“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed” – Mahatama Ghandi
Read that piece of wisdom by Ghandi again and let it sink into the confines of your cortex. Really think about it. Now look around you. If you are sitting in the comfort of your abode glance around the room. 180 degree head spin that neck. If you’re outside in the park, focus your eye balls on people walking by. Notice the things they wear and carry with them. If you’re chucking a dump in a public toilet………..ok you get the drift. Just look around the damn place and do some observing.
What do you see? If you’re the house dweller, do you see that decoration? Do you see that lovely silver framed picture on the wall? Do you see that jewellery or bling (whatever kids are calling it these days) on your dresser? If you’re in the park, do you see what people are wearing? Do you see the mp3 players, the iPods, the laptops, the suits, the Nike Frees, the time pieces, the fashion? If you’re on the toilet………no need to look around and especially not down. You know what’s there. You created it you wonderful artist you.
You see all that stuff? You don’t need it. I mean, you don’t REALLY need it. In fact, it probably causes you more trouble than what you paid for it.
Let’s go back to Ghandi, that wise and sexy man. The world has enough for everyone’s need. So what are everyone’s needs? I would say we strip down to the bare minimum basics that would allow us to survive. So what does that leave us with? If you are thinking about your car, your jewellery or your iPhone, you my friend have a long way to go. In fact, get over here so I can give you a paddling, with this paddle, that I don’t even need.
Sex and wisdom personified. What a man!
I myself would say the three things that we, as humans, NEED to survive are food (including water), shelter, and clothing. That’s it. That is all we need to survive.
Let’s go over these things in case they are not convincing enough.
1) Food (and water): Really? I need to explain this one? Oh, and pro tip for anyone who is has the choice between choosing food or water to survive a drought, or a deserted island, choose the water. You’ll live longer.
2) Shelter: This one too is obvious however may need further clarification. We need shelter to protect ourselves from predators, mother nature and the elements, consumerism, One Direction (jokes, but seriously I dig one of their songs at the moment. But if you tell anyone, I will have to maim you) etc. Without this protection, we perish.
3) Clothing: Clothing is necessary, also for protection from the elements, and keeping warm when need be. And when I talk clothing, I’m not talking about your designer label handbag and other over the top crap (YEAH I SAID IT) that serves no other purpose than to hold other crap you don’t need.
As far as I’m concerned if you have anything that does not fall into these three categories, you do not need them to survive. Anything else is just pure luxury, that probably only serves the purpose of entertaining you as you waddle through the week, thinking about how you will be spending your most precious commodity (which is time, not money. If you thought money, get over here. My paddle is getting cold) on more stuff you don’t need.
Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just need these three things. Sure those three things still apply, but depending on where you live I would say there are certain things that you probably need to survive in your environment. Off the top of my head I would say perhaps a phone, purely for communication purposes. Not a bloody smartphone that has the internet, and games, and applications that tell you what your star sign is, or when it’s time for you to go to the bathroom, or if that guy/girl likes you, or your estimated date that you will die on and all that other bullshit. Just a phone that allows you to talk with another person. That’s it. That is probably the only thing that I could add to the list, although you don’t REALLY need it. I’m sure Ghandi, in all he’s enlightened and meditative thinking doesn’t consider the phone as a NEED and I will now need to prepare for the onslaught of paddling that is to follow. Be gentle sweet Ghandi.
Your punishment? The paddling of the swollen ass. With paddles!
Now I’m guilty myself of owning things that I don’t need to just survive, for example this computer I’m on, and this keyboard I am using to rant about this subject, and this printer, and this desk, and this calendar. This is all luxury stuff. This is all for entertainment, although the purpose of this piece of writing is to open some eyes and invite you to think about these sorts of things in a different light.
We live in such a consumerist society that is advertising all this crap we don’t need as a necessity of life. Do you really need those designer jeans with the cuts and bleach marks and the designers name printed on your ass? Do you really need that luxury car with bluetooth, and DVD player, and TV screens popping out the back off the seats, and a rear parking video camera? JUST TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD AROUND YOU LAZY GIT! Do you really need that piece of jewellery to make yourself feel beautiful? You already are. Wearing a piece of overpriced sparkle isn’t going to make you comfortable in your own skin. Self confidence will. No piece of an element from the earth is going to.
This car is oozing so much luxury it f*cking flies!
Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just survive on the basics. But I invite you to think about what and where you are spending your money (but more importantly, your time to earn that money) on. Instead of that luxury car, down grade. Do you really need four bedrooms? Do you really need five hundred thousand carat diamonds? Do you really need that smartphone? Do you really need that watch that could pay for a person’s education, or better yet, help someone who is struggling to even get the three basics?
So the next time you want to buy something, or think that you need to, really ask yourself this:
“Do I REALLY need that?”
I think you may be surprised.
– Sash
Sash Mindflow 