Excellent poem. Made me check myself and wonder how much of it describes me.

(1) A cell phone *can be* a book. I admit that it’s not very often, but…
(2) The long-form book isn’t always the best form for packaging information. An article or video clip or video game can sometimes be better. Cell phones present this kind of information more and more often these days.
(3) Books are one of the least efficient ways to lug around bits. I returned 10 pounds of books to the library yesterday and at least 9 of them I regretted not having digitally.
(4) The article’s fears over functional literacy are ill-founded; you can’t text without being able to read and write. But that doesn’t make you smart: the ability to text isn’t correlated with test scores. Owning books does correlate (according to the article, according to Nevada researchers).

But it’s wrong for the Mafia to break your knees if you choose not to buckle up. It’s wrong for “the government” to seize your paycheck or property, lock you up in prison with a psychopath, or execute you if you choose not to buckle up. And it’s wrong for me to do all of the above.

Depending on how loosely you want to define drugs (does coffee or videogames count?), I can personally say I haven’t taken drugs, and have never been drunk. If someone says “everyone does it”, I can say “I haven’t”. I’d like to think that being able to say that will somehow give someone else the strength to say “no” someday.

But say you’re not me, and you already have a drug or alcohol problem. Defeating one or both gives one an equally strong testimony for helping others.

“Nonsense!” you say. “I don’t care about that stuff!”

How ’bout this? Staying sober gives you more control over your actions. Rather than forgetting worries temporarily, why not see about resolving them?

…I feel hypocritical for saying that. I have plenty of worries right now to call my own, and not much of a plan for resolving them. But, I’ll say that I have greater odds of resolving them sober than I do otherwise.

On that note, I have to confess that videogames prevent my progress as much as any other drug would, but I know I’m not addicted. I can go weeks at a time without playing one pretty easily. That has to count for something..

I agree with your list of drug ‘benefits’: life management, pain-killer, pleasureableness, escape. But these of course are all deceptions to one degree or another.

But why not? To avoid deceiving ourselves, but also to stem the tide of becoming more inward and self-centered. But you knew that. We become less present in the world, more gnostic, less incarnational and thereby proportionally less able to fulfill the command to love my neighbor.

But let’s get specific and take coffee for an example. I drink coffee every morning. Why? Because I like it: it’s a pleasing taste. Yes, it is a habit, but so is ironing my shirt. Does that make it a drug? Can I live without it? I honestly think I could if I had to. If the world coffee market collapsed or it became too expensive or a nuclear bomb made travel and communication impossible, I think I could do without coffee pretty easily, but maybe only because I would be preoccupied with other more pressing matters.

But maybe I’m deceiving myself.
So my question is where do you draw the line between consistent enjoyment of the good of creation and the destructive grasping of the my ‘precious.’?

No, I don’t believe ‘frugal’ is the same as ‘tightwad’ as I used it. I suppose the difference is in the motivation - do you control the Mammon or does it control you. Most of us could probably use a little more frugality. But why are we being frugal (being mindful of the pennies)? If we are upright, it is in order to be good stewards; in order to bless. But if we are selfish, our actions will be fueled by envy, grasping, carping, sidelong glances, hording, doubt, and fear of the future.

You could probably help me come up with a better word than ‘tightwad’ but I’m glad you understood the spirit of the matter.

- KC

I’m pretty sure I understand your definition of ‘tightwad’ from this post, but I ask about ‘frugal’, because I define it as something like “living within your means” (usually *well* within before people notice enough to point it out).