Social Advantage

If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man--and I think that it is, though only the wise improve their advantages--it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.--Henry David Thoreau

Given the recent housing crisis, it appears that American society has decidedly failed Thoreau's test. Thoreau uses a measure of value that does not strictly rely on the monetary system.

If an advanced civilization requires its inhabitants to spend most of their time obtaining a subsistence, then that civilization has not solved even the rudimentary challenges of our existence. It may be that the caveman was better off. He paid no rent and still had time to paint.

It is true that there are some in our day who achieve financial independence and leisure. Thoreau warns us, however, that only the wise improve their advantages. There is a danger that having achieved economic independence, we may succumb to dissipation. We may be tempted to pay with our lives for unnecessary comforts and pleasures.

What may seem an advantage can actually be a disadvantage. A higher standard of living does not necessarily return a greater share of happiness. We may spend our capital--that is, our time--and end up morally and spiritually bankrupt.

Invest in yourself. Cultivate your talents. Discover your treasure within and jealously guard your leisure hours from a system that will steal them away.

"And, remember, that time waits for no one."