Character

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear.  More to the point, volumes speak of the choices they make.  Most people pick their own kicks, ergo much is revealed about the choices of a particular individual by their footwear.

Choices are what make characters interesting, particularly, bad ones.  Having things forcibly thrust open a character is trite and derivative.  They need to be faced with decisions.  They need to take matters into their own hands.  But better yet, more often than not, they need to take the wrong path so they can walk away from it (hopefully), a little bit wiser.

People need to be tossed outside their comfort-zone.  Only then do we see the world (and thusly, ourselves), for what it truly is -- undeniably imperfect.  Forever flawed.  And then we strive to do better, if only for a short while.  Some stick with it.  Achieving new goals everyday.  Others seem content lethargically complacent (is that redundant?).  Inevitably, we all return to ash.  So, to each his/her own.

Psychology teaches we're all products of both genetics and up-bringing (nature/nurture).  Perhaps we should add a new category:  advertisement. 

The other day, my girlfriend started a rant about "Wouldn't it be great if there weren't any commercials?"  A brief and poetic enough statement if one there ever was.  I said nothing.  'Cause when truth is truth, there ain't nothing to be said.  But she probably felt abashed by my silence and then proceeded to defend her statement which rotated back to how we do, in fact, need advertisements.

That's how they trap us, with circular logic.

So now we're back to needing, wanting, coveting, buying, disposing of...and on and on it goes.

It's so hard to recycle when the city waste-removal-workers can regulate what you can and can't put in the recycling bin.  Everything's recyclable.  Now, they've got these large, grandiose containers.  Do they still studiously scrutinize every bit of food-waste, soiled toiletry, stained effeminate hygiene products and other assorted...wait, that's trash, not recyclables.  Oh, that's right, even trash can be used as a source of bio-diesel-fuel.  Just my personal opinion, but I regard burning our waste as power-sources (in regulated doses, mind you), as a fairer alternative to burying it or jettisoning it into space.

Sure, there's no way either of those two alternatives could come back and take a royal bite out of our collective asses.

They say you can tell a lot about a consumer by the brands they purchase.  But I say, much more is learned by observing what they don't buy.  People who don't buy useless crap usually don't get baited into corporal entrapments -- usually.

There was a time when we didn't need to purchase goods or services.  We built our homes to our liking, not to socialized regulatory commissioned standards.  There was a time when we didn't have to shop for garb and produce.  Believe it or not, once upon a time, we did things for ourselves, and had no need for outsiders telling us how to run our affairs.

I say, wouldn't it be grand if we reverted back to when we didn't need to buy anything?

I think that would instill much character within us all.