Thursday, July 10, 2008

Greed and garbage

Gordon Gekko (a fictional character from the 1987 film Wall Street) -

"greed is good".

To get the quote straight, it is a much broader piece of Rhetoric that is quoted and I include a big piece of it here. -

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.
And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."

First, I just want to say that this attitude is probably prevalent in event corner of the world every day, not just the U.S.A...

What does greed have to do with garbage? Bear with me and you will find out.

It is hard to argue with the phrase "free is the best price". It has been a phrase often heard out of my mouth, whether it be "free press" for the band or free discarded items. This is where greed becomes a factor. Given a free object or opportunity, how can you go wrong?

Well let me give me a revised look at greed. To someone like myself, who acquires unwanted items from the garbage - greed is my enemy. Most everyone in the world has some "pack rat " in them and it's worst form is plain greed.

Greed is storage.
Greed makes you work too hard, moving the same item from place to place many times over.
Greed confuses, as you dig through mountains of boxes and bags and it drains your spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for broken and new electronics, for books missing page 364 and whose cover is upside down, for empty ink and toner cartridges, useless facts that cloud your mind and burn your time -- has marked the downward spiral of our quality of life but we choose to let it happen anyway (especially when it is free).
And greed -- you mark my words -- will not only bury us, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the human race."

So take it from one who has too much stuff in his closets, garage etc.. Let go. Be happy to pass it on to the new user for free. Make your big "warehouse" decisions by the road side before it follows you home. Trade for what you need (one I highly recommend!). For I have found that even when it is free and greed should reign supreme, be humble and thoughtful and leave some for the next hunter/diver (or the garbage truck). Be able to walk away. That is freedom.

Goodnight.

3 comments:

Barry said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mr. Natural said...

I too, am a master diver. When I was younger and stronger my creed was "IFTI". If It's Free Take It, it can always be used, traded, sold, or go back into the waste stream. Now that I am older and (well, just older), I have a smaller truck and smaller appetite for scrounging, but have made some incredible dumpster scores over the years.

I am grateful to my brother (who works for an electronics firm and has access to their junk)for sending me an article about your exploits. I enjoyed reading this post.

It is sort of like my father teaching me to leave the penny or quarter on the floor at a restaurant or something as the cleaning person will be really glad to find it.

Hope I haven't been rambling too much, what I wanted to say was my Ebay seller name is joetruck101 and wondered what yours is, as am curious about the stuff you sell there?

Peace,
Joe

Unknown said...

Awesome post. Thanks.

You are now RSS fed.

xoxo,
Cindigodotcom