Christmas evening was spent discussing the perils of consumerism with my cousin from halfway across the globe. The discussion got a little bit heated at times, but to avoid things getting ugly, I conceded that there isn't much we can do about it either way.

As much as we like to believe that true happiness comes from non-tangibles -- love of friends and family, achievement, health and security -- these things usually are coincidental with consumption and modern civilization, which is consumerist by nature. Shut off everything, and people start dying as food stops coming in, the heat stops working in the dead of winter, and the hospital life support machines stop working.

Maybe it's balance that we need to start advocating...

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