Posted on 04/17/2009 5:12:55 AM PDT by rellimpank
A recent Dutch visitor to my house in France was observant enough to notice that I disliked wasting food. He told me that he was very much of the same mind.
It occurred to me then to try to find the cause and justification of our dislike of such waste. Where did it, this dislike, come from? What reason could we give for it? (These are not the same questions, of course.)
The Dutch are famously parsimonious, but parsimony is neither one of my vices nor one of my virtues – and I leave it to others to decide which of them it would be if I had it. And I also knew from experience that my visitor did not partake of this national characteristic, if it is one, so that we might safely leave Calvinism to one side. As it happens, we were both children of the post-war era, when material life in Europe was much less abundant than it is now. I remember the days when butter was treated as a luxury rather than as an item produced, thanks to a combination of subsidy and technical advance, in such mountainous quantities that it could, if melted, replace the seas.
(Excerpt) Read more at newenglishreview.org ...
A very thoughtful essay. And it is TRUE.
I don’t like to waste food for the same reason I do not like to waste money. I am greedy.
Modern libs do not possess this faculty or, if they do, it's entirely misdirected.
Thanks for the post.
Good article. I think he covered a number of relevant points very well. In addition to showing a lack of appreciation for goods themselves, waste also demonstrates a lack of appreciation for the people who provided the goods and for those who have to dispose of the debris.
Sadly (separate point), more durable goods would make their way down the economic chain to those for whom repairing them is worthwhile if governments did not prevent these transactions, both internally and internationally.
What a fantastic article. Thanks so much for posting it.
etenim, iudices, cum omnibus virtutibus me adfectum esse cupio, tum nihil est quod malim quam me et esse gratum et videri. haec enim est una virtus non solum maxima sed etiam mater virtutum omnium reliquarum.
In truth, O judges, while I wish to be adorned with every virtue, yet there is nothing which I can esteem more highly than the being and appearing grateful. For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues.
“Without gratitude, there is no happiness.”
Amen to THAT!
I challenge everyone today to look at their lives and make a big old list of every BLESSING you have.
If you’re down and out, it’ll open your eyes. If you’re doing OK, it’ll humble you as to how LUCKY (and hardworking!) you are in this life. :)
Except many of those people are in a bad situation because of a lifetime of poor decisions such as not caring about education,not showing up to work on time every day,spending money on alcohol,cigarettes,and entertainment before paying the rent and eating out instead of cooking their own food.
I think that’s just weird. I wear secondhand clothes all the time, and I feel very good about it, especially when someone compliments an outfit I bought for $3.
I agree, philosophically, that it’s not truly charitable to give the poor things that you don’t think are good enough for yourself, but I think secondhand clothes and used furniture *are* good enough for me!
(This is, of course, about private charity rather than government handouts. There’s no common sense in that realm, at all.)
“Without gratitude, there is no happiness.”
Gratitude: Reflections on What We Owe to Our Country by William F. Buckley Jr.I make no representation that I have read it, but the article put me in mind of reviews I read about it.
My new tag. ";^)
Very nice. :)
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