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Didn't they read my column Say no to consumerism?

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I am not totally impressed by his speech, but totally impressed by the fact that he is allowed to speak in this manner in PRC. Although the speech is still a bit cryptic in a way to avoid too direct a comment to the government, it's already quite a quantum leap in China.

Today, I bought 2 shirts and a pair of pants out of necessity (I can’t go to work in nude, somehow).  Not quite sure since when, I’ve become very practical - I only buy what I need, not more, not less.

In the old days, gear was all that I care.  I used to buy the latest and greatest, even though it would only be used for a week (then another new toy popped up to the mind).  Needless to say, I was one of those nerds who help push the GDP up a few %, at the expense of one’s own pension.

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Someday, we'll all cease to exist.  We know that we are mortals, and being so we devise a scheme of bringing up off-springs for continuation of our unfinished journey.  During the process, we created the fight for resources between us and the nature, and all sorts of inventions to ensure that our off-springs can have the abundance of everything, except that we forgot the other side of the equation – what we gain is most likely a loss to the others.

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We are lucky this time, just "simple" plague. What about next time on anthrax or bird flu?