every food imaginable in the grocery stores, sales on all sorts of things from electronics to clothes, all of these things offer temptation, they urge me to buy, to consume, consume, consume. It's difficult at times but I think for the most part I've done pretty well. I've avoided eating fast food regularly, avoided going on any unnecessarily large shopping sprees and most importantly, I've avoided putting myself into any serious debt. The freedom that I had overseas left me with a fear of contracts so it took a lot for me to get a cell phone (pay as you go at first, then managed to get a no contract plan through a good, generous friend who works for a cellular provider) and it was nerve racking (or wracking, depending on who you believe) to take out a relatively small loan to get a vehicle, then sign up for insurance. I'm doing ok though, doing my best to live within my means, plan for the future and to 'get by'.
Ok, trying to stay focused on the topic at hand and not go off on too many tangents. One of the most difficult things to swallow, coming back to the U.S., is how even in times when (as the media so eloquently puts it) the U.S. is in an economic crisis, the culture of consumerism seems to have lost very little steam. Black Friday was a perfect example of this and I'm glad, especially after reading posts on Facebook from those who work retail, that I didn't go near any stores or shopping centers that day. Now, I'm not expert on finance and economics but it seems as though a huge part of why our economy has been so poor the past few years is due to excessive greed and an inability to live within our means, an inability to grasp the idea that a shit load of debt is not a good thing. Of course the incredibly irresponsible media only exacerbates (GRE word) the situation on a regular basis so should the majority of Americans be expected to ignore the messages they are being blasted with regularly and say 'Hey, wait a minute. I don't actually need some of this stuff. I don't actually need to own some of this useless crap to be happy."?
I don't believe that I am innocent of engaging in mindless consumerism, even after my 'period of enlightenment' overseas ;) :P but I am doing my best to live within my means, live responsibly and I'd like to continue to be the sort of person who sets a good example for friends, family, coworkers, and anyone I come across. It's difficult, especially in a place where the idea of 'consume, consume, consume!!!' is encouraged and wasting is not discouraged nearly as much as it should be, but as privileged human beings who share this world with billions of others, we should do better. We should make a concentrated effort to say/show that it's not ok for us to, just because we can, mindlessly consume everything in our paths, throw away what we don't want, and ignore the fact that there are so many, both in our own communities and around the world, who go without. Call me a socialist or communist or whatever you want but I'm a firm believer in, as my blog title says, 'Being Excellent to Each Other'. If you have a lot of something or too much of something that you don't need, why not give it to someone who doesn't have enough?
Even as I'm writing this, I'm looking around my room and realizing that I have way too many clothes, things that I don't even wear, that I could probably donate to Goodwill. I have even thought about swinging by Goodwill or the Salvation Army at some point to piece together a few outfits instead of buying new, expensive stuff from retailers, only stuff that I'd need of course. ;)
It's almost 2 in the morning and I feel like I'm losing track of the points I wanted to make, the order (if I really had any to begin with) that I wanted to go in so I'll stop for now. I'd like to write more about this in the future, as well as some other topics I feel have been pushed to the front of my mind, now that I'm living in the U.S. again but I'll see if I can make some notes or an outline next time so I can stay focused and on point.
Anyways, I guess the point that I was trying to make with my incessant rambling and ranting is that we need to learn to live within our means, consume responsibly (whatever that means) and help one another in times of need, to keep those less fortunate in mind. It's the holiday season, the peak season of shopping madness and crazy 'you'll never see a bargain like this again!' sales. Instead of buying a 500 inch plasma super ultra high definition television, maybe go with the 400 inch and donate a little money to charity, to a local nonprofit of some sort. OR, you could buy the 400 inch tv AND donate an hour or two at an organization that needs volunteers, maybe a shelter or soup kitchen. I'll tell you what, I'm gonna make an effort to do some volunteer work this holiday season and you should too. :)
Ok, I've gone on too long. More to come soon, thanks much for reading.
