tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post8835246428027194619..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Happiness Is ...Stuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-60882728430192779902014-10-31T10:46:36.457-07:002014-10-31T10:46:36.457-07:00I am not confident in trusting SA.I am not confident in trusting SA.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-5983920591796889422014-10-31T07:52:08.987-07:002014-10-31T07:52:08.987-07:00I saw this article yesterday, questioning material...I saw this article yesterday, questioning materialism, consumerism versus citizenship.<br /><br />It would be nice to know East Asian social values can protect its citizens from the excesses of consumerism. People used to think the protestant virtues would protect us, but not enough apparently.<br /><br />Elections are coming up next weeks, and perhaps only 50% of eligible voters will particiate. Even if we do participate its hard to even know what issues are worth fighting for. Probably local elections are where you have the most influence, and who takes time to see what local issues are?<br /><br />Meanwhile I'll continue my long boycott of the consumerization of Christmas, but how do we make gifts meaningful again?<br /><br />http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29786733 Viewpoint: How the consumer dream went wrong<br />-------<br />This word Consumer represents the idea that all we can do is consume, choosing between the options offered us, and that the morally right thing for us to do is to pick the best of these for ourselves, measured in material standards of living, as narrowly defined individuals, and in the short term.<br /><br />As such, what we do when we use this language is prime ourselves to think in this way, cuing this moral idea. And when we do that, we become more selfish and more short term.<br />...<br />Perhaps the most significant effect of the dominance of the Consumer has been on politics. Here, the idea of the Citizen has arguably become meaningless in the face of the Consumer. Policies are researched in market research focus groups, just another Consumer product. Parties target key audiences with specific messages, trying to win votes like Consumer market share. Voting, the act of consumption which used to be considered a minimum for participation, has become instead the maximum.<br />-------Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-29073900282839785722014-10-31T07:16:11.121-07:002014-10-31T07:16:11.121-07:00Mortimer J Adler, American philosopher, define &qu...Mortimer J Adler, American philosopher, define "In its ethical or moral meaning, the word "happiness" refers to a life well lived, a whole life that is morally good because it is the product of virtue (or the habit of right desire) accompanied by the blessing of good fortune."<br /><br />http://www.thegreatideas.org/apd-happ.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-44101641103737500362014-10-31T07:09:56.560-07:002014-10-31T07:09:56.560-07:00If you are being schooled in the Jesuit tradition,...If you are being schooled in the Jesuit tradition, as our Pope was, you are to be a man of courage, compassion, conscience and "a man for others. " The self, in my humble opinion, is a dead end!<br /><br />drtceline@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05068560803010332344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-31465358929683272242014-10-31T07:04:33.254-07:002014-10-31T07:04:33.254-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com