HAVING VS.

BEING

Are humans more concerned with having than being?

For me, YES, humans are more concerned with having than being and I think the
reason is because of the influence of society and culture.

One of the necessary aspect of the world is property or possessions. When

everything turns out to be a commodity, what we have to offer is what we are and what we
own becomes a reflection of who we are. Being becomes a means to having and having a
means to being. From the youngest age, we are expected to build a career in order to
afford being alive. We are told that our well-being will greatly depend on our material
situation.

The more we acquire (e.g. knowledge, money and things), the more we can afford
(e.g. working, influencing, using and doing). Having poses itself as the passport to being.
Advertisement only work to support this illusion.

Of course, it's all a bit more than an illusion. After all, we've built a whole social
system on this assumption and we're expected to make the best of it. It just takes a bit more
efforts to rise above--or besides--it.

First, we need to overcome the confusion: the sort of art which allows us to see
beyond this materialist frame of mind, for instance, may not sell as much as the sort of
entertainment which embraces it. Very few people enjoy a peek at their own alienation.

Second, we need to move and grow to those grounds where the shared values are
more about being and less about having. These values can slightly vary according to where
we are, who we meet with, work with, and so on.

Third, we may need to accept to pay a price. Having pays; its price may lie
elsewhere. Depending on what you want to be, being that could jeopardize some
opportunities and open new ones.

“Full humanization… requires the breakthrough from the possession-centered to the

activity-centered orientation, from selfishness and egotism to solidarity and altruism.” –Erich
Fromm