My Midwest Mag Feature
Written on September 21, 2009
My Midwest published a Q & A interview with Jim Rubens on OverSuccess in its September/October issue.
Healing the American Obsession with Wealth, Fame, Power, and Perfection
Written on September 21, 2009
My Midwest published a Q & A interview with Jim Rubens on OverSuccess in its September/October issue.
Hey Jim… everyone needs to read your book! It really does an awesome job explaining why we live in an insane world where the actions of the majority just don’t make sense. But there are obvious reasons for the frightening state we’re in. As you point out, our conditioned minds and status-hungry egos control us and have us doing things that are contrary to living a fulfilling and happy life and making the world a more peaceful place. We need to change our ways or the whole planet is at risk. That may sound alarmist and armageddon-like, but all I have to do is look around me…at the individuals obsessed with getting rich at any price and at the governments around the world more willing to sacrifice lives than to change cultures and invest in peace.
I am stepping back myself… working fewers hours, turning down senior executive positions and focusing on family and friends. But it’s hard. I’ve got my ego and obsessions under control but I can’t seem to get the support of my family and friends. The materialism of our culture is ingrained in everyone around me… we need to renovatete our kitchen, we to get a new SUV, our friends need to go to fancy restaturants, we need to send our kids to Harvard. I feel alone in this quest for simplicity and balance. People think I’m crazy, or lazy, or going through a mid-life crisis. Until we change the culture, I feel stuck on this hamster wheel. Let’s hope we evolve as a society and the human race realizes that we have created a world that is dominated by brainwashed minds with the wrong priorities. Unfortunuately, it seems to are going in the opposite direction – the enlightened people of China, India and Africa are now being conditioned with our American materialistic and social status ways. How sad.
Bill:
Downshifting is not a simple decision. While I hope I’ve made the case that it is not healthy to set one’s highest life priority on the acquisition of success merit badges, we should also not fail to seek out endeavors for ourselves in the larger world that realize personal talents and create passionate purpose in living. Human progress stops if we all retreat to small self-satisfactions.