I still remember the Ambassador car which was heavy and unmanageable kind of automobile lasted in the family for over 25 years. Nowadays the cars need to be changed every 3-5 years. Is it because they are built flimsily or not to last? The answer lies somewhere else. It’s the consumer evolution and money availability. There is too much of money going around.
Your parents could manage with their old huge television but why do you need a 48″ or more Te
lly? Why does your car have fancy music system? Even there was Bournvita or Ovaltine but now there are so many that its a difficult choice. We had one kind of cheese or butter from Polson but now there are stores only selling a huge variety of cheeses! A simple scratch would make us apply iodine or mercurochrome but now you may end up doing a MMR or what not! There were only the gaunt old air hostesses now there are surliest good lookers!
The old trunks were made of metal and lasted two to three decades but the current breed of luggage lasts few flights.
The choices are too many and there is a whole load of money and buying power. Old houses lasted over a hundred years and the current sky scrapers last only a few years.
You could put a Bata chappal and use for five years but today the fancy sneakers lasts for three to six months!
Do you really think your money can buy quality or value? If you could only calculate on how much you spend on your cellphone then you will know that you could stop working three years before your actual retirement. That’s the amount you will spend on your communicator. And if you add up the cost of your vehicles, music systems, television, houses, interiors, medicines and every frivolous desirable object you owned, you could actually stop working at 35 or 40 years.
Now look at how much was useless expenditure.
Desires drives a man to useless living. Now take the case of one plate of idli abroad costs Rs. 180 and a coffee between 150 to 400. Whereas a person could feed 20+ friends to idli and coffee in India.
The root cause of consumerism is desires. Do you really think you need all that for survival?
Ask yourself the true meaning of doing fasting? Prayers? Austerity and charity? I am sure you have absolutely no clue about their true meaning. What does it mean to live life in moderation?
Ask yourself if you actually spent all your life in false pursuits or going after the truth! Can you cut back on useless spending and take life as it comes? Do you know what is frugal living ? Try it and let me know. You could actually take an early retirement then! Without retirement benefit plan of course!
