The following paragraph explains the conserver philosophy. It was excerpted from a book by Charles Long called "How to Live Without a Salary" and reflects my own personal beliefs, values, and lifestyle.
" The drive for material success is fundamentally based on aggressive competition and material aquisition where true happiness and satisfaction are forever elusive.Material man compares himself to his peers, who always have more than he does. When material man excersises his greed and envy with greater skill, he achieves even more material success....and compares himself to a new set of peers. His new peers again have more than he does. Thus, even if one works overtime to keep up with the Joneses, the Joneses dont compare themselves to you and feel rich. They compare themselves to the Rockafellers and feel poor. Even at the very pinnacle of material success this methodology fails to buy peace, contentment, or happiness....because winning is never permanent. The winner must forever defend his spoils from all of the envious strivers beneath him. Thus the tragedy of material man is that he is an insatiable being...a mere puppet of the great American marketing machine. When material needs are established only in relation to what others have, irrespective of what little is really needed to be warm and well-fed, then needs can never be satisfied. Conservers don't come from some higher spirtual plane, freed from greed and envy. They merely have reached the point of contentment, and in doing so have reaped the richest rewards of all....inner peace, health & true happiness"
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