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I don't regularly read Wendy McElroy, but a snippet from her latest blog was at Rational Review News Digest (RRND), [www.rationalreview.com/news] which I do receive daily, caught my attention - Frugalista Philosophy #4."The goal is to spend your time -- which is your life and, so,
irreplaceable -- in a manner you value, a manner that contributes to
your health. One of the most destructive assumptions of our culture is
that people should act to maximize their profit, their self-interest
and that profit is defined by money. I define profit as an increase in
the quality of my life, which often means less money."
http://www.wendymcelroy.com/news.php?extend.1435
As an aside, the last two sentences above are so poorly written that they will undoubtedly add to the destructive misunderstandings. Far better would have been to write:
"One of the most destructive assumptions of our culture is that profit
is defined by money - and that people should maximize this kind of
profit because only it is in their self-interest. Rather, profit should be
defined as an increase in the quality of one's life, which often means
less money."
I read the entry in which she goes on to give some worthwhile suggestions on how to live more frugally for the purpose of "increasing the quality of [her] life".
"Think like a micro-enterpreneur[sic]. View your life (or your family
unit) as a small business that operates along the same lines as
any successful venture...with a product (your labor perhaps),
overhead, cost controls, a budget, etc..The best way to make a
frugal living -- namely, one that doesn't stress you out or drain
away your love of life -- is to do those things you most enjoy and
try to market them."
Wendy, though, has not specifically stated the purpose of a person's life. I and Paul do this - it is to optimize one's lifetime happiness, to optimally increase all that one wants to achieve and maintain.
Like Wendy, we consider the word "profit" to mean much more than an increase in or return of money beyond what one has expended. It is having the positive benefits from all desirable events in one's life be greater than the disbenefits from all the undesirable events - in other words, a net increase in *whatever* one values. Something to consider, and Wendy acknowledges this, is that one's time is the most precious commodity that one has. Since a person's lifetime cannot be extended, at least currently, beyond the current species maximum so far recorded, 122 years, time is definitely a limited resource for everyone - 100 years is only 36525 days (think about that!). And even getting to this current maximum requires spending precious time taking judicious actions to prevent the bodily degeneration or diseases that will occur otherwise.
The life I and Paul live is right along the line of many of the suggestions that Wendy has given; we constantly try to optimize our time as part of our method for optimally increasing our lifetime happiness.
morelife.org and selfsip.org
