Not so much subsistence as free from the attachment to materialism. There's a
line in Lord of the Rings that struck me the first time I read it. It's
Galadriel talking to Gimli the Dwarf. She says words to the effect that much
gold would pass through his hands, but that it would not hold dominion over him.
I don't advocate wasteful lifestyles either, such as the time share billionaire
in Florida who's building the largest house in America while telling his
employees that if President Obama is reelected, he may have to downsize the
company. Who needs the biggest house in America? That's all ego. In our country
he may have every right to spend his money that way, but I believe he also has
a moral responsibility not to. He may be free to build his house, but if he
were truly free, he wouldn't have to.
My plumber put it another way: Want what you have.
Fairly smart piece of advice.
On Oct 21, 2012, at 9:32 AM, Jan Steinman wrote:
> I don't think they mean the same thing. You can feel unattached to the food
> you eat, but none of us are independent of food.
>
> Did you mean "don't care" or did you mean "don't need?"
>
> Bill Gates may claim to be "unattached" to his material goods. A tribe of
> indigenous natives may well be independent of them.
>
> My interpretation was that you were advocating a subsistence life-style!
>
>> On Oct 20, 2012, at 1:32 AM, Jan Steinman wrote:
>>
>>> But this one goes in my quotes database, Bob: "freedom is a state of being
>>> independent of material goods."
>
--
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