Although Chinese and Western religious orientations do not intersect, it is incontestable that Chinese spiritualism -- if defined as pursuits beyond material gratification -- is in the midst of transition, particularly among the overworked, overstressed middle classes.
For this, many of society's most active members are willing to further delay material gratification: "Dignity before Bread," was the heartfelt motto of many young people in the countries of the Arab Spring; disregard of one's own immediate economic interests for the party of "more God and less government" is evident in America's Red States.
Dreiser's characters struggle for self-realization in the face of society's narrow and repressive moral conventions, and they often obtain material success and erotic gratification while a more enduring spiritual satisfaction eludes them.
In a provocative twist, "The Unknown Terrorist" also questions whether there is truly anything left in our society for the terrorists to destroy — anything, that is, other than a lust for instant gratification and material things.
If you want to grow your shoe collection, own a fancy car, or spend your money on other depreciables, then you don't really value money as much as you value material (and transient) instant gratification.
The raps — by Black Thought and regular Roots collaborators including Dice Raw, Greg Porn and Phonte, with occasional neo-soul vocal choruses from Bilal Olver — are about desperate conditions, material temptations and futile gratifications.
That means that material for masturbation, self-gratification, and "helping myself" has become so common, so a part of our every day reality that a major media company said, "ehh guys, it costs to much to do this, so we are going to invest elsewhere".
Unlike the exquisite examples of automobile or furniture design collected by the Museum of Modern Art, or the gorgeous motorcycles displayed at the Guggenheim in 1998, there is very little esthetic gratification -- formal, material or technical -- to be found here.
We can seek gratification in the material world but the soul will continue to yearn for you to come home and honor a deeper happiness beyond form, your souls happiness.
Bribing is the ultimate demotivating strategy because any kid who associates completing homework with a new DS game or an allowance increase learns to do the activity for material gain rather than internal gratification, or for greater understanding.
The financial industry is not unique; indeed, our society values immediate gratification, and we worship material things.
