This was what a friend of mine said. We were talking about attitudes and values. About scarcity and waste. About how lucky our generation is, and how so many humans don’t seem to be aware of how lucky they are. It was a while back that we had this conversation, but with a the threat of the trade war, I thought about it again.
My generation is probably the last of what Byung Chol Han described many times, the attitude of self-optimization and productivity. That’s what so many of us unconsciously build our self-esteem on. But it seems like that is also the first generation that lived in an era of abundance of products plus stability as the iron curtain fell and there was no imminent threat to “our” way of life.
But I still had contact with the generation of scarcity, of wars. My grandparents on both sides told me many stories. And all of them got really mad if we would waste something, whatever it was. I remember my Opa sitting at the kitchen table, working his plastic yogurt cup for 20min straight, until it was cleaned better than by a dish washer. And then he would complain about the plastic and how it pollutes the planet, and how they had glass containers for everything.
I learned much from them, and as I defined scarcity through them, I never experienced it myself. It helped me to build everything I am now, because it did save me a ton of money in the long run, working and living as efficient as possible. A good friend of mine called my lifestyle frugal, but the truth is, I’m very happy with what I have, and always feel like I have more than I need.
It seems like the latest generation does not feel that way. It’s always more. More material, more money, more fame, more likes, more connections, more sex, more yoga, more meditation, more dopamine – more of everything but deepness, ironically. Everything has to be faster, compressed. And our economy demands that, we need more superficial consumerism of all kind to keep the wheel spinning.
Wars are evil. No doubt about that. The idea of the statement is not to say that we need a World War as the outcome would be devastating on all fronts (destruction, pollution, trauma…), but that something is so wrong with our current system that we can’t see another way out. A war takes away everything, makes everything that is not relevant to survival fade. After that traumatic experience, everything extra seems like an amazing, wonderful bonus, something to cherish so much that you spent 20 minutes cleaning out a 150g yogurt – 50 years after.
We do have enough wars, everywhere. But we’re so used to seeing the suffering in the news, that it’s become a hollow phrase. “Finish your dish, in Africa people are starving!” has become a memory to mock our parents, even though they were so right. But we can’t imagine hunger. We can’t imagine so many sufferings anymore, as our lives have become way too pleasant. Everyone suffers at their own level – that’s true as well, and in a war, everybody is forced to suffer in similar levels.
We’re too spoiled. Maybe a big recession is not the worst, it's probably better than a nuclear war. Forcing people to get in touch with their basic needs, and I mean the real basic needs - food of whatever kind, shelter of whatever kind, and social contacts of the real kind.
What do you think causes this inability to value what we have?
Is there another way to restore awareness of how lucky we are? And I mean the real awareness, not that new age bs of “I’m so much more aware than anyone!” Another topic…
If you’re born in the 90s or later – how do you feel about this? Do you think I’m wrong, and why?
Do we really need catastrophes to cherish what we have?
