Lissa, your links were great. This notion that an American is impoverished because he or she can no longer afford the rent-a-tv stuff bought on credit years ago is just baloney.

I could really get going on a rant here, but I’ll keep it clean, and say to anyone living in North America that as bad as it might be, there are people living on far, far less in the rest of the world, and many of them are incredibly happy, relaxed and thankful for the lives they lead.

Moving to a developing country (Malaysia) forced me to get rid of stuff; some expats move here with the whole house shipped with them, but we came with 4 suitcases. Cutting down on STUFF is liberating. WHen I purchase something (a service, an item, a coffee) I appreciate it more because it does not compete with my other “stuff” for valuation and attention.

If the small kampong (similar to a tiny village, where the people don’t own the land, and at some point will likely be uprooted from the tiny dwelling they call home) near us is filled with such happy and kind people (who work 50+ hours a week and earn perhaps the equivalent of $200 USD a month), why are so many of us with much more fortunate circumstances complaining?

Thanks!

@Stephen,

That is great insight. Yes, blog participation in any form (comments, emails, links, etc.) is usually around 1% or even less. It’s like the 80/20 rule on steroids. But I also know that much more than 1% are active readers, and for years I read blogs and actively followed other writers without ever commenting or otherwise contacting them. Keep up the good work over there.

I’d like to add something with a different twist here. As a writer who happens to maintain a blog (how’s that for wording?), I’ve learned through various sources including the Problogger book that only 1 percent of your subscribers will be active commentators. If that’s true, then I’m a very wealthy blogger because I am blessed with an active community of commentators. Depending on Feedburner’s mood, my subscriber count varies between 450 to 510. If you take 1 % of that, I’d be lucky to get 4 or 5 commentators per post. But I’m thankful that more than that participate at any given time.

I don’t know about your stats but you certainly seem to have an active community here as well.

The point? We are richer than we think even if we seem to have “so little.” The moment you widen your focus and perception, the more you realize you have it good.

Great article! Reasonated with me, as you can see.