Ch 5: More vs. Enough (Part I: overspending, 1 of 4)

A discussion of Chapter 5 of my book "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" - http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Gathering-Videogames-Allen-Gates/dp/1601450443/...

A chapter-by-chapter summary of "Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames" (and thus an overview of the entire video series):

PART I: WHY DO WE HAVE TO WORK?

Chapter One
*Hunting, Gathering, & Videogames* gives a historical overview of why we've always had to "go to work," tracing the common link between the workday of the prehistoric hunter and gatherer, the first millennium B.C. farmer, the first century A.D. pottery-maker, the nineteenth century assembly line worker, and today's videogame programmer.

Chapter Two
*Surgery & Dental Floss* spells out the complications of bartering, and explains why communities with multiple goods and services always end up using some form of money (be it beads or dollar bills) to solve their trading problems.

Chapter Three
*Penguins & Peacocks* is about why the changes in our workday--the transition from hunting and gathering to the ages of agriculture, industry, and information--took place, even though some aspects of these changes were for the worse. It looks at the parallel between the history of our workday and the way evolution works in nature: how change is driven by the demands of the immediate environment, not by concerns for future repercussions.

PART II: WORK, WEALTH, & HAPPINESS

Chapter Four
*Emperors & Emptiness* gives an overview of three drawbacks of our modern work system: the alienation, the perception of deprivation that can come from being in a society overflowing with goods and services, and the way our increased number of career options has opened up a large window for failure--particularly when we tie our occupation to our identity.

Chapter Five
*More vs. Enough* offers an alternative to the unattainable American financial goal of "more is better" by outlining a flexible but precise definition of how much income is "enough." Level 1: enough to pay for all your daily, monthly, and yearly expenses. Level 2: enough beyond Level 1 to pay off your debts (e.g., credit cards, college loans) Level 3: build and maintain a reserve fund equal to about six months of living expenses Level 4: enough to make steady investments for large future expenses (e.g., a down payment on a house, retirement, and children's college tuitions)

Chapter Six
*Measuring Success* contrasts our culture's guideline for happiness--the wealth, status, and identity we derive from our careers--with a guideline that instead aims for a balance of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Money
• Life
• Dominguez
• Robin
• conscious
• spending
• credit
• card
• debt
• simple
• living
• voluntary
• simplicity
• budget
• work
• ToddGates

[ToddGates]

> I got your book in the mail this morning. Thanks so much for sending it!

My pleasure!

[Clutchology]

Hey, Todd.

I got your book in the mail this morning. Thanks so much for sending it! I'm excited to read it. I'll make sure I start doing so right away!

[ToddGates]

> This is an idea that is a strong theme in the book/movie "Fight Club" ... It had a lot to do with alienation ... What did you think about it?

I liked "Fight Club" ... but I also think there are lots of alternative ways to "feeling alive" than beating the shit out of people and getting the shit beaten out of yourself. Writing books, performing music on stage, and sharing your work on YouTube are a few that come to mind ... but to each his own!

[ToddGates]

> I think a very legitimate fear of electric 'money' is that it has no physical characteristic. If something were to happen to the record of 'money' you own, what do you do?

I see electronic currency as having its pros & cons ... but one of its pros is that it's much easier to keep back-up records, and for a bank to replace "missing" money---much easier than it would be to replace paper bills that went up in flames.

[BayerLexan]

I think a very legitimate fear of electric 'money' is that it has no physical characteristic. If something where to happen to the record of 'money' you own, what do you do?

This is an idea that is a strong theme in the book/movie "Fight Club" perhaps you've read/seen it? What did you think about it? It also had a lot to do with this alienation topic. Infact the more I think about it, the more acute it is to all that you are talking about.