Hi Nexians!

Sorry in advance for the length of this post, like the title says, this is a rant.

I just wanted to sound off about something that I've been thinking about a lot lately, that is materialism.

By materialism I mean holding money and material possessions as of utmost importance and basing one's value system on the acquisition of money at the expense of anything and everything else. Also, the view that material reality is the only reality and that any notion of spirituality is a fantasy.

I feel that this worldview is a terrible one to have, and I think that it is one of the major causes of society's ills today. Not the only cause, of course, but one of many.

I see money, and material possessions as nothing moar than an illusion. Yes, money is useful, assets are useful, but to me, these things have no real value. To me, valuing pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on them or numbers on a bank account or any of the other material possessions that people cherish and slave for seems nonsensical, insane. Honouring these things above everything thing else, including other people and this planet which gives us life, to me, is not only shortsighted, but dangerous.

These things have no lasting value, they are temporary. I feel that striving to improve people's lives, to help the planet and all the other living organisms that share this wonderful home with us is a much moar enriching, fulfilling and satisfying lifestyle to live. One that leads to real happiness and the possibility of a legacy long outliving the life of the individual.

I wanna tie in what I said earlier about the belief that the material reality is the only reality. This is a belief, an ideology, and one that I feel is terribly damaging to individuals and society as a whole. I feel that this belief is inextricably connected to a materialistic, selfish, money-hungry lifestyle. If one believes that matter is all there is, that there's no such thing as spirit or God, that life has no meaning or purpose, that death is the end of everything, then the only option is to amass as much money and material goods as possible, no matter the cost.

Rant over!

I resonate well with much of what you express here in this post. Health over accumulative wealth, as I always say. Striking a balance of what you need/want will teeter-totter every now and again, as long as you sustain commitment to what you truly feel and know is right for your life. And responsibly so.

My father was a bonds broker who wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He used to go on business trips to Manhattan often when i was young and take my mother and myself along at least once a year. Once, when i was 13, we went to the NYSE to take a look, and standing on a balcony overlooking the selling floor at the chaotic frenzy going on, i turned to him and told him how it will never make sense to me how the two things that rule this world, money and religion, don't really exist.

I don't think that believing in the fundamental basis of a material reality is necessarily damaging to an individual. It depends on how you put your views into practice. One can believe in a matter based reality and still understand that there is much more to reality than what is percieved.
As far as a damaging worldview goes i would imagine that there are plenty of material believing scientists out there that are studying the human races' effect on the environment.

I also do not believe that the desire to have a new tv every year has to go hand in hand with a matter based reality worldview. Not only that but i also believe that it is possible to be a spiritual person while at the same time being a materialist.
But i guess that that depends on ones own view of what spirituality is

I don't quite agree and here's why...

Everyone I've seen that has posted a rant on materialism has always had everything necessary and all the people that say "it's not all about the money" are the ones that have never been in a situation to not have enough for a quality lifestyle.

Let's face it, all we have in this modern society, and all anyone would want to is a result of someone else putting time, energy and effort in the product. In order to source this stuff, you also have to make a contribution to the society and it all goes like that in the circle.

There's nothing wrong with making money, there's also nothing wrong in wanting to make money since there is nothing spiritual about being poor.

Believe in whatever you want to believe maybe there is a god, maybe not, maybe there is life after death or maybe not in the meantime, why bother? Debating about that stuff isn't going to put food on your table... in most cases.

As long as you are a good person, and care about yourself and others that's virtually all that matters. Your beliefs, your habits, and overall lifestyle is of less importance if you actually don't have to rely on anyone and got your act together.

We agree easily that full-on materialism is plain bad, for good reasons.

Yet the rich bastards are welcomed for a particular thing: as a shooting gallery for the semi materialists who are so glad to have their hands washed in innocence by trowing mud on the more badass versions of their selves. Some hypocrisy to serve the feel good yourself?
See him there? He's even worse than me, shame on him


Null24: that is a very keen observation for a 13 year boy! Indeed money and religion are illusions, but do represent imho things that are quite naturally like the establishing of the picking order/alpha figure and the gaining of assets like collecting nuts and berries. I think it's very old and deep imprints that just got a make over as religion and money. I think the mechanics behind it are very natural and purposed for survival, yet in systems of overpopulation the same mechanics might act self destroying. Nature loves equilibrium's where human ethics have serious problems with. I think killing each other (be it indirectly) for obtaining more assets is not in particular an invention of (developed) humans but rather written in the genes somehow. I really don't say this to defend it, just that greed or power games does not come out of thin air. Nature docu's are full of it, why do humans think it's always about them?



PS: strict anti materialists: walk your talk, perhaps?