发帖
雷达卡
We're in an age of narcissism and commodification of everything, including intimacy.
Marriage and love now come with added cost for men in China. Some women go even further, putting a price for going on a date with a man.
A survey conducted by the committee of match-making service industries, China Association of Social Workers, affiliated to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and baihe.com in mid-January shows that 77 percent of single women think men earning less than 4,000 yuan ($633) a month are not fit for dating.
The National Bureau of Statistics figures show that the average salary of urban residents was only 1,998 yuan a month in 2011, which means a large number of men don't qualify as a date.
But surprisingly, the survey that covered 50,384 people, also found a romantic side to young people in today's world full of material desires. Sixty-nine percent of the men and nearly 72 percent of the women polled said they would marry for love.
Love, however, can hardly pave the way to the aisle in the real world. A young man may have to struggle to find a wife if he doesn't have property. A recent poll of young people born in the 1990s shows that a man needs at least an apartment, a car or a rich family to tie the knot.
The post-1980s generation has greater expectations from life and their spouses than the previous generations. A wedding is about fulfilling a dream and showing off, even though a China Investment Research Consultant survey shows the average expenditure on a wedding was 30,000-40,000 yuan in 2009, compared with 20,000 yuan in 2005. Wedding expenses usually cover clothes, jewelry, a banquet, photographs and a honeymoon.
It's true that housing prices have come down in many cities over the past year or so thanks to government measures such as higher interest rates on mortgages, property tax, curbs on lending and restrictions on the purchase of second homes. But many young people still cannot afford to buy an apartment without down payments from their parents.
More women would like their boyfriends to have an apartment, a car and a good salary before saying "I do". And the rising number of divorce, and the fear of taking on obligations and losing one's freedom are deterring more people from getting married.
The new millionaires, who indulge in hedonism and worship Mammon, have become the new role models. Money has never been more important for people. The country's economic miracles have also created unnecessary desires.
We, however, would be surprised to know the real tastes of Greek philosopher Epicurus (341270 BC), from whom hedonism is mostly sourced. Epicurus didn't have a grand house. He ate simple food and drank water rather than wine. Such was the taste of the man who described pleasure as the purpose of life.
In the AD 120s, in the central market-place of Oinoanda, a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the southwestern corner of Asia Minor, a column 80 meters long and nearly 4 meters high was built and inscribed with Epicurean slogans for the attention of market-goers:
Luxurious foods and drinks in no way produce freedom from harm and a healthy condition in the flesh.
One must regard wealth beyond what is natural as of no more else than water to a container that is full to overflowing. Real value is generated not by theaters and baths and perfumes and ornaments but by natural science.
Diogenes, one of Oinoanda's wealthiest men, had paid for the column because he wanted to share with his fellow citizens the secrets of happiness he had discovered in the philosophy of Epicurus, who was also the key Greek figure in the development of science and the scientific method.
But we tend to forget the virtues of Epicurus, who aimed to attain a happy, tranquil life, characterized by peace and freedom from fear and the absence of pain, when we think about hedonism.
No wonder, a well-mouthed Epicurean advertising campaign today can be devastating because of its power to precipitate global economic collapse.
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
京公网安备 11010802022788号
