(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cartoon: Consumer zombies dream of the wealth they create for others. Desire is a vortex. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-17 Cartoon: Consumer zombies dream of the wealth they create for others. 50 some-odd years ago, not long after I’d left home to assume the arduous task of assembling an ‘adult’, I composed this maxim: “Inside every poor person is a rich person trying to get out.” To a certain extent, in conjunction with desire and the chronic dissatisfaction born of impoverished inner lives, this charts out the dynamic at the core of our consumer society. Far too many of us dream of wealth, when we might sleep better were it not for living in a society that values all the wrong things. Conserving has been replaced with the waste of convenience, while consideration has given way to privilege. Our inner well being is crushed in an avalanche of gluttony and sloth. Kindness is dehydrating and appreciation has been tossed into the dustbin of useless words. Helping others in need has become a fool’s errand, because few see the reward in it. With lives devaluated, we chase after ‘plastic’ celebrity hoping to get singed by its flame — only to be sickened by the fumes. Ironically, much of this actually runs contrary to our nature as social beings. But we are dualistic and in a world where material competition rules, our better side gets snuffed and tossed out to perish on the super highway of commerce. Although we tell ourselves, their ‘ship’ will someday be ours, such a life model insures bogus fulfillment and destitution of the soul. We’ve been lured into the hamster wheel of consumption and don’t realize that if we just stop running, we can step back out into something better. Our chronic malaise is a miserable insatiable beast and satisfaction has become more elusive than the Higgs boson. We consume in a vain attempt to assuage our hunger, but possession is no more a meal than words on a menu are filling. And so it is Christmas every day, bereft of “spirit” as it succumbs to commonplace. We starve for sustenance while we choke on the excrement of desire. We are living a dream, that has morphed into a nightmare. Pray that we wake up in time. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/17/2292369/-Cartoon-Consumer-zombies-dream-of-the-wealth-they-create-for-others-Desire-is-a-vortex?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/