[dinopello]

I though this post was interesting

If Western consumer culture sometimes resembles a bulimic binge in which we taste and then spew back things that never quite nourish us, the ascetic, anorexic alternative of rejecting materialism altogether will leave us equally starved.

Cherishing possessions (materialism) isn't a bad thing. Probably everyone here has a favorite tool that is many years/decades old. It's the disposable consumerism that is the problem.

[kuidaskassikaeb]

I think that the real answer to that is that, at least in America, people are not buying objects to have them, they are trying to buy an emotional high; either status, respect, or a sense of validation.

The problem with this is that objects really can't, except as status symbols really provide these emotions. And even for that, given easy credit, the competition can also buy the product. For somebody buying a status symbol newness is, of course, part of the product. I really don't think that people really want all the crap they own, and you really don't need that much. People do, however, crave status, respect, and a sense of validation, and they always will.

[Outcast_Searcher]

I really don't think that people really want all the crap they own, and you really don't need that much. People do, however, crave status, respect, and a sense of validation, and they always will.

You're right. You know, it's really sad that the consumer cr*p is valued over things like education and ideas. I was lucky enough to be brought up by depression era parents who taught me the value of saving, investing, doing without, etc.

I about 1985, I read "Money and Class in America". This was several years out of college, and I was just getting to the level of a "decent" income. It portrayed people trying to "keep up with the Joneses" in a very clear way. It dawned on me -- suppose I am "rich" - do I ever compete with the likes of Bill Gates? Heck no.

That was it for me. Never got on the consumer acquisition treadmill, and am sure glad. Too bad the noise from all the ads drowns out common sense.

Note: I noticed that book in the cheap "remainders" section of our most popular local bookstore a few years later. (Bought a few copies dirt cheap to give to friends). I guess mass consumers don't like to read anything that points out how gullible/shallow they are.