I have a lot of respect for Gandhi and have read everything I could lay m hands on about him. Yet, when I looked at the list of his possessions, I wondered why he had two pairs of sandals? I caught myself thinking that it might be luxury when I remembered a discussion last week with a friend who owns 319 pairs of shoes.
I started thinking about Gandhi, luxury & necessity yet again this week. I went to Gold Reef City (a theme park in Johannesburg) and saw that you can now buy silver bars with Gandhi's image. A single silver bar costs R1825. The Gandhi image is also not printed on the 'cheaper' coins. R 1825 or the even more expensive gold and platinum versions. A single piece of silver (about 10cm x 5 cm) is valued at a much higher price than all of Gandhi's possessions combined.
As we were walking around the mint museum in the park, I thought about what enough would be. This is also something we regularly talk about at Claypot. Instead of rewriting the entire story,I would like to refer you to Tom's post. You can read it here.
The advertisement at the mint
As usual, I do not have many answers, but would love to hear your thoughts? I am still wondering what in my life are necessities? I know that my chronic medication costs R 3349.17 per month. This is enough money to provide almost 7 families in a South African squatter camp with basics. Is bipolar medicine a luxury? Is feeding my cat Hills a luxury? I can ramble on and on for a really long time, but would rather hear your perspective, please?
1 comment:
Hi, dis goeie vrae wat jy vra, ek dink luxaries is goed wat jy heel gemaklik sonder kan wees.
Jy kan mos nie sonder jou medisyne wees nie? Hoe sal jy dan jou lewe leef en jou werk doen sodat jy die mense wat jy help kan aanhou help deur die geld wat jy reeds verdien en weggee? Hoe sal jy kan help as jy nie in staat is om sinvolle tyd te kan spandeer aan mense met wie jy nou tyd spandeer nie (soos bv d bestuurslesse waar oor ek en jy gesels het nou die dag?) Jy beteken baie meer vir my en baie ander as dit wat die geld wat jy aan jou medisyne spandeer sou kon doen as jy dit sou weggee. Jy, Emtia, as mens is belangrik en jy moet mooi na jouself kyk, en as dit beteken jy moet pille koop moet jy asb die pille koop maatjie! Oor Tomas kan ek net sê, jy het gekies om Tomas te hê en het 'n verantwoordelikheid om mooi na hom te kyk, Hills is verseker nie die duurste uitspattigste kos op die mark nie, en kos vir hom is nie 'n luxary nie, hy het 'n goed gebalanseerde dieet nodig om gesond te bly. Dus nee, dis nie 'n luxary nie.
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