Acquisition, so it is belived, is a good thing and promotes happiness. Therefor it follows that the acquisision of more should promote greater happiness. Good ol Adam Smith wrte "a man must be perfectly crazy who does no employ all the stock that he commands, and consume all that he can"

The ethos of the west has seem to become that possesnions will give security and peace. An ever increasing standard of living seem to be the great goal of many western nations. But my limited logic tels me this can not continue. We can not just consume more and more, as we can not just produce more and more. One day, it will just all, I don't know...end.

Maybe this is it. Consumarism is the relgion of choice now. Brandnames the gods, malls the temples and cathedrals, and I'm the guy with the crazy hair and poster - "The end is neigh! Buy at the great sale now, for the anger of the gods are upon us. The great factory will stop producing, and we will all lament and die! Do not be left behind! Buy now, or perish"

But seriously. When I worked with teenangers in Europe, and talking to family and friends in the UK, I am always amzed. I remember in France a teenanger complaining to me that the money he recieved as a living grant that month, did not enable him to buy the newest brand sneakers (trainers in some countries, tekkies over here). He could do lots of stuff with this money, just not that. I wanted to throttle him. I come from a society where, if you are lucky enough to get a grant, from the state, it is barely enough to buy food!

Yet, we are also cought up in it. It is everywhere. So, who is the pope of this religion then? Same masses, new opium!

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“The subject no longer has to be mentioned by name. Someone is sick. Someone else is feeling better now. A friend has just gone back into the hospital. Another has died. The unspoken name, of course, is AIDS.”
“From the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry, the AIDS problem has already been solved. After all, we already have a drug which can be sold at the incredible price of $8, 000 an annual dose, and which has the added virtue of not diminishing the market by actually curing anyone.”