I often look around my flat, and all the STUFF in it, marveling at it all and feeling disgusted at the same time. By American standards, I am by no means wealthy, and actually have LESS stuff than the typical middle class American. But compared to most people in the world, it is a ridiculous amount of stuff. I will skip the obvious tirade about inequality etc. because I think that is already apparent; instead, I would simply like to wonder aloud about what this does to my (and others' in this situation) spiritual state.
Consider this. I've got more books and CD's than I can count. Same goes for clothes. I own books I've never even read, clothes I haven't worn in months, and CD's I haven't listened to in months. If I had much fewer of these things, wouldn't I value each thing more? Do I take it all for granted? Am I grateful enough? I know people who, in worse times, owned one dress they wore every single day, or had just a few books that they read, and re-read, for lack of anything else; but they savored every word precisely because words were so scarce.
Even in my own life... when I was 12 or 13 I had a lot less than it seems like kids that age do today. I loved music just as much then as I do now, but I only had a few tapes and records (no CD's yet then :) ). I listened to them over and over again. I listened to Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti so often that when I hear it now it sounds as familiar to me as my own voice. I could follow along with every song so closely that it feels like I know exactly what note comes next at every moment of the song... I can't say the same for anything I listen to now, because I listen to so much more. I LOVE all the variety, all the choices, but does it come at the cost of de-valuation?
I know that others are in the same situation, but I don't know if they ponder the ramifications. Some are even more extreme. There are people I know who buy items of clothing to wear ONCE and then throw away. That is actually going so far I couldn't imagine doing it myself!
But it just seems to be the American Way. The American Dream seems to be... the one who dies with the most stuff wins! There is so much already, but we are pressured to keep making more. Produce, produce, produce. Buy, buy, buy. I am always amazed when I read about illness, i.e. the flu, the thing that always gets lamented first is the "hours of lost productivity"! No, not how lousy it feels, not how the poor sod sick with the flu felt like crap and wanted to puke, but how many hours he didn't get to work (and produce!). As if that's what we all need - more stuff. Do we really need 45 brands of shampoo? A new wardrobe every season just because the style changed? 15 pairs of sneakers?
And just where is all this going to end up? We keep making more, buying more, throwing it away, buying more, throwing it away, etc. etc. The landfills keep growing, and growing, and growing. Has anyone even considered what will happen when we run out of space for all the landfills? The percentage of stuff that gets recycled is miniscule! Do they think we'll colonize the moon and Mars before we run out of space?! The earth's surface area is not infinite! Or are we just going to start shipping all our garbage to the moon? Our little corner of the solar system is going to look like the litter-strewn slum of the universe...
StrangeOne posted on Oct 05, 2006
| views: 595
Comments
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harriedpsychmajor said on Oct 05, 2006....
Materialism comes from our individualistic society. What we learn from a dog-eat-dog meritocracy is that material wealth equates to success, and that we are in a constant arms race in the war against low social status. I used this as an argument for the cause of poverty in one of my term papers for my Urban Studies class. It seems we are both on to something.
PS On a side note I noticed you've added me. I shall do the same.
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Weird_World said on Oct 06, 2006....
I also think StangeOne that it is individual behaviour...
I am also a hoarder...
I hoard, then one day I throw most of the stuff out...
But I am weird, and you know it...
The scene is portrayed is real, and very scary, because most of us are doing it today...
I somehow have stopped being a hoarder...
I havent bought anything since four months...
I am living off my old stuff, and now I dont even mind it...
From communism to capitalism, how do you like the move??
;)
You take care...
Salaam
S
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FaithfulDisciple said on Oct 06, 2006....
Excellent post StrangeOne. This is what crass commercialism and excessive materialism is all about. I need these so I buy it, to the point that it's the insatiable buying binge that needs to be satisfied.
Mass media through advertising tells us that we need all these things in our daily life. But as you said it, we only need enough to get by.
The idea of buying more than what is really needed is actually a defense mechanism to satisfy an inner void within that needs to be filled. The more possessions we acquire, the more we have to worry about their care and maintenance.
When we accumulate more than we actually need, we become slaves to our possessions, in other words attachment to things, idolatry.
Moderation and sensible practicality is what is really needed. Buy only what we need and is enough. After all, we enter into this world with nothing and we shall leavfe this world again with nothing.
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FaithfulDisciple said on Oct 06, 2006....
Excellent post StrangeOne. This is what crass commercialism and excessive materialism is all about. I need these so I buy it, to the point that it's the insatiable buying binge that needs to be satisfied.
Mass media through advertising tells us that we need all these things in our daily life. But as you said it, we only need enough to get by.
The idea of buying more than what is really needed is actually a defense mechanism to satisfy an inner void within that needs to be filled. The more possessions we acquire, the more we have to worry about their care and maintenance.
When we accumulate more than we actually need, we become slaves to our possessions, in other words attachment to things, idolatry.
Moderation and sensible practicality is what is really needed. Buy only what we need and is enough. After all, we enter into this world with nothing and we shall leave this world again with nothing.
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YoungAndNaive said on Oct 06, 2006....
SO, I think your point should be heard by many people. I, myself, have contemplated for a solution to this issue. I have thought of the same questions. Where will we put more landfills? Why do we need to constantly upgrade when the old stuff still works? It's society's fault. Society sends out the message that the person with the most awesome stuff would be the best. It shouldn't be that way.
We should always try to conserve.
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JayneBond said on Oct 06, 2006....
You know you don't have a lot of stuff, when you can pack it all in a few milkcrates and move out of a place in one trip, using your regular vehicle.
have backpack will travel
jb
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rmuxagirl said on Oct 13, 2006....
I agree that society tells us buy buy buy, the more stuff you have the happier you'll be, but I honestly think the less stuff, the happier. I too have vast amounts of clothes, shoes, books, and Cd's.
You can do what I do.....once every couple of months I go through my clothes and the ones that I haven't worn in over 4 months I donate to the church to give to the homeless. It's not much, but I feel slightly better that I can help someone else by donating my items.....
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mymave2006 said on Oct 25, 2006....
people live in wants and wants ,they buy and buy but it wont make them satisfied .But if we only live in simplicity life can be full.....many people are in need and we can help them by sharing what we have -
soulreaver said on Dec 15, 2006....
The unsatiable craving of the human heart... -
Supermom said on Dec 16, 2006....
I dunno man, Maybe someday we'll revert back to simple robes and girls will start keeping their panties INSIDE their pants, I'm so afraid for my kids when they're older, maybe there will be no fashion because everyone'll be naked, we'll see I guess. Oh, ya, i'm still wearing the jeans and t shirts I bought when I was about 13. it's vintage LOL -
StrangeOne said on Dec 16, 2006....
JayneBond, hahahah yes my goal is to have that little stuff someday... :)
rmuxagirl - that is pretty much what I do. But... I am constantly amazed - no matter how much I throw out or donate, no matter how many piles I make to take out of the apartment, there is always STILL SO MUCH!! And this is just a one-bedroom apartment... when I see others in their two-story houses filled to the brim, or those who need to rent storage space for the crap they can't fit into their house... whoa!!!
mymave, I often think that way... wishing life were simpler... I think many people think that way... what makes this complicated is that it seems just about impossible to go simpler after you have entered the world of the complex. Case in point: 15 years ago I would never have imagined the cell phone, or why anybody would ever need to carry a phone in their pocket. Now, I can't leave home without it! I can't imagine life without one! How did this happen? We don't even know what we want until it's available! Then we can't imagine life without it! How do you go back to a simple lifestyle when the temptations have lured you into the world of the material? It would take the willpower of... I don't what.... heh
Supermom - wow that's pretty cool that you can fit into what you wore when you were 13, not too many can say that... not me anyway... :) hmmm not that I would even if I could fit into them... call me a fashion victim but I can't imagine wearing my fuschia-colored acid washed jeans of 1987 at this point! yuck!!!!! heheheh
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Supermom said on Dec 16, 2006....
Lucky me I was 13 only 7 years ago, LOL -
prucius said on Dec 16, 2006....
Buying something new is always a pleasant experience. I think that's the catch, and it's hard to get rid of something that we might need someday, after all, we bought it for a reason, now we have to tell ourself we were wrong? I dont think we can do that easily. It's a built in mechanism that happens on a semi unconscious level, so we end up ignoring the buildup of stuff cos there's something more important to do right now.
There's my 2 cents
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Bronx said on Dec 17, 2006....
Touche, StrangeOne: 'Too much of a good thing is not good for you'.
I always seem to find a new use for my old stuff sooner or later, so I hoard them or give away the best of them that someone else needs badly.
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Supermom said on Dec 17, 2006....
I think prucius has a point about the pack-rat nature of people, I wonder though if it might be that we hold on to things that are no longer useful because of a misplaced desire to re create the feeling we had when we were younger and wore or used the item in question, human beings are, after all, tereibly nostalgic by nature. Maybe we're not materialistic so much as we are afraid to age. Think on how people buy what is currently in fashion so as to avoid looking out dated or old, they buy the latest anti wrinkle skincare, they get their nails done, it all about fear...how sad. I can't wait for my wrinkles! I think my Mom's crow's feet are awesome! I think people need to start thinking about aging as a rite of passage, people don't argue with old men and women, why don't we young people look foreward to always being right?
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