To the children of the modern age and beyond
By Alan Baylis
Generally, we in the developed countries are already rich.
An Egyptian king (from biblical times) would have given up his
kingdom for what we have in the average western home. Yet we are
lead to believe that what we own should be the newest and best of
its kind. But does a cup really loose its functionality when
slightly chipped or a sofa become useless if stained? Is a person
who owns these things poor or just doing the right thing for his
children and his grandchildren to come? Every time a dinner set is
thrown out because a few pieces became broken or chipped, the
resources and energy of this planet is depleted to replace it. This
behavior becomes catastrophic when multiplied by the billions of
people aspiring to be seen as rich and successful.
The companies see little profit in using the Earth's resources
wisely. A while ago they realized that when they made products so
well that they could last a lifetime, the customers didn't come back
and spend money with the company again. The companies then began a
plan to make their products in such a way as to limit their
life-span. This planned obsolescence works by making some necessary
part of the product weaker than the company could actually have made
it. The part is usually the main moving parts, such as the hinges of
a walkman, and when the part fails the product is either unusable or
disfigured enough to make the consumer return to the stores for
another one.
This state of affairs has grown to the point where stereos and cars
are seen as disposable items with a two year life-span. This of
course only benefits the companies who have guaranteed repeat
business while customers watch everything they paid for fall apart.
This also leads people to complain about the lack of control and
frustration in their lives; and is the catalyst for a lot of family
tension.
A working fridge or washing machine, even if they do make a lot of
noise or look old, are a real asset compared with what our ancestors
used to live with, and owning any car surpasses our great
grandparents wildest dreams, yet people are miserable because they
haven't got this years model. We can't rely on the governments to
kindly remind us of these points because they too are monetarily
driven and are watching out for their party's funds, which happen to
come mostly from businesses.
Everything we need to live, while raising healthy, happy and
educated children is around us, everything else is vanity.
The quality of our relationships, and not our belongings, are far
more important in the long run. It's in the Bible.
