Tuesday 13 May 2008

Resisting Accumulation

So I went to a beautiful wedding on Saturday. I think they will be happy together, despite being so young. It was very multi-cultural and international.
A= me, F= russian guy at wedding

--
F- What are you going to do after you graduate?
A- Oh, you know. Move to Michigan for summer. After that, hang out. Write stuff. Be a poet in New York. I suppose come back, get some sort of job that doesn't use up all my brain power, write some more.
F- You can make a lot of money from writing.
A- I'm not interested in making a lot of money.
F- But you will need a good house, a good car, good holidays.
A- No
F- Okay, well you will at least need a nice house, and a nice car, and nice holidays.
A- No, not really
F- You can make a lot of money from writing, you don't have to go into international business.
A- But there's no point... Desire is unfulfillable, its like energy. It can only ever be transferred, not used up. So essentially, it doesn't matter what stuff you have. The amount of desire will not diminish, you will always want to acquire more. Therefore, having stuff bears no relation to happiness.
F-... You are like one of those... hippies. But not with the environment. With life. That's weird. I'm going to go into my dad's business. But I'll be more successful than him. I'm going to drive a Bentley. He doesn't drive a Bentley.
A- I hope you will be happy.
F- I am happy. You'll need a well-paid job, though. You need to think about that.
--

He wasn't all bad: he had a habit of folding his cigarette butts in tissue and putting them in his pocket, so as not to leave litter.

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