When working tonight I was closing down the SSC and I heard a commercial about vacations. Obviously it was advertising a vacation spot. Spurred by my contempt for things of commerce and the ever-fleeting idea of "I have to have the next great thing", I started to analyze vacations. To me, they often seem like a form of quitting or giving up. "I've been doing this for a while, so I think I need a vacation." You don't need a vacation. You want a vacation. Besides that small grammar fact, does it strike anyone else oddly that vacations are pretty much a "First World Country" idea? Mainly this is because in other countries, it is often the case that working is how you survive. You can't afford to take a day off (no matter what). This is even often true in our First World countries, so maybe I should define this as the idea of the Upper and Middle societal classes.
Our society is so used to being able to give up and quit when we like that our will power and perseverance have lost their strength. When throw in the towel when the going gets tough and we don't try new things (because if something's too hard for us, how will we ever complete it?).
This is probably just another one of those things where I look upon it in contempt because we use our wealth for things we don't need where someone else could use it for things they do need. I believe an equal distribution of wealth is paramount to any other issue facing our world today.
Concerning "I've been working for a while now, I need a vacation." What about the Sabbath? God told us to take a day off and remember who our true master is. Its the frivolous, over the top, wasteful spending that I think you and I the same find disgusting.
ReplyDeleteIn this post I'm directing my comments at extended vacations (pretty much anything longer than a weekend). I understand what you're saying and yes, it's those vacations where we think we need to "get away from it all" because we have a "right" to vacations.
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