Having enough — not too much, not too little — is kind of a foreign concept in this country. In the three hundred odd years that we’ve been around, we seem to swing between the extremes of not having enough (as colonists, pioneers, Depression survivors) and having far too much (roaring twenties, materialistic 50s, and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘consumer society’
17 Jan
Lip balm obsessions & the problem with variety
A perfect greenie, I’m not. I drive an older car that doesn’t get great mileage, my pottery hobby is anything but energy efficient, and it is entirely possible I will never be green enough to consider reusable toilet paper. And…OK, I’m kind of a lip balm junkie. At any given moment, I have approximately seven tubes of [...]
14 Jan
Ending my romance with dollar stores
I have a confession to make: I used to like dollar stores. For this, as for many other things, I blame my parents. They immigrated to the US with virtually nothing and climbed their way into solid middle class respectability — without ever losing their immigrant mentality regarding money. This meant a number of things: [...]
3 May
Life without a TV & other thoughts
For almost the past ten years, I have not had regular access to a television. Although Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and Sunday morning cartoons certainly played a role in my childhood, I was a dedicated bookworm from an early age. Throughout college, neither I nor my roommates ever had televisions. After I moved out, [...]
