Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my readers!

I noticed on the t.v. program I was watching just before midnight that the announcer did not wish everyone a "prosperous" New Year - almost as if saying it out loud might jinx it, but I feel no hesitation in hoping that flagging economies will improve, and will especially benefit those who need it most.

I do hope, however, that whatever recovery will come will be driven mostly by "smart" consumption, by which I mean consumption of things that we really need. So much consumption nowadays seems pointless, so much so that it would seem some people consider consumption an end in itself. Yes, any kind of consumption is going to help create jobs (which is good), but do we really want jobs creating stuff that we will throw away almost immediately (and jobs cleaning up and/or recycling all the garbage we create that way)? I would so much prefer jobs that help make the world a better place to live in ...

Here's hoping ...