GAS and Buddhism

[oscroft]

I mean, come on, if we're honest, how many times have you been having some beers with your best friend and gone down the "what's the point of all this" discussion? Me - lots of times.

Since I came to accept the utter pointlessness of it all, never - it was a liberating realisation.

[sliceoflight]

Good point, Matt. I struggle with the desire to acquire and test out new toys on the one hand, and focus on photography as a means to interpret and become more deeply involved with life/nature/God on the other. Ultimately, I think I know which one brings me more peace and satisfaction.

By the way, the pictures in your gallery prove your heart's intentions. They are impressive.

Ming

[Tuolumne]

I don't mean to lecture or tell anyone what to do, I did intend this as a "think about this" thread, but for myself, I shudder when I read in the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, etc. that the US and therefore the global economy depends on the spending of the US consumer. I am tired of spending, and not just because I am out of money. I am tired of my house filling up with unused or less-than-half used junk. I am tired of installing stuff on my computer and spending hours making it work. I am tired of lusting after things that make me miserable when I don't have them but don't make me happy when I do. I am tired of being manipulated by advertisers, even the nice ones here. And... I am an avowed capitalist, former venture investor, and start-up advisor. I am still tired of it all.

Can it really be true that my future economic well being depends on the endless treadmill of consumer acquisition? Because if consumers stop spending, now in the US, soon in China and India, the economy will fall apart and everyone except hedge fund managers, doctors and lawyers will be out of work!?

I don't know...I don't know. Stop the world - I want to get off.

/T

[tripod]

I'm not sure that capitalism is an environmentally sustainable system. Certainly not in its present form.

It is so entrenched, that I fear that a significant "market adjustment" is necessary.

Our limited and finite global oil supplies will force a change eventually.

[Al Patterson]

Originally Posted by bmattock

No, *I* find happiness in more sustainable ways.

One can argue with the meaning of the word "sustainable", since this is a philosophy forum.

I know that for some it means use almost nothing. I prefer to think that as long as I can sustain my lifestyle on my income, I needn't change. Although I do have way too many books laying about. I need to plant a few acres of trees to even things out a bit.

[Nh3]

Subconsciously we feel that by addressing a desire we better our life. That's why we indulge in GAS, go for a holiday or in the case of Spitzer seek the service of pricey call girls.

Unfortunately as well all know the pleasure is temporary and soon the novelty wears off and we begin looking for the next thrill.

Suffering comes with desire.

[tripod]

Spending money on an experience is sometimes better than on another thing.

[BillP]

Originally Posted by tripod

Spending money on an experience is sometimes better than on another thing.

Quite.

For the price of a lens I can travel somewhere I have never been before, see things I have never seen before. Experience a different culture. Be intrigued, engaged, refreshed and rejuvenated. Be stimulated to shoot, and make the most of what I have. Feed my mind, and my soul.

I can sell a lens. I cannot sell a memory.

Regards,

Bill

[williams473]

That is so true - and with the price of fuel going through the roof this summer, it truely will cost me the price of a lens to go on some of my wilderness expeditions

[edrodgers731]

I have always suffered with GAS.. (sounds funny when you say it like that.)

I have been using my new M8 for a month now with only one lens, and barely thought about any other camera. I keep it with me whenever I go out. I have really enjoyed sinking myself into it. Now I have gone and bought a second lens which arrived last night.

So leaving the house this morning I felt a bit of pain. Which lens do I bring?

It's only interesting to me because this is the first time I have felt that pain since the 80s when I only had one camera and one lens at a time.

Since then, I've always had several bodies and several lenses, and I got used to bringing a case along with a good selection of lenses and flashes, etc.

It's as if buying this new system has simplified my life because it temporarily eliminated choices. So, if I can just keep this system to a minimum, I think it will actually clear my head a bit and let me concentrate on making photographs. For a while.

I love keeping things simple, but unfortunately, I also love new experiences. There's always that pull to see what another camera is like. I wonder what I could do with an 8x10 camera?

[back alley]

i like simple and i also like to try different things when it comes to gear.

i don't need to be an expert but i do like to speak from some experience.

my gear now is in 3 seperate kits that rarely co-mingle, it helps keep me sane.

i don't follow any religion or organized philosophy. i prefer to keep thinks simple and sane and i do so except for when i lose my temper...then all bets are off.

gear does not make me happy although i do enjoy using it.

being organized with my gear makes me happy though.

joe

[georgef]

Originally Posted by tripod

I'm not sure that capitalism is an environmentally sustainable system. Certainly not in its present form.

...just llike cancer: it drives itself until total organism anihilation...
"...there's nothing new under the sun..."

I think we need another forum: PHILOSOPHY NON-PHOTO!

[tripod]

Originally Posted by DougFord

So you’re really serious, you really gonna quit?
“GAS”? Most definitely.
So if you’re quitting the GAS, what will you do?
Basically I’m just gonna walk the earth
What do you mean, walk the earth?
You know, like Caine in kung fu. Walk from place to place, meet people, get into adventures.

...take only memories and leave only footprints.

[Tuolumne]

Originally Posted by nikonhswebmaster

It does, since very few of you are farmers I assume? Unless you create your own wealth, you must sell something to someone else that they may or may not need.

How else do you expect to live? What are you planning on trading the farmer and the oil driller for his products? Photographs?

The subsistence farmers shall inherit the earth. They will. I read it in New Scientist.

/T

[noimmunity]

Is this another thread in which the people living in the global North gain an inkling of awareness about the voraciously predatory nature of the social formations in which they live?

Just one example among many we could cite: one country with but 5% of the global population accounts for 30-40% of annual consumption of irreplaceable fossil fuels...

If you look around the world, what mets your eyes is really an updated version of classical imperialism in the age of the knowledge economy, where intellectual property laws and IMF-guaranteed loans are used to extract profits from a global ‘South of the Border’.

Taking the question of consumerism as an exclusively moral question for the individual (to GAS or not to GAS?) means that we still haven't abandoned selfish concerns. I submit that in addition to this moral awareness ('less is more'), it is also high time for people in the North and other centers of accelerated consumption to begin imagining an entirely different future, a turn awy from war, social inequity, and ecological collapse. And if it’s impossible to use old institutions for anything but intellectual exclusion and self-fetishization, then it’s time to start up new ones, where there’s some room to think among the debris of the future.

[noimmunity]

Originally Posted by nikonhswebmaster

What are you planning on trading the farmer and the oil driller for his products? Photographs?

Funny you mention that. There has been quite a bit of study about the relation between images, including photographs, and capital accumulation.

Guy Debord's "Society of the Spectacle" (1967) is but one of the famous examples...

[BillP]

Originally Posted by Pitxu

America is not the only consumerist nation in the northern hemisphere.

Far from it, sadly.

Regards,

Bill

[BillP]

Originally Posted by bmattock

You say that like its a bad thing.

Quite.

Regards,

Bill

[BillP]

Originally Posted by bmattock

I enjoy it? I am having trouble experiencing feelings of guilt for enjoying my life.

That will be a great comfort to my son's generation when they are dealing with the consequences of your enjoyment today.

Regards,

Bill

[xayraa33]

Originally Posted by bmattock

I enjoy it? I am having trouble experiencing feelings of guilt for enjoying my life.

Enjoy your life to the fullest Bill.
Enjoy it more than a Buddhist KofC

[Tuolumne]

Originally Posted by noimmunity

And if it’s impossible to use old institutions for anything but intellectual exclusion and self-fetishization, then it’s time to start up new ones, where there’s some room to think among the debris of the future.

This worked really well in the last century, didn't it.

/T

[xayraa33]

Originally Posted by bmattock

Shh, don't tell people I'm a Knight. They think I only care for myself.

I am sorry Bill, I should have kept my mouth shut.

[Tuolumne]

Originally Posted by nikonhswebmaster

I hate like hell to agree with Bill (just on principal) but the planet will survive, maybe without humans, but someone will pop up to replace us in the next few million years.

To quote a famous philosopher:

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

LoL. I know who said that: Norman Vincent Peele in "The Power of Positive Thinking"!

/T

[Al Patterson]

I find it amusing to think that we humans think we can destroy the planet. True, we may take ourselves out of the picture, but at some point the planet will remove a lot of the evidence that we were ever here, and start over again.

Until then, I'm going to live my life as I see fit. No guilt. If you feel guilty, modify your own life.

[xayraa33]

Originally Posted by Al Patterson

I find it amusing to think that we humans think we can destroy the planet. True, we may take ourselves out of the picture, but at some point the planet will remove a lot of the evidence that we were ever here, and start over again.

Very true, the Green Man is one powerful entity.