Category Archives: Consumerism

Christmas cynicism or business and social opportunity?

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Got this from eBay…

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Dear xyz,

We all get gifts that just aren’t right, it could be the size, the colour, or the gift itself. This year, leave your gifts in the shrink wrap.

From 8 – 9 January 2011, you can list your Brand New unwanted gifts for FREE starting at 99c or less.

Use the money you make to buy yourself a Brand New gift that you really want.

Clever you!

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Wow – how cynical is that?

Then again, I hear that the cost of unwanted Christmas presents is estimated to be in the billions…Maybe there’s something better that could be done with these though?

- give them away to charity

- create an exchange for people to swap things

- create a way for people to find out and get something more meaningful from the start (seems obvious)

- combine them all together…

There’s a business that I think would take off…

What do you think?

The best way to be content…

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The best way to be content is… to be content.

As Epicurus said:

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
It’s hard work in today’s modern, consumer society. But try it for a while – look around you at all that you have, whatever it is, and be thankful, and content. It’s a much richer and smarter road to happiness than trying to attain more.
(Don’t stop striving to make the most of your life, though, that’s a different thing altogether.)

(Photo credit: Hamed Masoumi)