Sacrifice

There seem to me to be two things Americans don't think they can live without: wealth and noise.

Everywhere you turn people are buying things, generally things which are loud. There is no quiet in the world anymore. If we don't have a radio, TV, or computer (with massive speakers) available, we get our IPods out and listen to that. It seems that every moment is oriented either toward listening to things or purchasing new things.

It's not that everything should be quiet, just that we should, at times, enter into quiet places. When there is too much noise (particularly noise aimed at communicating something, such as modern music or TV) it is much more difficult to think.

Wealth is equally problematic. When there is always something to buy it is much more difficult to use money on others.

These are just a couple observations without solutions but we can take the first step. Don't buy the next thing you want to and don't listen/watch the next program you want to. One step toward being free of the cultural norm.