What shall we acquire?
And to what end?
How many houses, cars, suits, shoes
Does one need?
How much to go unused
Lie fallow
Rusting, rotting, decaying
Wasted
How many persons
To suffer deprivation
By our hoarding of wealth?
Shall we then shun material acquisition
And instead focus on acquiring experience?
Again, to what end?
For experience yields memory
Recalled in satisfaction
Shared in glory
Yet, ephemeral, transitory
Fading with age
Ending with death
Even that being written and passed on
Slowly receding into the vast trove
Of unread history
Nay, acquisition, taking, is not the goal
Rather, giving, dispersing
Enriching the lives of those around us
Caring for those in need
Ensuring that all may attain their fullest potential
Unburdened with deprivation
Want, fear
Retaining for ourselves only enough
To meet personal need
And pursue one’s own self-actualization
What a world we would make
Should we abandon our pursuits and competitions
And instead work together to the betterment
The sustenance, the achievement
Of all