Contentment is natural wealth; luxury, artificial poverty.
-Socrates (B.C. 469-399)
Socrates' quote from the ancient world, truly expresses the consumeristic world today. Studies published by The New York Times have shown that people living simple lives are happier, while those living in luxury are often more depressed people. The people in luxury believe themselves to be "poor" with respect to someone with more material possessions. Socrates' insight puts the problem of over-consumerism in a greater perspective. After all, if the ancient Greek philosopher could summarize a 21st Century problem in Ancient times, the disease may not be so confined to the American way of life.
Scary, huh, that we've been fighting the consumerism bug since Ancient times!
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