Laying Blame: Population vs. Consumption

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34. Please, define happiness however you like.

If you choose a definition to which others don't subscribe, don't be surprised if they don't find a lot of value in what you have to say.

Say I were to apply for an engineering job at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and inform them during the interview that I'll be using my own unit of length - a "koala" (8.7 inches). I'll be eliminated during the first round of consideration. They won't even be interested in discussing it, and the impression they get of me will be someone who was indulged during childhood, and who will be a pain in the ass.

Kids like that grow up to be existentialists, and I will admit I don't hold existentialism in high regard. It was largely a closeted movement until after WWII when in the wake of six years of extreme purpose, feeling purposeless was inevitable. Most of the existentialist writing of the time is an embarrassment of navel-gazing and it's not discussed much anymore except in historical context.

Turns out, purpose is easy to find if you look. Have you ever been to a poor country (I mean a really poor country, central-Africa poor)? I have, and purpose is everywhere. Happiness is as simple as holding a bowl of grain in your hand, or sharing that bowl. Have you ever done charity work? I don't mean to be insulting or engage in a pissing match about social work - certainly others have done far more than I have - but your tone, challenging basic notions of progress and happiness, sounds like someone who's never had much contact with deprivation.

Correct me if I'm wrong.