Gluttony

If greed or covetousness is unrestrained desire for the things other people have, gluttony is the execution of that desire.  We typically think of gluttony and the inordinate consumption of food.  Therefore the gluttonous are easily identified by their waistlines.  Obesity, we think, is the obvious face of gluttony.

Gluttony is, in reality, just unrestrained consumption.  The item or items being consumed may vary.  One does hear frequently about the problem of obesity in America.  The concern about obesity is not that it has its root in a sin, but that it is "unhealthy" and puts a strain on our healthcare system which is costing us more and more and leaving us less available income to, well, consume.  I live in Vermont - perhaps the least obese state in the union.  But it is not free of gluttony.

Here's a picture that sums up gluttony - a Costco cart piled high with foodstuffs (including the cake-sized "muffins" they sell) as well as various small electronic devices and, say, a large TV.  It is a good picture because it places all of those goods into the same category - consumables.  For that is what they are.  We consume perishables - food - but also non-perishables like furniture, televisions.  When the non-perishables wear out or are broken we don't fix them, we chuck them.  And consume more.

I know all of this because I go to Costco (because you can get SO MUCH STUFF for a comparatively small unit price.)  You can't buy small at Costco.  I was once there preparing for a small party and thought a little ale would be in order.  You can't buy 12 (all I needed) at Costco.  You have to get 24.  This is not a rant about Costco, I am merely using them as an example of what is common everywhere.

We are called, in our economy, consumers.  And consumption is not a sin, it is a virtue.  As I consume more, I stimulate the economy and help drive the engines of commerce.  It is a public service.  I am not convinced.  I think that consumer is just a modern sanitized word that actually means glutton.  Just think what the news would sound like.  "President provides stimulus to encourage gluttons to spend more."

I am not taken to too much food.  That is not the item I am tempted to over-consume.  But get me talking about gadgets or electronics or equipment for outdoor activities and I am a regular Jabba the Hut.  Again, fed by a covetousness of the items and envy of their possessors (I will get to Envy later this week), I am a reckless consumer.  I am a glutton.

One of the tragedies of gluttony is its waste - food, furniture and TVs discarded is part of the waste.  But the other waste is money.  Money is a tool, nothing more and nothing less.  It can be used to meet our needs and those of others, or it can be wasted on that which is unneeded.  The leaves us less money for things like charity and alms - more virtuous uses of our money.  Another tragedy is debt, the accumulation of which appears to be a national pastime.

Here, as with covetousness, I must not confuse what I need with what I want - regardless of whether the object of my desire is an actual consumable or some flashy piece of silicon, glass and plastic that simply everyone has.