Possessiveness

[madame_zora]

OOO Spike, you naughty thing, taking our Lord's name in pain.

Personally, it is very liberating not to posses things. Of course that comes from a privileged perspective of having the choice, but many "poor" people also live happily with non-possession.

I think Western culture places too much emphasis on ownership goals, often for someone else's benefit.

But really I wanted to know what other people felt. :smile:

I have to agree wholeheartedly with that bolded statement. I will never really know what it's like to be abjectly poor, with few or no options or opportunities to escape from it. However, in my lifetime I have had money, and all the things and opportunities that come with that, and now living far under the povertly line, and having to deal with the issues that arise from having no financial means of solving anything.

Now, I do this by choice, which I acknowledge is almost arrogant in a sense, but I greatly prefer having time, and control of my schedule, to having money. From where I am now, I would never want to have a large amount of money because I don't like being owned by things. Fuck that.

Religion puts lifes issues into a certain framework and causes a sense of peace and security. People are possessive of relationships because they meet some need in that person's life, the same with possessions. For this reason, I think security probably does have a big part to play in the equation.

yeah, I think we're getting somewhere here. I think the desire for security is stronger than many even can admit. Many people avoid much careful introspection, because that would threaten their sense of personal security. People like to "know" what they know, meaning they like to have a firm sense that they know what is real. Start fucking with that, and you're likely to get yourself crucified. Asking people to change their paradigms is usually asking more that they can realistically do.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I think the desire for security is stronger than many even can admit. Many people avoid much careful introspection, because that would threaten their sense of personal security. People like to "know" what they know, meaning they like to have a firm sense that they know what is real. Start fucking with that, and you're likely to get yourself crucified. Asking people to change their paradigms is usually asking more that they can realistically do.

So what you're saying is that people are possessive of ignorance. Interesting concept. I never thought of it quite that way.

 

[naughty]

So what you're saying is that people are possessive of ignorance. Interesting concept. I never thought of it quite that way.

I think that is a rather wide sweeping statement. Yes there probably are those who are possessive of ignorance but that too is subjective. When one comes down to belief systems what is good for one may be poison for another. I find it interesting though that there tend to be some people from whom you automatically hear the "My, My, my" mantra more readily than others. Just as there are some individuals who tend to have a competitive rather than cooperative mindset as well. I know one person for whom the term "My Husband" has become her reason for being! LOL! :biggrin1:

 

[madame_zora]

So what you're saying is that people are possessive of ignorance. Interesting concept. I never thought of it quite that way.

Hmm, I would have never put it that way. What I'm saying is that MOST of the religious people with whom I personally have spoken do not have much factual information about how their religion began, or why. Their "religious opinions" which are such an intregal part of many people's self-identifications are based more on societal standards that actual religous determinations. Is that the same as being possessive of ignorance? I don't think so.

I think it's more a case of having found a way of living that suits their needs, and not wanting to learn anything further that would upset that balance. Maybe I'm saying the same thing, but it sounded harsher than I meant it when I wrote originally. People would prefer a fable that they feel works well to a reality that would cause them to have to invest a lot of effort to assimilate. I know how many years it's taken me to even begin to be willing to learn more, and I didn't grow up as a child with religion being a part of my life. I was in high school before my mom started taking me to church, and I was eager to go, because I didn't know a blooming thing about religion and I felt left out.

Obviously, it would be easier for someone without a childhood tie to religion that had served as a foundation for developing their beliefs to question those belief's validity than someone who had grown up accepting them as factual. That's not an indictment, just an acknowledgement of what is likely.

 

[madame_zora]

I think that is a rather wide sweeping statement. Yes there probably are those who are possessive of ignorance but that too is subjective. When one comes down to belief systems what is good for one may be poison for another. I find it interesting though that there tend to be some people from whom you automatically hear the "My, My, my" mantra more readily than others. Just as there are some individuals who tend to have a competitive rather than cooperative mindset as well. I know one person for whom the term "My Husband" has become her reason for being! LOL! :biggrin1:

Yes, I agree. Danny says he feels that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". If someone's religion works for them, fine. I think people are possessive of their religions, and perhaps there is a degree of ignorance there, but the same is true of almost any beliefs we hold about anything. It's just that people are more vehement about something that is so deeply ingrained in the way they perceive themselves, and life in general. It's extremely difficult to really get to the point of allowing for other possibilities, even for me, and I'm trying. Most people (yes, it's my opinion that it's most people) are not even trying. They're trying to get other people to engage their way of thought. I'm trying to work on this myself, and it's obnoxiously hard.

Haha@ the MY husband! I think it's pretty obvious when the posessivness is more than lingual!