Aristotle, Wealth and Consumption

the noted ancient philosopher Aristotle
made the distinction between natural wealth and unnatural wealth

natural wealth had to do with the earth, animals and farming
and unnatural wealth had to do with money and currency

an Aristotle scholar once told me that lust was about consuming

i lost my family at a certain time in my life
when it became evident
that i was unable to understand and support consumerism
and the unnatural wealth that i was expected to acquire
if indeed
according to their beliefs
"i loved my family"
for they felt that as the father
i was to do all those things to keep them happy
in their state of continuous consumption
waste and novelty

but i categorically refuse to concede to their belief
that my inability to support the consumerism of the 80's and 90's
in any way represented
any lesser love for my love for my family
when in fact
it represented a greater love
when i left
i left with my self respect
holding my head high
and willing and capable of preserving the values i believed in
which i do until today
i was indeed abandoned
by my family
although they understandably felt abandoned by me
i was alone
and without the support of a community
that would base it's wealth on values that i could embrace wholeheartedly
namely
honor, respect and loyalty to parents and guardians
to name a few

it took years to learn
the one of the greatest philosoophers of all time
made such a distinction between that which was natural
and that which was unnatural
in the acquiring of wealth
to know the difference between what governed them
and what governed me

our children dictated to us
what they wanted
and what we were expected to do
in order to gain their cooperation
i think that both the media and the educational community
trained them well to become disrespectful, disobedient and weak minded
from their earliest age to control us
while we became more and more victims unaware
of the insidious power of suggestion woven over our minds
by a highly strategically designed consumer age
governed by advertising magnates, sports and advancements in high technology
resulting in a small number of filthy rich folk
and large masses of impoverished struggling families