Monday, December 07, 2009

Cultural Values

Why do we value things that produce nothing for ourselves or for society? It's a serious question.

I don't know the numbers, but millions of people are employed in industries that produce nothing: Gambling, Sports, etc. It's not that no one should gamble (Although that would be a good life strategy), or that no one should participate in sports. The question is: "Why do we have professional leeches on society?" If there were no professional sporting facilities or broadcasts, we could spend the same money on nothing at all, and society would be better off because there would be no overhead. If Tiger Woods was payed millions of dollars for watching TV instead of golfing, society would be no worse off.

I just wonder about how much labour is devoted to things that benefit no one. Surely, this labour could be driven into institutions that feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and cure the sick. You know, what Jesus said we should do, and what few Christians do? (Church decorations also fall into this wasted category. If the Catholic Church tried to live up to Jesus' ethics, they probably wouldn't have vaults full of gold.)

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