What I Have Is Not Enough!

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

What I Have Is Not Enough!
Conspicuous consumerism is considered the mark of success in modern Australia. The current housing and property boom has highlighted the number of huge and expensive houses that people are living in throughout our country. A recent letter to one newspaper editor said: "People live in a constant state of What I Have Is Not Enough because somebody else has more. This is stressful and creates anxiety. What are we teaching our children with this mentality?" Not to worry. The kids have gotten the point already. Just try to put the wrong brand of footwear or jeans on them for school. They will let you know in a heartbeat that they have picked up on their parents and peers label-conscious, status conferring, wouldn't-be-caught-dead-in-that kind of snobbery. Well, we're all caught up in it to some degree. And I'm not referring to the fact that some more expensive items are cheaper in the long run because of their quality or that certain brands are trusted more because of a history of better value. I'm talking about the salivation I can feel when I see the newsprint ads for new cars or stare down the TV for the new electronic gadget being hawked. The six-year-old car I'm driving is fine, and I don't begin to need another gadget. In one of her songs, Shania Twain sings a mantra centred on a What-I-Have-Is-Not-Enough world. This is what she says: "We've created us a credit card mess / We spend the money that we don't possess / Our religion is to go and blow it all / So it's shopping every Sunday at the mall." -- Sounds like the words of an ancient prophet, don't you think? But the song continues: "All we ever want is more / a lot more than we had before / so take me to the nearest store." Then comes the punch-line: "Can you hear it ring / It makes you want to sing / You'll live like a king / with lots of money and things / Ka-ching!" One of the businesses that has really boomed over the past few years is mini-storage warehouses. These companies have figured out a way to make even more money by fostering our consumerism. Once we fill up our living spaces, they'll rent us storage area to put the stuff we don't need enough to use so that we can go out and buy more unnecessary things. Do you see the insanity of it? It's just a tiny little seed idea. But would you join with me this week to put something of real value into a strangers hand instead of into storage? It is the only known antidote to the wicked idolatry of greed. I truly hope you will enjoy a wonderful day!

Conspicuous consumerism is considered the mark of success in modern Australia. The current housing and property boom has highlighted the number of huge and expensive houses that people are living in throughout our country. A recent letter to one newspaper editor said: "People live in a constant state of What I Have Is Not Enough because somebody else has more. This is stressful and creates anxiety. What are we teaching our children with this mentality?"

Not to worry. The kids have gotten the point already. Just try to put the wrong brand of footwear or jeans on them for school. They will let you know in a heartbeat that they have picked up on their parents and peers label-conscious, status conferring, wouldn't-be-caught-dead-in-that kind of snobbery.

Well, we're all caught up in it to some degree. And I'm not referring to the fact that some more expensive items are cheaper in the long run because of their quality or that certain brands are trusted more because of a history of better value. I'm talking about the salivation I can feel when I see the newsprint ads for new cars or stare down the TV for the new electronic gadget being hawked. The six-year-old car I'm driving is fine, and I don't begin to need another gadget.

In one of her songs, Shania Twain sings a mantra centred on a What-I-Have-Is-Not-Enough world. This is what she says: "We've created us a credit card mess / We spend the money that we don't possess / Our religion is to go and blow it all / So it's shopping every Sunday at the mall." -- Sounds like the words of an ancient prophet, don't you think? But the song continues: "All we ever want is more / a lot more than we had before / so take me to the nearest store." Then comes the punch-line: "Can you hear it ring / It makes you want to sing / You'll live like a king / with lots of money and things / Ka-ching!"

One of the businesses that has really boomed over the past few years is mini-storage warehouses. These companies have figured out a way to make even more money by fostering our consumerism. Once we fill up our living spaces, they'll rent us storage area to put the stuff we don't need enough to use so that we can go out and buy more unnecessary things. Do you see the insanity of it?

It's just a tiny little seed idea. But would you join with me this week to put something of real value into a strangers hand instead of into storage? It is the only known antidote to the wicked idolatry of greed.

I truly hope you will enjoy a wonderful day!