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No doubt. Again: the tips are great and many people would do well to listen to them. However, the larger question of the place that these tips have in the story
by qntty 9y ago
No doubt. Again: the tips are great and many people would do well to listen to them. However, the larger question of the place that these tips have in the story that we tell ourselves about society is still an open question. There are multiple ways to place these tips in a larger context while still following them and regarding them as worthwhile. It's important to understand that there is a choice to be made here about the story we tell ourselves.
- malvosenior 9y agoI don’t think there’s a way to place them in the larger context that makes them less useful though. It’s tough out there, try to be frugal, seems like great advice. I like that it’s not political as well. Once you move the discussion to policy, people get territorial. The “American dream” of the 20th century was never sustainable. We’re just now realizing that en masse. Being frugal is just a natural realignment of culture and reality.
- qntty 9y agoI agree on the first point, but I think part of the point of this article is that there no such thing as "not political" since everything you say in public has a place in the public consciousness which is the engine of democracy. Regarding the American dream, maybe it's sustainable or maybe it's not, but it's clear that it would be a lot more sustainable if people where willing to create a world with fewer obstacles to attaining it e.g. by implementing universal health care. If we tell ourselves that people who can't afford health care probably deserve to struggle with money because they're not being frugal, then that's a problem.
- malvosenior 9y agoThis is my point. We agree that being frugal is good. Great! As for universal healthcare, good luck getting everyone to agree on that... I disagree that every word spoken in public is political. “Don’t touch the hot stove” is great advice. Let’s be free to have those kinds of conversations without dragging them into the political mud.
- qntty 9y agoI guess I should say that everything said in public has the potential to be political. Something that's political, in my mind, is anything that has significance for running the government or the larger social machine. "Don't touch the hot stove" could be political in a world where malfunctioning stoves are burning people. I think that "don't spend too much money" is political in a world that couldn't continue to function without the existence of people who will never have enough money no matter how frugal they are.