Gil Smart’s column “Confessions of a techno-Luddite” reports “On Marietta Pike at Stony Battery Road is Hempfield United Methodist Church, where a big sign out on the lawn calls for a boycott of Christmas. The idea, according to the church Web site, is that the real reason for the season is lost amidst the materialistic frenzy; and the suggestion is to spend less and free your resources for the things that truly matter.”
In reference to improvements on technology, Smart observes “Each incremental improvement compels more spending, which might be fine in flush times. But this supposed ‘need’ has become so ingrained in our cultural consciousness that even in uncertain times, like now, there’s still huge demand for the iPod Touch, because it’s so much better than the iPod without a touch screen. This is a culture gone crazy.”
WATCHDOG: Two wags of the tail for these important and timely observations. As a society, we devote too much of our resources to momentarily pleasing ourselves and trying to impress others. We devote too little to what, including savings, we and our loved ones truly require, and to charity, which helps those less fortunate.
During the Watchdog’s later youth when he was kenneled on the Philadelphia Main Line, he noted how the newly rich drove big new Cadillacs and those with old money were chauffeured in ten year old Buicks. If you got it, you don’t have to flaunt it. If you respect yourself, you don’t need to impress others.
