Over Abundance?

“Abundance” is a term that has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years, thanks to an increase in the global awareness of mental health and paradigms that have governed the world over a very long period of time.

Today, we will talk about the flip side of abundance, & what that does to us.

Others have been in poor health from overindulgence and high living, before exile has provided strength, forcing them to live a more vigorous life.

– Musonius Rufus

We have talked about abundance in another one of our articles, named Benchmarks. I believe today’s world is more abundant than any other age in the history of mankind. We have more of everything we can think of, and I am pretty sure that the categories I can list here are a tiny subset of everything we have at our disposal.

Let’s dive deeper, to determine whether the small list of avenues I can bring up today have abundance in them.

Food: Yes, and not just from our nation, but from across the globe, and that too is available within 30 minutes. Not just that, it will be delivered to our doorsteps. No need to walk around and find raw, palatable foods that our hunter gatherer ancestors.

Shelter: We have a plethora of habitations available to the human kind, and allow us to have views as majestic as comparable to the first ray of sunlight after a dark, snowy night. We have homes at any given height from the ground allowing us to see the farthest corners of our cities.

Clothing: Yes, and no. Despite clothing of more kinds and categories is now available, but interestingly, a decently sized subset of people are opting for torn clothes, but I don’t think our ancestors would have imagined that their descendants would pay good money for tattered rags).

While all these aspects have become deeply impacted by luxury as well, these are the few basic requirements that we have as human beings. Now, let’s take examples of things that we as “modern people” consider to be basic requirements but are very honestly, a form of luxury.

Physical Movement: Yes. Once only limited to walking to find basic necessities like food and shelter, we now have gyms, pilates, yoga, crossfit, powerlifting, weight lifting, running, power walking, tai chi and other martial arts.

Travelling: Yes. Once considered a luxury, travel has now become a non-negotiable. Every year, at least once, we must travel to a place that is far away from our daily lives. Not only does that provide us relaxation, but a sense of separation from our mundane daily routines.

Transportation: Yes, which form factor is preferable to you? Land? Water? Air? Need another layer, sure. Land: by a bike? by a car? by a bus? by train? Water: Ships? Boats? Ferries? Air: By Plane? Helicopter? Space Ship (To be launched)?

We have now looked at six different facets of life which have been changed for the better in the modern world. I haven’t even considered other innumerable and immensely impactful industries like communication, healthcare, energy, arms & ammunition and sports.

This mention of sports reminds me, if you haven’t yet checked out theathleticsmax on Instagram, please do. You’ll get a great understanding of the business side of sports. Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

All of this is can and should be to the credit of the abundance mindset that the human race has donned. We have solved a number of problems that we have faced all throughout our lives, and are actively working towards solving the ones that are remaining.

However, a side effect of this tremendous wave of development is that this growth is occurring at a rate which is more than the consumption requirements we have. Simply put, it is pretty questionable that we need all of this development at the rate at which it is happening.

Let’s take the examples of the three basic categories and whether it is all positive for us.

Food: While the average earning human has access to more and a varied kind of food, our average activity rate has gone down 75%. The hunter gatherer walked an average of 17000 steps per day (based on extrapolative studies), while the modern man walks 4000 steps (based on data from pedometers).

Shelter: I get it, the population is very high, and everybody should have shelter. However, it is interesting to note that buying a house has become way more complicated that it used to be 100 years ago. The median home price in 1930s used to be $2,938 ($30000 inflation adjusted) & today it is  $428,700.

Clothing: All in the name of “fast fashion”, companies discard clothes which weren’t sold, and consequently were burnt. In 2017, a company burned £28.6 million worth of unsold clothes, bags, and perfume, which either means no one needed that stuff in the first place or they intended to oversell their products.

The point I am trying to make is

Temperance is now becoming a lost virtue, and mastering it could lead to increased happiness and reduced wastage.

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂