This is largely due to our entire societal view. Don't just blame business for the commercialized chaos. Consumers drive retailers and they drive manufacturers to do stupid things too. I can't begin to tell you how it kills me inside each time I see a stack-train full of cheap, Chinese plastic goods pulls through town. I think about how much of those products are so disposable and how quickly it is that after the grandeur of the item fades we toss it aside as common garbage.
I think that is why I refuse to be the father that has to provide his children with the latest and greatest. I love technology, in fact I embrace it with arms wide-open. I also accept that my three-year-old probably can disintegrate a Kindle Fire HD tablet faster than Grave Digger the monster truck can crush a beat-up car. I want my kids to appreciate technology and all the good things this world has to offer. All things have their time.
Several years ago my wife and I bought netbook computers. We decided that our old hand-me-down desktop was about the give-up the ghost so the funds were allocated an we both got matching computers. We got two refurbished units because we could afford them and we didn't need the finest there is. I'm composing this blog on that same computer. Now, I admit, it has died before. The motherboard fried after Powerade soaked the keyboard and the hard drive died when it fell off a workbench at, well, uh, work. Each time it broke, I elected to repair rather than replace, but that is my nature.
Wear out, use up, do with or do without.
Kind of a funny saying, but it fits my lifestyle well because it is not only practical but sustainable. I've made the credit card mistake before. I've lived beyond my means and frankly it sucks. Tell me how much you love all those gizmos you bought when the bill arrives and it's not easy to pay. I mean great, if you can genuinely afford lavishness, go on ahead with my blessing. But understand I don't envy what I don't have, I take joy in that some people can have things that I don't have. Just remember that I have talents and abilities that you don't have and when your precious automobile breaks, for example, I'll be the one you trust to fix it. I'm good with that.
I still drive the same truck I bought in High School; an 1982 Datsun pickup. Why? Because I want to prove a point. I will spend far less in time and money keeping it going than I will financing a car I can't currently afford. I have a talent to fix cars and I'm not afraid to use it. I mean I tallied up the numbers and I have spent close to $7000 on it in 15 years. Somebody, shocked, exclaimed "Why would you spend $7000 on that!" Well, that's just under $500 a year. What kind of car can I finance for $38.88 a month? That comment came from somebody driving a car that they can hardly afford the car payment for.
I accept that there are folks out there who will never be able to keep a car 15 years, nor should everybody. But we should get away from the habit of upgrading simply because we have to have the latest and greatest and not because what we have doesn't meet our needs anymore or soon will not. We need to get out of the habit of stressing ourselves financially because our neighbors just got the latest digital TV package and now have 500 channels with nothing on but a stack of endless commercials urging us to expend our resources further. Get my point?
Instead, I'd rather get out and do something. Get my hands dirty. Build something I can be proud of that is my latest and greatest. Go out and see places I've never been before. Doesn't that seem so empowering? Maybe if I had the latest smart phone, instead of texting the person I'm sitting is the same house with, I could use the GPS and go geo-caching. Put that new technology to work. Save the Wii for a rainy day or sick day and get out and do something. If your car breaks, get it fixed. Heck, if it's fairly simple (and you have time), do it yourself. (Just don't get in too far over your head.)
My point drives towards something fundamental. We can't just consume and expect society will get better. We have to get back to basic core fundamentals. For those who celebrate Christmas, we should include a whole lot more Christ in it. In the most basic form Christianity believes that the Christ child was a gift from God to show us the path to live with him again and pave the way and make it possible for that to happen.
Some readers here may not believe in Christ. I grant you that and hold it against none, but I do and for my own special reasons. I would ask you to take the most basic form of what I laid out above and use that as the formula for what kind of gifts you should give. Give gifts that represent your genuine respect and support, and that help lift and pave the way for others to succeed. Is that really so bad? Frankly, presents aside, I'm just happy to be alive and surrounded by my family come Christmas Day.
May your season be bright!
