José Manuel Acevo García
Bread and CircusesLife without consumerism means enjoying...
PortabelloBelle🚚🇪🇺🏳️⚧️@breadandcircuses
I concur
txerren 🇵🇸
🟥 Eveline Sulman 🇳🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦@breadandcircuses I have such a luxurious life! I enjoy all of the above, although not every week.
Leefeller Guy@breadandcircuses Missing is spending time doing a budget?
cwicseolfor (has moved!)@Leefellerguy @breadandcircuses Some people don't enjoy resource allocation games. I don't comprehend those people, but for those on decent wages, a lifestyle *without consumerism* leaves many people (without special additional needs, like a medical condition) with a surplus to save after they meet their needs & nonconsumerist wants, so budgets matter much less, or not at all.
Absent consumerism, as long as the resource floor is met, increased spending seems inversely correlated with happiness.
CheapPontoonThe ability to freely express yourself.
That sounds so nice. Wish I could say "Stop Genocide" without being doxxed and fired.
xs4me2And quite some of these for free too!
Nicole ParsonsA billionaire looking at this graphic will hate it.
From their perspective, people should be spending their lives making millionaires into billionaires.
AI6YR Ben@ai6yr @Npars01 @breadandcircuses I have just enough schadenfreude in me for it to feel like an extra spice every time I relish these things.
But the other reason they hate it is they themselves don't understand it. They're so addicted to status games they have more money than they'll ever be able to spend, no involuntary limits on their lifestyle, yet *can't think of anything better to do with their remaining years* than seek more useless money. They've lost the plot of even *selfish* living.
@cwicseolfor @Npars01 @breadandcircuses Correct. Having (personally) spoken to some of these folks, whose greatest desire since they were children was to "make enough money so I never have to work again", and then they made a fortune that allows them to do that at age 30, and then they were "I really got bored... so I decided to start another company/make a billion dollars/because I hate golf"
Joe 
@cwicseolfor @ai6yr @Npars01 @breadandcircuses , they think it helps them to bury their ethics and morals.
@Antigrav @cwicseolfor @ai6yr @breadandcircuses
I read about zombie money left behind in trust funds, DAF's, & nonprofits.
The irreparable harms of intergenerational wealth & tax evasion
There's a reason why there used to be heavy taxation on estates
1. Bradley Foundation - founded by a loud & proud Bircher outraged by the onset of genuine democracy with the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
They spent 60 years & millions of dollars to convert democracy back into a white supremacist oligarchy
1/3
2/3
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Foundation
2. #KochNetwork - the $5 billion Charles Koch has set aside will fund decades of fossil fuel fascism & corruption of the judiciary.
That wealth will fry the planet & trigger wars.
https://popular.info/p/charles-kochs-5-billion-tax-loophole
3. Barre Seid's $1.6 billion in Irish tax evasion ended the civil rights of 167 million American women.
https://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-leonard-leo-barre-seid
4. Scaife & DeVos funded the 2020 coup attempt.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republicans-arent-done-rewriting-history-jan-6-attack-rcna185998
3/3
5. Russian, Saudi, & Chinese billionaires now buy American corporations to meddle in elections & control which candidates are permitted to be elected.
Foreign cash got a dictatorship in the White House.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/28/saudis-kingdom-holding-company-to-maintain-twitter-stake
https://www.newsweek.com/who-konstantin-nikolaev-money-mike-johnson-1870600
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/09/crypto-super-pacs-ohio-montana-00146138
@Npars01 The theme to all of this is that the ONLY THING these people find validating is control over others, even beyond the grave: dominion. It's something I've gone into great lengths citing in our earliest and most intimate family politics, because it's instilled so young. Necropolitics and death cult are precisely correct.
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈@Npars01 @breadandcircuses my lazy Sundays with my wife are worth more to me than their billions and isolation.
RonSupportsYou@breadandcircuses I wanted to boost what you wrote here, except that those good things could be experienced together with consumerism. It is as if you wrote: "A life without bicycles means enjoying a good night's sleep."
Bodling@breadandcircuses Sounds to me like being retired
jnpn@breadandcircuses and the pompous luxury of mind wandering
Felipe 🐁@breadandcircuses being present.
Alexander KarnWe have a consumer economy that’s mostly built on addiction and dopamine hacks: sports books, alcohol, vaping, caffeine, sugar/salt/fats, porn, one-click purchasing, buy now/pay later, gamification, etc.
I’m FAR from being an off the grid type or a neo-puritan, but every day I’m looking for ways to steer clear and stay free. Sometimes it’s as simple as tuning in to the things that can’t be bought and sold.
Xenofact (he/him)
@xankarn @breadandcircuses no I get it. My readings in Taoism have been real unstructive.
@RevXenoFact @breadandcircuses
For me, that’s the main insight and value of all “Eastern” philosophy: getting to grips with desire and finding the mental space that’s necessary to be somewhat less of its plaything.
@xankarn @breadandcircuses the Tao Te Ching itself calls out how "the five colors blind the eye" and so on - essentially notes on overstimulation. I found it painfully relevant these days.
Kit Rhett Aultman@RevXenoFact @xankarn @breadandcircuses I'd thought the point of "The five colors blind the eye." was that, by categorizing what one sees, one fails to see the thing in its wholeness?
@roadriverrail @xankarn @breadandcircuses as it also mentions how hunting and such distracts you, I took at as being about distraction.
@RevXenoFact @xankarn @breadandcircuses You'd surely know better than me. It's one of those things where I read it once and have since heard it referred to out of context, often paired with "the five tones deafen the ear", and since I'm most likely to discuss such things in the tearoom, where we're more likely to discuss the perils of categorizing things too much, I've likely just backfilled a meaning not present in context.
@RevXenoFact @xankarn @breadandcircuses Duly noted. As someone who owns like 5 translations of The Art Of War, I take recommendations like that pretty seriously.
@roadriverrail @xankarn @breadandcircuses If you want to get DEEP get Original Tao by Roth, it's got some good translation and history notes.
Susan Borda@xankarn @breadandcircuses that’s a nice thing about libraries you don’t need to buy anything
Franklin Abrams@xankarn @breadandcircuses Staying away from electronic devices for a few hours gives me a feeling of empowerment. What life could be if we resist the societal/work demand for constant connection. The more subtle connections can then be fostered or cultivated, like tending a garden of delicate and rare plants.
Archivarius@xankarn @breadandcircuses we're surrounded by a system that's engineered to keep us hooked, often at the expense of our well-being.
Finding freedom in the things that aren't for sale—like deep conversations, time in nature, or creative expression—is a good way to reclaim our autonomy.
It’s not about rejecting everything but about being intentional and choosing what truly adds value to our lives.
Cédric Levasseur@breadandcircuses True. And I would add play some sports for free.
doomy 🦀@breadandcircuses very cool stuff. as a certified repesentative of Capitalism™️ this gives me an idea! How about we keep stuff the way it is, and then i market all of this "human interaction" back to you under the guise of "mental wellbeing" and "self care" a la headspace style?
ChrisM@breadandcircuses
Instead of new years resolutions for 2025 we should all use this as our bingo card.
Instead of new years resolutions for 2025 we should all use this as our bingo card.
Beggar Midas@breadandcircuses Geez. Did you think all your worldly tools, habitats & conveniences built & maintained themselves?
Frédéric Rimet
Leta_Darnell@breadandcircuses
I'd rather people did not express themself with fire. I believe that is called arson.
I'd rather people did not express themself with fire. I believe that is called arson.
@breadandcircuses , I so love this, a great start for 2025 ! Thank you!
(... Increase of functional information...
https://bigthink.com/the-well/the-second-arrow-of-time/)
(... Increase of functional information...
https://bigthink.com/the-well/the-second-arrow-of-time/)
@breadandcircuses This dream only for the jungle people.
Rory@breadandcircuses I’d add the joy of having cats and/or dogs
Josh 
@breadandcircuses @Binder I like the implication that the appropriate way to express yourself is with fire.🔥
Peter Brown
RhesusPieces@breadandcircuses when everything is for sale, the earth itself becomes a mall
Rue MohrWHERE IS SOLDERING???????