How to Be Truly Free: Lessons From a Philosopher President

Pepe Mujica, Uruguay's spartan former president and plain-spoken philosopher, offers wisdom from a rich life as he battles cancer.

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(Unprompted.)
I think that humanity, as it's going, is doomed.
Why do you say that?
We waste a lot of time uselessly. We can live more peacefully. Take Uruguay. Uruguay has 3.5 million people. It imports 27 million pairs of shoes. We make garbage and work in pain. For what?
You're free when you escape the law of necessity — when you spend the time of your life on what you desire. If your needs multiply, you spend your life covering those needs.
Humans can create infinite needs. The market dominates us, and it robs us of our lives.
Humanity needs to work less, have more free time and be more grounded. Why so much garbage? Why do you have to change your car? Change the refrigerator?
There is only one life and it ends. You have to give meaning to it. Fight for happiness, not just for wealth.
Do you believe that humanity can change?
It could change. But the market is very strong. It has generated a subliminal culture that dominates our instinct. It's subjective. It's unconscious. It has made us voracious buyers. We live to buy. We work to buy. And we live to pay. Credit is a religion. So we're kind of screwed up...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/23/world/americas/pepe-mujica-uruguay-president.html?smid=em-share