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Topic: Moe Berg quote

Victor Von Mediaboy
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 554

posted 14 December 2001 03:28 PM

quote:
There is very little you need in this world. Almost everything we crave is a desire. You don't see ads on television for tap water. Everything that is sold to you is something you don't need.

- Moe Berg (of The Pursuit of Happiness). From an Ottawa XPress article about his new book of short stories entitled, The Green Room.

From: A thread has merit only if I post to it. So sayeth VVMB! | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged

skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478

posted 14 December 2001 04:47 PM

Well, but, m'boy, even for a dedicated supporter of craftwork, that goes a touch too far.

If we all went back to making our own food, clothing, and shelter, and traded nothing, then none of the higher crafts, which I also value and which are still craftwork, would develop. I mean, I could be wearing a rough sort of linen if I cultivated flax; but then who would invent velvet? And m'boy, I promise you, I need velvet.

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Victor Von Mediaboy
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 554

posted 14 December 2001 05:03 PM

The quote isn't a prescription. It's merely an observation.

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: Kneel before MediaBoy ]

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MJ
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 441

posted 14 December 2001 05:19 PM

But how can we really know that unless the context is given?

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Victor Von Mediaboy
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 554

posted 14 December 2001 05:38 PM

I don't think the context is required for that particular quote. Look as how the sentences are phrased.

He doesn't write, "stop buying stuff you don't need," or, "if you buy stuff you don't need you are a bad person."

All he writes is, "Everything that is sold to you is something you don't need."

There are no prescriptive sentences in that quote.

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