Greed

The context of this may remain unclear to all but the people I have debated with on the topic of commercials. In short, they argued that commercials are monstruous and I - that they are OK. They(the people) have of course the full freedom to disagree with this simplistic presentation of our long arguments.

Generally, I regard commercials in two ways - as a background noise (annoying but inevitable consequence of our choice to live in cities) and as communication messages. Both ways, we should accept the fact that we cannot limit advertising in any way without infringing the freedom to communicate. It would be the same if we tried to make people at the marketplace to shut up and stay quiet. The fact that the marketplace has become so immense that it has creeped into almost all places of our reality is a simple effect of three things - the egoistic human nature, the competitive basis of Western culture rooted in the Greek manner of thinking and the general trend of scale increase. The latter on second thought being based on the second. We cannot limit advertisement too much, because it would put at risk basic principles, and we cannot change our millenia-formed manner of thinking. The simple conclusion is that we therefore have no other choice but to accept the ever growing number and aggresiveness of commercials.

However, some time ago - I do not remeber when - I saw for the first time a billboard with a commercial of a medicine, which provided you with the opportunity of eating a lot without feeling bad afterwards. A bit later I've also noticed the commercial of another thingy, suposed to prevent hangover after an alcohol abuse. And a few days ago there was another billboard saying something like "more sex? again? oh yes!" - it was of course another substance sold in pharmacies, allowing you to have more than you are supposed to and than your body wants (mind you - I do not say "need", I say "want").

Should I surrender and admit my friends were right? Admit that commercials promote this unsatiable way of thinking? Or are they just a media which reflects and transmits a reality, which exists anyhow and which we agree in disliking? I have just fully realized that the problem is not the commercials but the fact that such things exist. The greed that made them come into existence is the same thing that made commercials to be so numerous and aggresive - there are too many things, not too many commercials. And it is something, which is present in human nature. Being present in human nature it infiltrates human deeds, advertising being among them.

I have had also another debate - a friend argued that the four plate cooker is something ultimately unnecessary and of the same nature I attribute to the "more sex, food and alcohol" thingies. I still insist they are not of the same nature. Not everything, which is not necessary, is necessarily bad. We have even the legitimate right to enjoy unnecesary objects. It is not good, but it is not bad either. What I am talking about - the things I mentioned - go far beyond being unnecessary. They are violent, a simple demonstration of rude power, which will finally ruin both our bodies and minds. Why do we create them?

Mostly Harmless

I love my home.
I love to know where my things are. I love to know that I can decide to place them somewhere else. I love to know I can lock myself behind the door and switch the phone off. I can tell other people not to touch my helmet or not to enter the other room. Because I have not cleaned it for two weeks and I would be ashamed, but I am not going to tell them that. I'll just tell them not to go there. I cannot do that kind of stuff at someone else's place.

I love my parents.
I could not explain why. They are my parents. Sometimes they seem to me so old-fashioned. I did feel ashamed of them when they told something particularly stupid or behaved in a particularly stupid manner before my friends. I do not approve some of the opinions they hold. Still I love them.

I love my city.
I love to know where places are. I love to know how to get there. I love to know how to get to know, if I don't. I love the fact that I share this knowledge with other people. If I tell them a funny story about certain place, they would know what's funny about it and laugh. I love the smell of chestnuts, as you might already know. They do not smell the same way in Paris. Also, they do not smell the same way at other cities of my country. I love Paris. But I prefer being in my city when the chestnust trees blossom.

I love my country's nature.
I do not know if it is the most beautiful nature in the world. To be honest, I do not care whether it is. I love the mountains I've been to with my friends every summer. I love those particular thickets and clearings I've spent nigths with them by the camp fire. I love exactly the places I felt happy at and I will do again. I have not been that, lets say, in Sweden, and am not likely to. I guess that is why I do not feel love to Sweden.

I wish I was writing this in Bulgarian.
I love my language.
It is nice and I have a good command of it. Certainly better than of any other language I speak. I think in my language all the time. I need not to think about the rules of grammar when I want to say something complicated. I don't get tired of using it. I can make puns and other people who speak it will understand.

I love the stories of my people.
That is - the stories, which make a people's history. I do not love my country's history - I rather construct it and I know it. I love the stories. They are interesting, they tell things I like, they inspire me and I feel good. They confirm I am not mistaken about some things. Sometimes they frighten me. Both ways, they teach me and give me pleasure. They also remind me of my childhood.

I love my people.
They tell the same stories in the same language. They live in the same cities and in the same homes. I do not have to explain basic things when I talk to them. Sometimes I feel ashamed when they say something particularly stupid, sing something particularly stupid or behave in a particularly stupid manner. I do not share and approve all opinions they hold. But I love being home.

Sometimes people do kill of love. But generally love is considered to be good. Mostly harmless. Let me be home and enjoy it - and I will remain mostly harmless.