Here in the states we have developed a rather materialistic society. All one has to do is turn on the TV to watch objectified boys and girls that serve as the role model for the next generation, and as we walk down the street we are bombarded with beautiful people wearing stunning clothing, that often include some type of identifyable symbol to help others know that we are able to afford the ticket to the “in crowd”.
I’ll tell you a secret. I like poverty. No not true poverty, that is a curse, rather, that poverty of having the basics, and nothing more. Of course, I have never lived there, but I have visited, and constantly found it a wonderful way of life.
I have seen it in my travels, and found it rather agreeable. I have to be careful here, since I don’t want to romanticize a hard way of life, but in their life, I have seen true joy. The kind of joy that I haven’t seen anywhere else that has been influenced by the curse of materialism.
You see, when materialism comes to a society as a way of life, it sucks the life out of the society, since it goes from being a group who are in it together, to a group where each member is out for themselves. For in a materialistic society, it is the success of the individual that matters, even at the expense of others.
I believe that this is why those places like Jamaica and the Bahamas, and perhaps even in America there is very little pleasure in the lives of the poor. This is due to the fact that they are introduced to a material society, but don’t have the means to live within their own society, resulting in extreme disappointment in life. Also unfortunate is that when materialism comes to poor societies, the real money often flows to a few of the rich people in the land, or perhaps even to other countries, but the money often doesn’t trickle down.
Of course, I hope I never find myself in a position of poverty, but if I do, the first thing I will do is find a non-materialistic group of friends. In truth, I have tried to do that recently in America, but have met with little success to date.