Myths of Our Current Civilisation

This is a theme I have cribbed from Badgers comments on another thread. I thought we could compile a few...well I could write a book but I'll try not to fill the whole thread!

Lets start simple

"You have to use shower gel in the shower"
No you can use a bar of soap. It is wrapped in paper and does not mean water is being transported. It is also not detergent based and is not pure artificial chemicals and is not advertised.

"You have to have a mobile phone"
No you really can live without one. We have done for many, many years. We do not need to use the very rare minerals (in the screen etc), we do not need the social disturbance and we do not need to have microwave bouncing around all over the place. We will soon learn that the microwaves transmitted from the phone are a problem too.

Or a little bit wider...

"You have to sell you time to another person"
No, not totally as we do now. It is not that far back in history that most people worked at home or near there home (ie the forge next door). If you calculate how much you are really earning for your self you may find it is better to stay at home more and only buy basic products and grow your own food. The commuting to work is in fact very recent. That myth was created with the closure of the mills, mines and heavy engineering works so that the workers looked for alternative work not in their local town.

You have to buy a new TV because the World Cup is on.
??? WTF ???

You have to have several foreign holidays, flying, a year. or you are deprived, somehow.
No, you can survive perfectly well without.

You have to use anti antiperspirant
No, you can wash every day and use deodorant.

Not sure I understand this thread. I have never heard any of the above. Certainly never heard the shower gel one. Does that mean I don't have to use bath slats in the bath either?

As for not selling your time, and staying at home to grow food... sounds super, but how do you pay the rent?

Compostwoman wrote:You have to buy a new TV because the World Cup is on.

After having made everyone buy a new TV to get digital, guess what ?

You have to buy a new TV to get Freeview HD channels

As if enough AV equipment hasn't been thrown out already. But why do you need HD ? The most severe limitation of current TV (even analogue) is clearly the quality of the content, not the technology.

You have to have several foreign holidays, flying, a year. or you are deprived, somehow.
No, you can survive perfectly well without.

Oops. Where's the skulking away looking guilty smiley when you need it ? Family CH were in Greece last week. I love it. Talk about the simple life, it certainly makes me aware of all the trappings of domestic life you can live (happier !) without - which brings me neatly back to TV ... I picked up a book on holiday, "How to be free" by Tom Hodgkinson. Though I disagree strongly with some of his notions, the idea that TV is best avoided because it feeds anxiety with lots of bad news you can't do thing about struck a chord with me ..

"You have to have a TV"
NO!!! I grew up without one and do not have one. I hate the constant noise and the agression of "modern TV". I hate 99% of the content. I hate the way people are mesmorised by it. I hate the way people are lapping up the crap. I hate the way it invades lives. This is about as extreme as I get..... oops sorry.

(before the critism comes, yes I do down load specific programmes from UKNova but I would live without this if I was on my own)

The car you drive says a lot about you.
This is hotly discussed by the boys at school, who are always trying to insult each other about the cars their family drives. I know that your car (if you have one) can speak volumes about your lifestyle, but I keep telling the kids that they are not summed up or defined by the possessions they own.

Hmm my car says I am dusty and full of compost, compost bins, recycling, craft materials and jute shopping bags, then!

...as one should be, then!!
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Am getting sillier and sillier tonight, have end of term-itis I suspect...

I still have all the stuff in my car from the fAMILY rECYCLING DAY

You recycled your family?

No, I worked at an event billed as such in the media....

Dandelion wrote:The car you drive says a lot about you.

Makes me wish I had an up to date picture of my Mercedes to post.
I think some of you might've met her one time...

Well I know *I* have

Compostwoman wrote:Well I know *I* have

why the asterisks, CW?

just to make the point I have seen HL's truck.
You the official forum grammar and spelling tzar, now?

Wilhelm Von Rhomboid wrote:

Compostwoman wrote:Well I know *I* have

why the asterisks, CW?

It is the established method of underlining in ASCII text... No, hang on, it's bold. _Underlining_ is done another way.

Anyway, the old gal's a few years older, do I expect she says much the same as she did... only louder.

Excuse me for asking, CW.

Thanks for the explanation HL.

No excuses needed Billy

And I am showing my age by using *_* to emphasise words..... old habits, like old trucks, die hard

Compostwoman wrote:And I am showing my age by using *_* to emphasise words.....

I have been known to do likewise, butI generally use /italics/. Is easier than [i].

old habits, like old trucks, die hard

My daughter recently asked what was the difference between a truck and a lorry. I didn't know, but enquiries indicated that "truck" is the American for "Lorry".

Zoe wrote:Or a little bit wider...

"You have to sell you time to another person"

The problem is that some of these "myths" are not so much myths as underlying assumptions in our society. I thought that by being my own employer things could be more flexible - but the system still forces you towards the 9-5 (or more !) - both in order to be able to pay the bills for all the fixed costs (like rent) which are the same no matter how much or little you work, and because the rest of the world expect to be able to find you on the phone during office hours.

So coming back to the big myths, my pet hate:

Sustainable growth

Of the economy, population ... Beloved of politicians, it is an oxymoron. Only equilibrium is sustainable. I am continually amazed by how many supposedly intelligent people can render themselves blind to this obvious truth. We have finite space, finite resources, yet base our economy around the assumption of perpetual growth (and see the chaos that ensues when that assumption breaks even briefly). We refuse to face up to the fact that we must sooner or later find a way to control population. Whether we find it an acceptable notion or not will not make the problem go away.

My current favourite myth is that "The planet needs to be saved".

Oh yes, that is one of my pet hates.

"The problem is that some of these "myths" are not so much myths as underlying assumptions in our society."

But that's exactly what a "myth" is. When an underlying assumption or rule of a society is expressed in "story form" it's a "myth". That human societies used oral stories for this should not be a surprise as human cultures have been around 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than writing.

??? How is "You have to use shower gel in the shower" a rule of society expressed in story form?