Do you have enough?

[bricklayer]

Do you have enough?
Are you content?
Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

 

[SithDoughnut]

Do you have enough?

Enough for what?

Are you content?

Generally

Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

Yes - I'm not ambitious.

 

[bricklayer]

Enough for what?



Generally



Yes - I'm not ambitious.

Enough for contentment.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Enough for contentment.

Surely the second question makes the first redundant then?

Anyway, my answer is yes.

 

[thepurplehymn]

Yes, I am content and happy with the life I have. Yes, I may run into a wall every now and again, but I have the strength to overcome. I'm thankful for my loving parents and my wonderful friends, for my understanding teachers and supportive relatives. I enjoy my life, and no matter what troubles come to discourage me, I shall always be grateful.

 

[bricklayer]

Yes, I am content and happy with the life I have. Yes, I may run into a wall every now and again, but I have the strength to overcome. I'm thankful for my loving parents and my wonderful friends, for my understanding teachers and supportive relatives. I enjoy my life, and no matter what troubles come to discourage me, I shall always be grateful.

You are a breath of fresh air.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

Do you have enough?

Well, I'm not living below the global poverty level of $2 a day, so yes. I have food in my stomach and a computer to send this message from, so I certainly have enough. Much more than that, actually.

Are you content?

Not as much as I should be. There a few things I would like that I don't have, not in terms of finances, but in terms of social relationships.

Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

Mostly. I'm really not very ambitious. I have simple needs, and most of them include happiness and satisfaction instead of power, wealth, etc.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

No, I'd like to be more accomplished, but I am content. That's not a contradiction. My motivation to become more accomplished isn't a lack of contentment, but rather a desire to excel.

IOWs, it's a positive motivation, not a negative one. If I don't become more accomplished, that's okay.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[bricklayer]

Well, I'm not living below the global poverty level of $2 a day, so yes. I have food in my stomach, caffeine in my drink, and a computer to send this message from, so I certainly have enough. Much more than that, actually.

Not as much as I should be. There a few things I would like that I don't have, not in terms of finances, but in terms of social relationships.

Mostly. I'm really not very ambitious. I have simple needs, and most of them include happiness and satisfaction instead of power, wealth, etc.

"the global poverty level"?

To slave one's sense of rich and poor to one's position relative to others is a self imposed slavery.
Such people will never know contentment or charity, which are true freedoms.

 

[Paradoxum]

Do you have enough?
Are you content?
Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

No.

 

[SithDoughnut]

To slave one's sense of rich and poor to one's position relative to others is a self imposed slavery.

It's not a matter of having less money than other people, poverty is when you have less money than you need to have a decent life. When your children are starving and you work 12 hours a day for less than we in the west would make in a few hours, ambition and contentment are irrelevant. The concept of reaching a position in life you feel comfortable with is a privilege that most people will never receive.

 

[juvenissun]

Do you have enough?
Are you content?
Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

Do you mean would I like to have my process slowed down or stopped?

Of course not.

 

[Standing_Ultraviolet]

"the global poverty level"?

To slave one's sense of rich and poor to one's position relative to others is a self imposed slavery.
Such people will never know contentment or charity, which are true freedoms.

When I specifically said "the global poverty level", I was actually trying to avoid slaving my sense of being rich or poor relative to others. The global poverty level is, roughly, the level below which it's incredibly difficult to survive. Living below the global poverty level is generally a sign that you don't know where your next meal is coming from. It's the point at which you are in poverty so destitute that death is a very real possibility.

 

[Blayz]

Do you have enough?

Yes

Are you content?

Yes

Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

No, I am far more accomplished than I am ambitious.

 

[quatona]

Do you have enough?

I tend to think I have too much. Oftentimes I perceive my possessions as a self-imposed burden.

Are you content?

With my economic situation? Yes.

Are you as accomplished as you are ambitious?

Not sure I understand what you are asking me here.

 

[quatona]

To slave one's sense of rich and poor to one's position relative to others is a self imposed slavery.

Then again I have seen nobody saying they "slaved their senses of rich and poor...".
Maybe, in your terminology "having a thought" and "slaving one´s senses to that thought" are synonyms, or maybe they are only when you don´t like the thought?

Such people will never know contentment or charity, which are true freedoms.

Personally, I am strongly doubting that the concept of "freedom" can/should/must be approached by economic/materialist considerations. Even less the concept of "true freedom".
Or, for those who like it pompous: To slave one´s sense of freedom to the distribution of wealth is a self imposed slavery.

 

[quatona]

"the global poverty level"?

To slave one's sense of rich and poor to one's position relative to others is a self imposed slavery.
Such people will never know contentment or charity, which are true freedoms.

Maybe you could help me understand how that follows?
"I am comparably rich, I am contend with what I have, I am happy to share with others. Because I am comparably rich, I have plenty of opportunity to do so. Being rich I am privileged to know the freedom of contentment and charity. I am aware that there are people who don´t even have this privilege due to their economic situation. I am not entitled to my wealth nor to the resulting freedom of knowing contentment and charity. I am privileged in having the freedom." What´s impossible about that?

 

[quatona]

Contrary to your view, I tend to think that it´s the idea of charity that requires, promotes and reinforces a sense of entitlement to your wealth, in the first place.

 

[bricklayer]

Maybe you could help me understand how that follows?
"I am comparably rich, I am contend with what I have, I am happy to share with others. Because I am comparably rich, I have plenty of opportunity to do so. Being rich I am privileged to know the freedom of contentment and charity. I am aware that there are people who don´t even have this privilege due to their economic situation. I am not entitled to my wealth nor to the resulting freedom of knowing contentment and charity. I am privileged in having the freedom." What´s impossible about that?

????
Nothing?

What?

Was that a question?

 

[quatona]

????
Nothing?

What?

Was that a question?

Yes, it was. A poster said he perceived himself as wealthy (compared to the majority of humans), which earned him your response as quoted in my post.
I was trying to show how his position was easily reconcilable with the "freedom" to "know contentment and charity", asking you to explain how it wasn´t.
(Of course, I was assuming that your response was meant to address the post you quoted and responded to.)