Thoughts, Prayers, and Purchases

I have no idea whether God exists or not, but I’m fine with either scenario, and whatever opinion you hold. I wish more people felt that way, it would take a lot of the pressure off the holidays. Capitalism most certainly exists, but I don’t worship at that altar, either, as best as I can avoid it, anyway. Christmas is the perfect storm of religion and economics, so it is no wonder everyone feels angst. We waste too much energy on meeting the expectations of others, and berating ourselves for not fitting in.

....buy this card!

Pardon me if I do not have patience with Christians who claim persecution, who complain there are not enough Jesus ads on television at this time of year. What I have a problem with is promotion of the idea that your brand, your religion, is the only way to believe in, and revere, God. Oh, and by the way, if anyone is being persecuted it is atheists, who understandably buy into nothing. The continued existence of anti-Semitism suggests even Judaism is only tolerated. Every other belief system is pretty much considered blasphemous.

Modern Christianity continues to foster patriarchy, colonialism, and white supremacy. Our Father, for example. My own father was not a good human being, so how do you expect me to relate to a paternal deity? Missionary work is the continuation of colonialism, the effort to erase indigenous belief systems and the cultures that arose from them. I know you don’t see it that way. You believe you are doing humanitarian work, and in terms of disaster relief, economics, and infrastructure, you may well be. That does not excuse you from the hostilities of attempted conversion. You are literally being the “white savior” that nobody wants.

What we need is acceptance of those with differing beliefs, and non-believers (though that label is troubling), not mere tolerance, which implies grudging, condescending acknowledgement of “others.” I have no interest in thoughts and prayers that come from a place of self-righteousness. Please stop using the supposed word of God to justify the very human, earthly agenda you want.

Hey, capitalism! Get back here! I’m not finished. You do not get off that easily. Congratulations on eclipsing the religious importance of the holidays, though. That takes some genius marketing, and bending of some historical traditions, me thinks. You’ve gone a bit overboard, though, in converting us to extravagant consumers. Too many have bought into the idea that material goods trump acts of kindness, that services are purely economic and must always command a price.

Capitalism, you have even managed to create the grand illusion of a “middle class” that is, in reality, a debt class, propped up by borrowing, and credit from the gods of Visa, Mastercard, and Capital One. The Joneses are not even keeping up with themselves any longer. Image is everything, though. I believe that is one of your bible verses, in fact. Your churches are casinos, the corner store that sells the lottery tickets, the payday loan offices, and lawyers who will pimp frivolous lawsuits to make up for your lack of a living wage. You can take all of them to hell with you.

Economies are essentially redundant, artificial ecosystems in which one species, Homo sapiens, fills all the niches, the currencies have arbitrary value, and those monies are hoarded. In nature, the only currency is energy, with consistent, measurable value, and it circulates freely, as it must in order for living organisms to thrive and reproduce. Economists would do well to remember that. We should have evolved, by now, economies with intangible currencies. Peace and love? Lord no, we cannot even agree on definitions for those concepts. Honesty, maybe? We need to first free our minds of what we have been led to believe is the “only way.” Sound familiar, religion?

This holiday season, my heart is, as usual, with those harboring needless guilt over differing beliefs, and the stress induced by the expectation of material gift-giving. You are under no obligation to please anyone else. You have no responsibility to provide material goods to anyone else, with the exception of your minor, dependent children. Above all, you have responsibility to your mental health, an obligation to being an example of positive self-care. Do that and the ledger is good.

Deliver Us From....Delivery

© Zencomputershop.com

This Sunday is the "big game," and we are guaranteed as Americans to have pizza and other food delivery drivers scrambling to satiate us as we gather at parties to sit in front of the huge television we had delivered just the other day to make the sports spectacle all the more spectacular. Lately, though, it seems that "delivery season" has stretched to encompass the entire calendar year, and that should stir some unease at the very least.

Our delivery culture has arguably made us more isolated and dependent, physically weaker, overspent financially, and turned us into hoarders of a sort. It continues if not accelerates the idea that material things are all that matters, all that gives us comfort and joy. It bloats not only our consumption of products, but adds to our waste of energy and other natural resources. We have come to embrace convenience as our social and economic god, above all else.

"Free shipping" encourages mindless binge shopping because we can simply add an item to the shopping cart icon, no muss, no fuss. People who bought this also purchased this, and so we want to keep up with the Joneses. We are slaves to fashion, marketing and advertising, peer influence, and the "influencers" we follow on social media. Strike that. We are shamed by those manipulative factors.

My own home looks more like a warehouse these days, in part to my deceased mother's and father's belongings that we relocated to our house from their storage lockers. Still, we seem to accumulate more boxes almost weekly from purchases my spouse makes online. That is not to say she is impulsive. Neither of us spends much on material goods beyond what we need. We tend to "upgrade" sporadically. Despite our best intentions, we are tripping over Amazon containers.

Let us think for a moment about all that extra packaging that goes into delivery, most of it disposable, too often like the products inside them. We tell ourselves we can re-use the boxes, but are defeated in trying to strip off all the tape and labels and barcodes. In the end we often just dump them in the recycling bin if we are lucky enough to have recycling services. Our food orders come in styrofoam, plastic, or maybe cardboard boxes, all inside a trash-worthy plastic bag. Wasteful, even as we are laughing at the new handheld gadget that comes in a cubic foot box.

Perhaps the scariest part of our obsession with delivery is that virtually all of the vehicles used to bring things to our homes are fossil-fuel dependent. Maybe some couriers employ electric cars, or bicycle messengers, but the range of both are geographically small and microscopic respectively. Delivery drones have not become commonplace despite promises to the contrary, but I for one think that is a good thing. I loathe the prospect of a future full of the incessant whining of tiny rotors from drones passing overhead.

The growth of delivery services has become almost exponential. Restaurant food delivery alone is becoming the norm, though ironically restaurants still call such customers "guests." Options like Grubhub, DoorDash, and now UberEats make it uncomfortably easy to never leave your home or apartment except, maybe, to commute to and from work. One can see the day where Uber and Lyft are transporting more goods than they are human passengers.

We cannot, of course, ignore the social ramifications of delivery. The only way we can deliver ideas, sentiments, passion, and other vital currencies of society to each other, powerfully, is in-person. Conversation has been replaced with keystrokes. We are allowing corporations to have the only voice, the only authority, in our lives. We meekly accept the invasion of our privacy as a logical consequence of convenience, individualized marketing on Facebook as the price we pay for our otherwise anonymous participation in the economy. Oh, we complain about it. We mourn the closing of our favorite bookseller, hardware store, bakery, and other local businesses, but fail to see how our shopping habits led to their demise.

We are also up-in-arms over thieves that steal the packages off our porches, but now we have spyware for that....The snowball of technology keeps rolling, right over us as we lie listlessly on the couch, with Netflix and Hulu, the new delivery streams for media. Maybe we need to re-think this. Maybe we....Excuse me, I believe I just heard the doorbell.

All I Want For Christmas Is....Less

© TheMindfulWord.org

It occurs to me, as the holidays approach ever closer, that material things mean less and less to me, and the appeal of "presents" under the Christmas tree is virtually non-existent. I am not about to rob anyone of the joy of giving, and receiving, but my personal reflection goes to what I could do without, from actual objects and conditions to intangibles. Food for thought, anyway.

Less stress would be nice. In fact, I bet a great number of us would trade the latest techno-gadget for relief from credit card debt, student loan payments, workplace politics, family drama, the daily commute, and an infinite list of other stress-inducers. Instead, the holidays seem to compact all our stresses into one neat, unbearable bundle, don't they? My personal belief is that on occasion at least, we need to avoid stress. Maybe that means spending Christmas and New Year's with friends instead of relatives. Maybe it means politely requesting that you don't exchange gifts this year, at least not the adults. Lower that burden on your charge card a little.

Less stuff would be helpful. I have so much clutter that I cannot even find a lot of what I own. How did that happen? Luckily, I barely have an income, so I am not accruing much in the way of new material these days. The problem is that I cannot seem to unload most of my existing possessions in exchange for even a little bit of money. I do not mind donating. I did that with my insect collection, do that with clothes, used electronics....but c'mon, I need to not be on the short end every time. Ah, well, there I go complaining again.

Let me think outside the box of "me" for the rest of my space in this post. Ah, less urban sprawl would be wonderful. We don't have to develop every single acre of land, or annex every suburb. We can rebuild it, make it better than it was, stronger, faster,....wait, that was the premise of The Six Million Dollar Man. It still applies to cities, though, including the one I am living in that seems to despise the idea that land use planning and "infill" are viable options. Gas, food, and lodging at the interstate exit seems to be an excuse to build an entirely new city these days. Enough.

Less government interference. Wait, wh-a-a-a-a-t?! This is coming from me, a certified "Liberal?" Who are you, and what have you done with the real Eric Eaton? Hey, if "Conservatives" have accomplished anything in the last year, it is to convince us that they were right all along: government is too intrusive, and clearly represents no one but special interests. The only problem is that too many Republicans are still blind to this reality; and they hold fast to the idea that pro life, gun rights, the "War on Christmas," and other far-right agendas are real issues and not the invention of their political party. We do have a common foe: class warfare. It is not "fake news." Ignore it at your peril, unless you are one of the "one percent."

Fewer natural disasters, please. Sigh. As I write this, wildfires are still raging in California, and we are experiencing severe drought in other parts of North America as well. We've been belted by hurricanes, inundated with floods, and scientists suspect this is just the beginning in terms of a geologic timeline. That's alright say the short-sighted economists, who beg and plead for the abolishment of environmental regulations that are all that stand between us and a climate apocalypse by what amounts to tomorrow (on a geologic timeline). Everything is expendable if it means infinite short-term profits for corporations, their CEOS, and shareholders. I know, I've said that before, but it bears repeating. Daily.

What do we do? We do less shopping. We share stuff instead. We do more donating to charities, thrift stores, and organizations that understand what is at stake and that fight tooth-and-nail to protect your rights as a U.S. citizen, member of the workforce, consumer, and citizen of planet Earth. We grow our own food where possible. We eat smaller portions. We stop "coping" by using alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and other substances. We take our clear heads and focus. We love each other. We stop living in fear. We do with less because we can.