Fading into Normality

Lately, by which I mean the last fortnight or so, I have succumbed to the trappings of easy street. Like many before me, I have fallen into the so called 'comfortable' life. The 'comfortable' life is a life where one might work a stable well paid nine to five job, eat the fruits of its labour, and take a vacation every now and then. It is epitomised by ideals such as education, career, marriage, children, material possessions, and finally, death.

Living a normal or 'comfortable' life only conforms to society's expectations. People are addicted to certainty. The trap is that it does not inspire risk taking or excellence.

Too many people I know are getting sucked in. This is where you may have a full time job, stable relationship, but no real happiness. Not much more going on in life except work and the daily grind. I see it in a lot of people aged between 25-60. Don't let that happen. Life is there to be enjoyed.

I, myself, must work to break through the 'comfortable' life. Ignoring tiredness by being constantly active. Ignoring vain status by doing the unconventional. Ignoring the normality of it all. After all, the best life I can live is the extraordinary.

Living only in subsistence is a violation of growth.

Greed or Prosperity

Across the spectre of time, individuals the world over have sought the splendour of riches and the comfort it brings. Wealth, or the pursuit thereof, is and has been the sole purpose of many people's existence. This transcending fixation of many has led to much striving and given birth to the ideals of capitalism.

Unlike what some may argue, money is not the root of all evil. Wealth is a prerequisite to satisfy our basic needs. In additional doses, it provides for certain luxuries in life. However, the preoccupation with wealth has led to greed. Greed is the motive behind the notion that happiness is a constant cycle of amassing 'a little bit more'. Greed is the reason why some of the world's wealthy live in extreme excess while the poor live in poverty and are malnutritioned. Greed is the reason why the most developed nations donate less than 0.7% of GDP to the most impoverished nations.

Wealth for united prosperity's sake is good. Greed, perhaps not.

Fallout

The collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked widespread fear amongst investors as Wall Street suffered its biggest one day loss since September 11. The failure of the last ditch effort to save one of the world's preeminent veritable financial institutions coupled with the shotgun sale of Merrill Lynch has caused great uncertainty. For now, the future of the world financial markets remains a mystery.

Questions over how far reaching this crisis will spread and which organisation is the next to go are unanswered and will continue to be raised. There is no doubt that the world as a whole is still loaded with debt. The process of unwinding this debt will take some time.

The consequences of the fallout from the contagion may well be immensely severe.