One of the interesting – and hugely mentally destabilising – things about capitalism is that there is no top to it. No matter how hard you work, how important your social circles are, how big your yacht, your bag of coke, your circle of A-list celeb mates, there is always a nagging just one more. And there’s no top to it, none at all. Bill Gates? He’s rich, but hey, let’s get richer.
The nice thing about the other direction is that there is a finite horizon. Nothing is simply nothing. There’s no less about it – if you have nothing, you’ve arrived at a stability which can’t be denied. Gandhi wandered around with a stick and a bowl. It doesn’t get a whole lot simpler or more stable than that.
There’s something to be said for stability, for avoiding a world in which the just one more endless receeding horizon is there in your face every single day. I guess that’s why Eckhart Tolle resonates with so many people. He resonates with me, too, which – to be frank – is quite annoying as he’s dangerously edging towards the MBS section of Waterstone’s.
Here’s to simplicity, and the stability that comes with it.
