Gongaware Disease
Common symptoms of Gongaware Disease include the reduction of waste, curbing costly habits, suppressing instant gratification by means of fiscal self-restraint, seeking efficiency, avoiding traps, defying expensive social norms, embracing
free (as in gratis) options, using barter, and staying well-informed about local circumstances and both market and product/service realities.
Gongaware Disease in the context of certain
human interaction systems, is a (genetically influenced)
philosophy in which one does not trust, or is deeply wary of "expert"
knowledge, often from commercial markets or corporate cultures, claiming to know what is in the best economic, material, or spiritual interests of the individual.
There are many different spiritual communities that consider Gongaware Disease a virtue or a spiritual discipline. The Religious
Society of Friends and the Puritans are examples of such groups. The basic
philosophy behind this is the idea that people ought to save
money in order to allocate it to more charitable purposes, such as helping others in need. But, sometimes not. Sometimes just to hide it under the mattress and calling it ‘mine’ is rewarding enough to those afflicted with Gongaware Disease.
There are also environmentalists who consider Gongaware Disease to be a virtue through which humans can make use of their ancestral skills as hunter-gatherers, carrying little and needing little, and finding meaning in nature instead of man-made conventions or religion. Henry David Thoreau expressed a similar
philosophy in Walden, with his zest for self-reliance and minimal possessions while simply living in the woods.
Endemic to much of
Pennsylvania. Probably Genetic.
Probably infectious. Persons in close proximity to those infected with Gongaware Disease will see a rise in their net worth.
