Crap per se

We replace old things with new things. We have to: clothes wear out; the washing machine breaks down; Apple releases a new watch. It makes sense, especially if we’ve made our identity or status contingent on certain goods. It takes a certain amount of cognitive effort to realise the motto of materialism, “Old things are crap, so buy new crap)” is as shallow as the worldview itself.

Lindy’s batteries

There is a lot to be said for the old: anything that’s been around for a long time obviously has staying power. On the contrary, a two year old smartphone has no power whatsoever because the battery’s dead. Longevity and usefulness very much depend on the thing in question (Chinese-made plastic childrens’ toys versus, say, a good hand-axe), so I want to go a level deeper:

replace the replaceable with the irreplaceable.

While I agree with Saint Paul that “faith, hope, and love” are what really matter, I personally find a large gap between spiritual (mystery, wonder, peace etc.) and everyday (struggle, effort, noise etc.) reality. This divide is inhabited by fluff, passions, marketing and electronics. All replaceable. These things tend to drive a wedge between the pursuit of God and the practice of being fully present and good in the world. What I need is not more crap to fill the chasm, but rather a bridge across it, so my experience in the physical world informs my spiritual life and vice versa. The alternative is becoming a shallow imbecile or a religious nut job, both being of no practical use to anyone. On the journey I am on (you have to be on a journey), this is where stoicism comes in:

  • Wisdom is better than knowledge;
  • Justice is better than utilitarianism;
  • Courage is better than social anxiety;
  • Temperance is better than excess.

These are timeless values which exist in both spheres, can be traded freely to the profit of all, not the few, and are religious ideology-neutral.

Hidden features

When my inner life is thus fortified, I at least have a bulwark against what the world throws at me. We never know when loss will strike and force us to make choices about how or with what we will go forwards. This is also where old things can help.

We recently lost two bikes to theft. The only way to go was to dig an old bike out of the garage. I need two working wheels, pedals and a bell; brakes are good, too. For general usage, everything else is superfluous. The bike is irreplaceable in that no thief will go near it. And what your expensive credit-financed e-bikes don’t have: an integrated mermaid-flipper holder.

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