This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Do We Own Our Stuff, Or Does Our Stuff Own Us?
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Being freed from being owned is a form of liberation with many manifestations.
The frenzied acquisition of more stuff is supposed to be an unalloyed good: good for "growth," good for the consumer who presumably benefits from more stuff and good for governments collecting taxes on the purchase of all the stuff.
But the frenzy to acquire more stuff raises a question: do we own our stuff, or does our stuff own us? I think the answer is clear: our stuff owns us, not the other way around.
Everything we own demands its pound of flesh in one way or another: space must be found for it amid the clutter of stuff we already own, it must be programmed, recharged, maintained, dusted, moved, etc.
The only way to lighten the burden of ownership is to get rid of stuff rather than buy more stuff. The only way to stop being owned is to is get rid of the stuff that owns us.
I propose a new holiday event, Gold Sunday: this is the day everyone hauls all the stuff they "own" that is a burden to a central location and dumps it in a free-for-all. Whatever is left after the freeters have picked through the pile is carted to the recycling yard and whatever's left after that culling is taken to the dump.
Frankly, I wouldn't accept a new big-screen TV, vehicle, tablet computer, etc. etc. etc. at any price because I am tired of stuff owning me. I don't want any more entertainment or computational devices, musical instruments, vehicles, clothing, kitchen appliances, or anything else for that matter, except what can be consumed with some modest enjoyment and no ill effects.
We live in a small flat and I have no room for more stuff, and I have no time for more devices or entertainment. I have too much of everything but money and time.
I don't want to pay more auto insurance, maintenance costs, etc., nor do I want more devices to fiddle with. I am enslaved to the few I already own.
The burdens of being owned by stuff are suppressed in a consumer-driven economy and society. The glories of owning more stuff are constantly being trumpeted out of self-interest, as is the act of acquisition. Those making money off the flow of new stuff into our homes promote it as the wonder of wonders.
Since nobody makes money promoting getting rid of stuff and not replacing it with new stuff, that idea doesn't get much media coverage.
Let's face it, Degrowth isn't profitable, nor does it generate taxes.
Given the dependency of our livelihoods on the constant acquisition and consumption of more stuff, it is a form of blasphemy to address the great psychological relief that results from ending the cycle of gift-giving and the replacement of stuff with more stuff.
Being freed from being owned is a form of liberation with many manifestations: in terms of work, being liberated from serving the pathologies of Corporate America and soul-deadening service to the state are liberating. In terms of politics, being freed from the crazy-making grasp of the Demopublicans' failed ideologies is liberating. In terms of finance, being freed from the servitude of debt is liberating. In terms of the material world, being freed from having to waste time, money and energy dealing with stuff is liberating.
Liberation isn't profitable, and more's the pity.
»
- 24054 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Came in this world with nothing, will leave with nothing.
A lot of people love talking about doing with less but never really pull it off, the need to impress is just too great. The clincher is not giving a fuck about what people think of your house, your car, your clothes, and your gadgets. Sounds like a small thing but it's everything.
"If you care about what other people think about you, you become their prisoner. If you don't care, then you are free."
--Attributed to some wise person some years ago, don't know who
The rich and the elite owns the rest of us.
Always have, always will.
Speaking of useless "stuff", LEGO strip club anyone?
http://citizenbrick.myshopify.com/collections/building-sets/products/the...
A man has a choice between the temporal and spiritual worlds.... If he has found any true, meaningful way, it is to enhance his spiritual development.
He has discovered the choice is between his ego and his very soul.
The choice between the very illusion of the temporal world and reality of the unseen.
Those who understand the experiential nature of such are those who know bottoms, no longer attempt to build their roof before their foundation. Understand the discharging of the money changers from the temples. Understand and appreciate the deep meanings and lessons of those who have gone before.
Who have learned to differentiate between our wants which are never satisfied and our needs which are always provided for. Have cast off the burdens of the past and anxieties of the future and are now living here in the present, one day at a time. Who find the pleasure and comfort of no longer living in a dream world having been led gently from fantasizing to embracing reality with open arms. Who at last are at peace with themselves, with others, and with God.
I know this because my ego knows this.
"AT A CERTAIN season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house. I have thus surveyed the country on every side within a dozen miles of where I live. In imagination I have bought all the farms in succession, for all were to be bought, and I knew their price. I walked over each farmer's premises, tasted his wild apples, discoursed on husbandry with him, took his farm at his price, at any price, mortgaging it to him in my mind; even put a higher price on it — took everything but a deed of it — took his word for his deed, for I dearly love to talk — cultivated it, and him too to some extent, I trust, and withdrew when I had enjoyed it long enough, leaving him to carry it on. This experience entitled me to be regarded as a sort of real-estate broker by my friends. Wherever I sat, there I might live, and the landscape radiated from me accordingly. What is a house but a sedes, a seat? — better if a country seat. I discovered many a site for a house not likely to be soon improved, which some might have thought too far from the village, but to my eyes the village was too far from it. Well, there I might live, I said; and there I did live, for an hour, a summer and a winter life; saw how I could let the years run off, buffet the winter through, and see the spring come in. The future inhabitants of this region, wherever they may place their houses, may be sure that they have been anticipated. An afternoon sufficed to lay out the land into orchard, wood-lot, and pasture, and to decide what fine oaks or pines should be left to stand before the door, and whence each blasted tree could be seen to the best advantage; and then I let it lie, fallow, perchance, for a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.
My imagination carried me so far that I even had the refusal of several farms — the refusal was all I wanted — but I never got my fingers burned by actual possession. The nearest that I came to actual possession was when I bought the Hollowell place, and had begun to sort my seeds, and collected materials with which to make a wheelbarrow to carry it on or off with; but before the owner gave me a deed of it, his wife — every man has such a wife — changed her mind and wished to keep it, and he offered me ten dollars to release him. Now, to speak the truth, I had but ten cents in the world, and it surpassed my arithmetic to tell, if I was that man who had ten cents, or who had a farm, or ten dollars, or all together. However, I let him keep the ten dollars and the farm too, for I had carried it far enough; or rather, to be generous, I sold him the farm for just what I gave for it, and, as he was not a rich man, made him a present of ten dollars, and still had my ten cents, and seeds, and materials for a wheelbarrow left. I found thus that I had been a rich man without any damage to my poverty. But I retained the landscape, and I have since annually carried off what it yielded without a wheelbarrow. With respect to landscapes,
I have frequently seen a poet withdraw, having enjoyed the most valuable part of a farm, while the crusty farmer supposed that he had got a few wild apples only. Why, the owner does not know it for many years when a poet has put his farm in rhyme, the most admirable kind of invisible fence, has fairly impounded it, milked it, skimmed it, and got all the cream, and left the farmer only the skimmed milk." -- Thoreau's Walden
Tyler Durden sums this up in 18 seconds
http://youtu.be/ByqRVviyOiQ
Or in 14 seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPPvkhGZT7Y
And with waaay less fuckin text.
To appropriate a line from Kierkegaard -
The poet constructs a palace of ideas and lives in a hovel.
The farmer is of far more value. We are lousy with poets.
The temporal world is fleeting, and passeth away.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and like grasping the wind.
Yes, to understand and appreciate the deep meanings and lessons of those who have gone before.
And all the time, it has been there before me, that I myself ignored, rejected and heretofore demeaned.
Well said knukles, cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGYaFMFU63U
I logged in just to up vote your coment.
So "dead on" knuckles.
This post by knukles is the best post I have ever seen on ZH.
possessed by obsessions
obsessed by possessions
this is the transgression that leads to
depression
All I own - *everything* - fits into my vehicle.
I recommend 'Voluntary Simplicity' by Duane Elgin.
Decades ago, when I was in the military, then for about ten years after I got out, I could move with just a pickup truck. Then I got married. Now I don't know where anything is, piled in all the clutter of ceramic ducks, shoes and frilly curtains.
Seriously, this is probably my biggest problem with marriage. The constant shopping, piling, and cleaning of the various piles is crushing my soul.
*
LOL...I'd love to see your definition of the asterisk! :)
easiest way to get rid of all your shit is to get rid of your wife and her shit and make her clean the fuck up before she leaves. i did that. its illuminating
When my ex hoofed it, I invited her to take anything she wanted. She took it all, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, except my clothes. I camped out in the house for years after that.
I did pretty much the same but I kept the pet and a few wild life prints I was partial to. A cat and a couple of framed pictures, I didn't feel unnecessarily weighted down.
she left my clothes, my office, the dogs, and the kids (accept for 1/3 of the days...of which i help on most), and the yard. i love my yard. took bedroom set (we didnt need the new one), the china, and all of her shit (which was fucking everywhere)
guys if you are not married, do NOT marry a slob
Guys, if you are not married, do NOT marry.
FIFY
however you still need to find a way to get laid often and after a while, on the cheap (like no fancy dinners and drinks everytime you want a blowjob). like come over and watch netflix and bang...then go home
i just say to your ex "get on your knees"
Slavery replaced the killing of those vanquished.
Someday, when government no longer exists, the last type of slavery will disappear.
We are owned by the banks and the government, not our "stuff". We rent from .gov (property taxes), the banks( mortgage, car payment, student loan, credit card payment etc, etc, etc.). Most people think they "own" their stuff, and all they do is rent it. Debt slave city.
He who dies with the most toys...still dies.
He just gets a nicer funeral.
Tyler Durden: Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.
It's simply a matter of time preference.
So true.
Speaking from personal experience, I once owned very much, virtually every "toy" one could want, within reason.
I gradually found out that none of it brought me happiness, instead, it tied me down and actually kept me from doing the things I came to truly enjoy.
So, I sold (and gave away) much, and I gradually came to appreciate the "simple" life.
I have a much better life, every single day, now than I ever had when chasing the "dream".
It does not take much material wealth to be comfortable. Your time is the greatest currency you will ever have on this earth.
Use it wisely.
Your time is the greatest currency you will ever have on this earth.
Bingo. The passage of time is measured by your brain by the advent of novel experiences, it's not a linear record. The more different experiences you have, the longer your life feels. The difference in price between a small house and a large one could provide 100 new experiences that generate memories, while material things generate fewer after their initial impact. It's just a better way to spend money.
So it's all about memories? That reminds me, I need a new camera!
It does not take much material wealth to be comfortable. Your time is the greatest currency you will ever have on this earth.
Use it wisely.
I like that one! Thanks.
Yes, brother. Time and Attention.
My Granddad was dying of cancer at 76 years of age. He was at home with hospice and the family being cared for. On one of his last days, in a moment of clarity, he stood up, put both hands on my shoulders and with crazy fire in his eyes he looked me straight in the eye and said "it goes by too fast". He wanted me to know that. He died few days later....
Soemthing I've said to my kids on more than one occasion.....
You don't know how much time you've got.
You can't get any more.
Don't waste any.
I have never has the need to impress anyone with material things since I was a teenager. Maybe I'm just simple to please. Today I went on a 7 mile hike with my German Shepard. Staring out at the 1500 ft crest I felt such joy unimaginable looking around at the majestic beauty. I suppose others would have felt regret not engaging in a bargain hunting frenzy at the mall.
Every year I want less than before. The true joy of life comes from people you love and the experiences you share together. If you truly embrace this, it becomes very evident an object cannot provide this. It simply doesn't have the capacity to do so and only a human can put such an impossible task on it to fulfill. No wonder the "happiness" it provides is so fleeting.
Miffed
"Every year I want less than before."
That is the process by which we, as a species, either live or die, Thoreau's dictum — "A man is rich in proportion to the things he can afford to let alone" — being true for society as a whole. Unfortunately, government-driven consumerism and the mind control that lies at the heart of it — http://vimeo.com/85948693 — grind daily against this evolutionary ethic, the great question being which of these diametrically opposed forces will prevail.
my grandson is a 26 wk old 62 lb german shepherd boy named rommel. named for the shepherd we had when my kids were small.
Then you are a very fortunate grandad indeed! Mine is a 95lb female. She spent most of the time treating all the kids on the trail. " Mommy, that doggie has a backpack like me!"
Rommel is an excellent name. He and Julius Caesar were men I had the utmost respect, admiration and fascination since I was very little. My father fought against him and told me tales that I will never forget.
Miffed
my kids better than ur kid.....just turned i yr old lab, hike every morning at sun up ......most loyal friend ever...
p.s. used to own sheperds when i was a kid....
Springer Spaniels here. My day, and life, revolves around them. No materialism, lots of love, lots of exercise, what's not to like?
What is it with the dogs? I have two stray cats that love me more selflessly than any woman I ever knew.
three pussies under one roof? guess i know who unclogs the drains...
We own only what you leave this world with, we have a lifetime to figure out whaat that is.
Nothing like a sensible womans perspective on things.
Good luck with that. People are greedy and cheaters.
BKbroiler
Bravo, well said.
"The clincher is not giving a fuck about what people think of your house...." Welcome to my world.
I like my house clean, I will admit that matters to me. I have a great house 7 blocks from my work. My husband works from home. 1 car. Our way of getting over on the Jones is to spend less than they do, be out of debt, and grow more fruit and veggies. Keep up with that!
There is a white trailer trash saying: Everybody has a yard but not everybody has a lawn. My one-upmanship is a lawn that looks like a carpet. And hearing neighbors say "You grow Meyer lemons?"
I love my stuff but it's all made in China and I have to recycle it every year because it craps out.
No Car
No cell phone
No TV.
No debt.
Had a great day yesterday - bike ride - archery - 10mile hike through the woods. Cost me basically nothing.
Today I'll be working on my latest bow build. I've made two longbows this year, now working on a takedown recurve.
The less I take part, the better I feel.
I'm pretty good at doing it. Except for my bed, all my stuff fits in my car.
Stuff aside, the more important question is do you walk your dog or does the dog walk you?
My male dog walks me, or used to before he got too old. I loved following him on his adventures. My new female, I walk her. A big difference, I'd guess it's a male/female thing, in how she walks. She's not off on and adventure exploring but out to stop and play. My male dog taught me to love our walks, hours and hours of exploring and walking, five or six miles at a time. I'm hoping I can change the little female into being a better walker. She's constantly sticking her head in my feet and between my legs, jumping up and biting at my hands, and stopping dead in my path. She drives me fucking nuts on our walks. I sure miss my boy dog when I'm out for my walk.
Ours is a consumer economy. It is our duty to spend money we don't have, to buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like.
(sarkylert)
Isn't the liberation from stuff what Fight Club was/is all about?
Narrator: It's a comforter...
Tyler Durden: It's a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?
Narrator: ...Consumers?
Tyler Durden: Right. We are consumers. We're the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession.
There are no clear rites of passage anymore. We look to the stuff to mark our progress through life, as a record we have been here and done that. All external, nothing unique if everyone is getting one, and there is no place for a real "vision quest."
It's getting "stuffy" in here...
If you don't pay taxes on it and the govt can take it, then you don't really own it....which is basically every object in our lives.
The government taxes my land no matter what I do, but I did grow things on it I ate this year (no extra tax). I save a lot of my own seeds, I trade some with neighbors, I don't water much, I do ammend the soil but a lot of it is stuff I compost or take from my neighbor's trash. Apple trees, figs, blueberries, black berries, planted peach trees two years ago, all manner of herbs, and more.
I discovered this year even green tomatoes can make an awesome sauce. 400 degree oven, cut them up, add onion and garlic, and herbs you might have on hand, and I used olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar but lots of things are possible. Bake an hour or two (make sure the olive oil coats the tomatoes all over) and you have a lovely carmelized sauce and a house that smells like heaven.
I find food is a place where I can experience some freedom. My ingredients, not cattle feed. Food is where some of the real revolution is getting started or well under way.
If I trade you a veggie dish for your sauce and we trust each other, they can't get us.
Good post. I bailed out of the "system" four years ago and have immersed myself in growing fruits and vegetables and preserving the bounty. It's great fun and very rewarding. My canned goods are a very big hit with friends and family. I've just ventured off recently into making all my own bread products. It's a very different life out here on property. I've gradually weaned myself from driving as much as possible. A few years ago a tank of gas lasted me a week, sometimes two. Now a tank can last me three months. I rarely leave the property more than once every two weeks and make sure when I do I have a list of all the stops I need to make. I guess this is life like it used to be. Certainly nothing to fear but a lot of people would.
Agreed. I've been gardening as close to full-time as possible these last 3 years, specializing in heirloom tomatoes. I try to grow more and can more and eat it fresh more every year.
Funny thing - the fewer $$ you spend, the fewer $$ you need to bring in. That has becomemy goal now, to see how low I can get that ratio.
@MsCreant - IRS form 1099-B
They got every angle covered. Remember the first version of Obamacare? We were supposed to go about life with a pocketful of 1099s and report every transaction over $600. Don't be surprised when at some point in the future they go after people trading tomatoes and veggie sauces because they didn't fill out a 1099-B!
We are slaves.
They own you and they own your tomatoes.
Mscreant has learned something you might want to consider: possession is 9/10ths of life. The IRS is no more powerful than you allow it to be. You are a slave by technical definition, this is why you have a social security number and account. However, liberty still survives in the lesser visited places and hollows. Black markets are economies outside the purview of the State.
Now, if you have respect for the law above all else, then you truly are enslaved. For this is the means by which they affix your chains. To construct and operate your life in a manner which rebels against these sanctions can be very liberating indeed. You might just find the law lies to you and only through attempts to challenge it is a more noble truth discovered: Slavery is a choice.
Most of us choose to maintain all the invisible contracts the State uses to enforce its' tyranny against us. We prefer the convenience: the water lines, utility service, land deeds, insurance and bank accounts. We love the idea of hundreds of thousands of proud men and women with weapons and a mind for murder to protect us- until it is turned against us. We love the credit and the ability to have what we cannot afford now.
Liberty is a hard life. It requires hard work, thrift, ingenuity, RESPONSIBILITY and tolerance. Being a slave requires nothing more than doing what we're told and if the rewards are acceptable, all the better.
The State really doesn't care about you or your liberty unless you become problematic. They have plenty of willing slaves.
+1 Quadrillion, a most excellent post.
True neighborly trust is shooting the ammo I reload for you just for the cost of the materials.
That's why some own people.
I yearn for a return to the old days when life was much simpler being oblivious to the theft. s/c
the idea of ownership is a delusion,
sorta like the myths of virgin births,
and there are many. google miraculous
births, hilarity and horseshit ensues.
people kill me.
stewardship is another word/story.
Call me to haul away any Gretch, Fender, Martin acustic/electric guitars from the 50's-60's should you not have time for musical instruments anymore...
I has no way to cart my 80"plasma screen around. So the POPO REPO guys knows where to find me.
I started out with nothing. I've still got most of it left.
I having been giving it a lot of thought.
To be in this country, at this time, and be " undocumented" , must be a stellar situation. All the benefits of a modern society. Plenty of work, because it's pretty easy to compete when you don't have pesky taxes or car insurance, etc., weighing you down.
Nobody, and I mean no- fucking- body from any government agency is looking for you. If they do " bump " into you, they run, not walk away. You are not worth the grief and time. Not to just get turned back out, or you just pack up and move to another town.
Undocumented. Off the books. Under the radar. Victim Class! Officially, and by Presidential Dictate, no less.
Why in the hell would you want to NOT be " undocumented"?
Born and raised in the USA. And right now, if given the choice, I would seriously consider becoming " undocumented ", under current conditions.
The grass is always greener on the other side.
I guess riding death trains, hopping a fence, getting shaken down by gangs, and hiking across the desert for 80 miles with just a jug of water, all to get some crap day labor jobs where sometimes the "employer" doesn't pay you, and you can't call the authorities to do anything about it, isn't my idea of a "stellar situation".
To each his own I guess.
I think being born on third base and growing up with a silver spoon in my mouth and spending my grandparent's fortune on having a playboy lifestyle, would be a "stellar situation" but I digress.
I think you're leaving out being utterly penniless at the end of the day of hanging out outside of Home Depot hoping for some work, and when it gets dark giving up and going home with some guy who will pay you for sex (and you're a guy, and you're not gay) because you need to have some money, anything. And catching something horrible as a result. Or dying alone and your body is found and no-one knows who you are: "We still don't know what happened to Uncle X; he went up to America and we never heard from him again. Mom prays for him every night."
Without dragging it out too far, maybe you are taking me a little too literally.
The article was about " stuff" owning us or weighing us down.
I'm commenting, in my own way, about how we are imprinted from birth, and OWNED by the system. It follows us wherever we go. Taxing, fee-ing and generally bleeding us dry, for the rest of our lives. It inescapable.
So I opine; how nice would it be, to wake up one day, and know I'm off their radar? Not ride a death train, or catch a disease from selling sex.
Now, if you crybabies want examples of beaner free rides, ask. I am in construction ( you know, that work regular Americans don't want to do).
I've read your examples of cases where illegal immigrants got away with stuff citizens wouldn't (e.g. drunk driving); they were very interesting. Without dragging it out too far, my point is that the government is not the only predator, and if you are off the radar, the other predators come out in droves. Like with runaway teenagers. Anyway you know that I'm sure.
I wish I could be undocumented. Thinking about giving up citizenship, sneaking back in, getting an illegal scholarship to UCLA so I can go to the football games cheap.
Very few 'own their stuff', most of it is on payments and they never own anything. Nice feeling of being pseudo well to do or rich.
That's the entire economic and commericial system. The rich all use LLCs to control everything and own nothing. Only the poor "own" stuff. I'd rather have a company vehicle on a lease, than one with my own name on the title.
The way the whole tax code is written, it rewards investors and business owners, and punishes employees. Businesses write things off all of the time, employees can't. Verizon and GE pays ZERO taxes, yet someone who makes $40,000 year, only nets $28,000.
I recommend the RichDad books, as they go into this further.
>> Businesses write things off all of the time,
Spot on. Listening to "business owners" bemoan their situation always makes me chuckle. I was in business most of my life and everything was a write off. The opportunities for abuse of the system are rampant for business owners, not so much for employees. The farther down the ladder you get in this system the more you are fucked by it, yet the more scorn that is heaped upon you for taking a free ride. I had it good, and I'll admit it freely. The folks that had the easy ride yet continually bitch about the lower classes not doing "their part" make me want to puke.
Write Offs only reduce tax liability by the marginal tax rate of the entity or individual involved. It is not ''Free Money'', it's a discount on the item and nothing more.
If you have Gross of 500,000 and you buy 500,000 worth of stuff, your tax liability is zero, you have no cash, and you have 500,000 worth of stuff that after a year is worth 25,000. If you depreciate it, longer timeframe, still no cash, and stuff worth pennies.
It's designed to get businesses to consume.
>> it's a discount on the item and nothing more.
If one follows the letter of the law, I agree. But that's not what happens. Anybody I ever know in the marine business fully wrote off their fishing boats. Cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper? Always for the office. Cell phones, clothes, dinners out, gifts, all business related. Banking expenses? All business. Travel? All business.
You are correct in intent but not in actuality.
Just remember when that web portal wants all kinds of information about you, be it a bank, health insurer, etc. and there's more on the back side that's collecting your data for sale, so even when you can't see it, that's what's going on. We as the middle class are going through life with armies of algorithms biting us in the butt every time we turn around...here's what it comes down to when there's talk of sharing...
MedicalQuack No more "sharing for the good' it's all for "sharing for the good money" and scoring the middle class into oblivion bit.ly/123rtqg
Even places of trust, like Mayo, the send de-identified medical records off to Optum (United Healthcare) labs so that companies like Merck, Boston Scientific and others can rummage through and find the pot of gold..sure information relative to their drugs and devices will be found, but will it be that big data treasure like everyone thinks exists..no.
Also there are some folks who come out in the Silicon Valley who talk about this too, those who are not selling data and trying to remove your dignity...Jaron Lanier gave a short interview here and this is guy who knows all the math and coding tricks performed behind the scenes.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/computer-scientist-jaron-lanier.html
So when they gather up and have your data, big banks and companies do think they own you and it's ridiculous to have to gather and mine through all this 'non relative" data just to have it and know more about you. We have seen it in healthcare already and is there any better care, nope, but all this data work costs money and you see it in the premiums you pay and what you pay for care.
Sometimes you don't even get a straight story from the media as Ken Cukier from the Economist says in this interview; it's not news papers anymore that we get, it's "views papers" and of course here at zero hedge, that's what we come here for but expect accuracy and the straight news from the media, which again is yet another controlling facet out there. Look how many people Facebook owns (grin). By the way, on Facebook humans are worth 1-2 cents and the bots that run everything are worth about $100, so maybe that will make you feel real good about being owned over there:)
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/whats-going-on-with-mediajournalism.html
We don't need more stuff I agree and over the last few years, the stuff that I used to think was important is not so anymore as it's different times today.
This is the sneaky deal out there, they get your data and then they own you...run for the hills, use cash and bitcoin and stay away from those drug store apps that have Walgreens and CVS making 1-2 billion a year selling your data. MasterCard is after your data too and they make no bones about it and sell your transactions openly, all health insurers are now buying your credit card transactions. If it wasn't for analyzing, scoring you and selling both your score and data, companies like Argus below would cease to exist. See where out bubble head CFPB joins the crowd too in buying our data, he's such a disappointment for consumers.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/08/argus-analytics-produces-share-of.html
for the most part, no one cares concerning
what you think you own. there is a great
big world of other, more interesting, "stuff".
Hit the nail on the head. Cell phones are a main new Bond. It's too bad that the companies that sell Cell Phones have also removed Pay Phones. Oh well....even though I don't own a Cell Phone I still have my computer to send an E-Mail. Lots of places have Internet Access............
I just don't need multipule Devices that do the same thing.
Let's define ownership/ Is ownership being in possesion of personal belongings, or being in control of mental and financial freedom?
I had a small chain of businesses that were sucking me dry, with respect to personal and family freedoms. I had investors, and bankers, and venders, and regulator,s to answer to, on a daily basis.
When I took a vacation , I never really felt free. The money was great, but I was subservient to everyone. It wasn't always that way.
Well after a trip to Australia in the late '90's I decided something needed to change. I continued to build my business, and also re-educate myself. That was when I decided/accidentally actually/ how much I loved the financial markets and trading.
I can run my business ANYWHERE on Earth, and still make a living.
Make NO mistake! Trading isn't for the faint of heart. It's NOT a 1/2 job. It will take you several years before you start to make substancial $. You will make trading a lifestyle, or you will fail!
If you, the 5-10% prevail, you will be richly rewarded. Charts will just reaffirm your thoughts.
You will gain wisdom and understanding of the global markets, and banking complex, that are envied. All the while you'll be quiet and self reserved, waiting for the next trade.
You forgot to say that your cousin's brother's uncle is also making $83/hr working from home and to post a link. ;)
Doesn't it bother you that your existence is base on a giant ponzi scheme?
So is yours.
And mine.
Ponzi schemes only really suck for the ones who get stuck with the tab. Don't be one of those guys.
you mussa' owned a big bidness
Let's follow the author's reasoning to its logical conclusion.
If stuff is bad, then the electronic device we're using to interface with ZH is bad. Since this device is bad, according to the author, we need to get rid of it. Result: Nobody accesses ZH.
This is liberating?
The article does not suggest getting rid of everything, just the constant drive for more and excess. I have a nice laptop, but if I had to move it'd be really easy as I don't like a lot of stuff either.
I got crticized yesterday in the posts because I "ran and hide" after posting some opinions that many disagreed with. I "ran and hid" spending time with family and friends for the holidays in the real world. Other posters on here probably spend close to 14 hours a day on here in order to post as much as they do. So turning off the computer might be liberating for some cubicle or mom's house dwellers on here.
Some posters seriously need to get out sometime.
Take a break and enjoy the little freedoms you have. Be Thankful, It's Thanksgiving in case you all out there forgot from all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday bullshit.
Sometimes the real world happens and I will attend to that way before posting replies on articles in a comments section.
red,
Yea, nuance.
When I got out of the Army in '69, I said I could put everything I owned on the back of my motorcycle, except for my other motorcycle.
9th,
If someone asks me what my favorite thing I'd acquired in my lifetime is, I'd answer, "There isn't any. Individuals and ideas are infinitely better than man-made things."
Of course, radical leftists who abhor the very idea of private property also deride consumerism and all its attendant ills, so I defend stuff insofar as stuff is private property. I also defend the acquisition of stuff because said acquisition is a manifestation of individual choice and liberty.
Your stuff may have you.
STUFF:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
What are you cats typing about - do this, toss out fifty pounds of your possessions right now;
Go fill a garbage bag right now and toss the shit. And return that X-mas crap.
Do. Or do not. There is no try.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4yd2W50No
I visited my Mother earlier today. She changed her dog food. They kept p00k1eing on her deck.
You are suggesting that people actually take action and do something?
No, no, no, it is so much easier to whine on a message board.
Nah, but in all seriousness, walking the walk is tougher than talking the talk.
I have divested myself of all, 5 times.
Now I am someplace I will stay for a while, so I buy stuff to fluff the nest.
When it is time to move on from this, I will sell it all and move with a few bags and nothing more.
Sometimes mobile and sometimes not, all as I wish.
If you feel like your iPad owns you, you need to get your shit together.
Does my Victor Ultrasonic PestChaser w/LED nightlight pest repeller own me or vice verse?
Tyler did stay on Paper Street. Ha!
That's pretty funny. You bought a "cock roach" finder and it wound up finding you.
My computer has more memory than your computer
My Sunday morning turd ( not hatched) has MOAR memory than your Brain.
Scat - you a Republican by chance?
I'm mostly expatriated.
There's an app for that.
"The more he identifies with the dominant images of need, the less he understands his own life and his own desires. The spectacle’s estrangement from the acting subject is expressed by the fact that the individual’s gestures are no longer his own; they are the gestures of someone else who represents them to him."
— Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 1967
“I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest, to make money they don’t want, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.” attributed to Emile Gauvreau
or in Kiwi vernacular ...
"Buying crap we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people who don't give a shit"
We buy shit to display like peacocks so we can get laid......
The things you own end up owning you; that's Tyler Durden 101.
Here's one....
How many bought lunch or a coffee without using a Plastic Card?
And I that's your answer right there.
Have no cell phone, no smart phone, no Ipad, no tablet, no Blackberry, no Strawberry, no dingleberry. Have never downloaded a ringtone, never joined MyFace, YourFace, Spacebook, Linked-up. For 20 years now, no watch, no calendar other than on this computer. No alarm clock. No Daytimer. Only one clock in the house. My car is a 16 year old Toyota Avalon, which I have owned for 11 years now. Runs like a champ and actually still looks pretty good, not that it matters. Stopped impressing others with new cars a long time ago. The nice thing about an old car is I don't care if I ding it on a curb. No insurance guys to report to, no repair shops to wait on. No care at all if I find a door ding in the parking lot. Rather not have that ding, but it doesn't change my day. Just like the VW Bug I had in college.
I was one of the first to carry a portable phone, 1980's - came in a bag you threw over your shoulder like golf clubs. Also wore a pager at the same time. Answered both all day, everyday, holidays, nights, weekends. Forget being tracked by the government - everybody knew where I was and where I was going, all day long everyday. They could find me anytime they liked or needed. Had no excuse for not answering any call. Even from people I didn't know and didn't want to know. No place to hide if I wanted to hide. I liked it that way.
Now, I like it the other way.
Ditto, except I have a mobile, not a smartphone though, its a dumbphone, handles text and phonecalls only. Oh, yeah, I've got a nicer car, only 13 years old, runs like a dream and I can do all the maintenance myself because when I open the hood I can actually see the engine and the only electrics it has are the basic lights, indicators etc. I don't want it dinged though because the body is perfect.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? - Matthew 16:26
Is your body a reflection of the condition of your soul?
Not looking good at 55. Looks more like a walking zombie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG9i7d8yfKQ
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John Muir
Very good. Muir from the same place:
"The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual."
Once upon a time eveything I owned fit into my vehicle excluding a matress, wonderful care free days, somehow I just can't get back there.
Articles like this that mock my consumerism make me mad and want to go shopping again so I can feel good about myself.
Who was it that said "We work jobs we don't like to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't like"? Kind of sums up the rat race really. I'm off to Alaska to live and all I'm taking with me is me hat.
Alaska you say? Might want to throw on some pants and a jacket.
just the bear necessities
The answer is simple, ban advertising.
The industry whose sole purpose is to make people want stuff they don't need.
any 'free speech' moralism aside - I'm with you. I've become allergic to tv commercials especially - the repetitiveness and stupidity. I only care about a few shows and generally now wait to watch them on demand, where you can often, if not always, forward through. I've never bothered with a DVR {not into enough shows} but am considering getting dvr service simply to avoid commercials.
The man, the myth, the legend says it best.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo
I have taken a great deal of shit asserting, to 'literary types' (I admittedly don't read much fiction} that "Fight Club" is a great, or at very least, very good book - that it's style and violence may obfuscate the quite "deep" themes, quotes, etc.
Certainly the pursuit of stuff we don't need contributes quite a bit to our unhappiness - but its a matter of perspective.
When I'm home alone, I love playing with my phone or computer, and new apps and programs, and I still have a sense of excitement and amazement about the information age and how easily one can now learn the basics of virtually anything in a few clicks.
But when my girlfriend gets home I fuck her.
I guess I could cutback some, sell one of my jets and a couple of my yachts, some sacrifice wouldn't hurt too much.
I'd sell three of my mansions, but that leaves me with only four, which is too much of a sacrifice. I'd miss the two on the French Riveria and that would not work at all.
The castle in Bavaria is for summer vacation and the other four are for the other four month long vacations during the year. Have to retain those homes for vacations. Can't possibly cut back on the number of mansions.
The Bentleys are fun to drive, got a couple of maseratis and four lamborghinis.
I guess you could say they all own me, but I don't think so.
I'm not kidding.
Guess I'm just lucky.
I've been adopted by a five-year-old Belgian Shepherd, name of Skye, who has trained me to throw sticks and various rubber items for him to chase after, catch and return to me.
He loves me. I am his best friend, and, he's mine.
He comes with a woman and a house, three acres of land and a 600 sq. ft. shed which the woman and I are turning into my living space.
The woman wants me to buy a new flat-screen TV. I already have a 27" analog monster that has a great picture, and, when it's old or I'm tired of looking at it, will make a great planter or boat anchor. I am committed to not having a fight over it, but the woman is something of a sheeple, though I think I'm slowly wearing her down, making her think less about "stuff" and more about seeds, food and just being.
But Skye and I, when we're out and about, we don't want for much, except that Skye likes to have me throw stuff he can fetch. So, that's OK. After a while, Skye gets tired, and comes over by me and lies down. And then we're both happy.
We are Ruled by these 13 families:
They exercise their power through the world banking empire, which is almost entirely owned by them.
The most important institutions that work hard to establish the NWO and completely enslave our species, are:
"All tied to their things, they're netted by their strings. Free to flutter in memory of their wasted wings"
-Peter Gabriel
Ecclesiastes
America has lost god, the family and government. In all prior generations buying ‘stuff’ came from commitment to god, family formation and loving country in that order. Children of those generations had self commitment and saved big for the events in life like home, life insurance, a child’s education and retirement.
Then government stuck its ugly head in and said “… we will pay for (by taxing the hell out of you) many of the big events in life. And they drilled this into each new child’s head in school and public media.
Now we have new generations that could care less about life’s future financial commitments. Each new generation says in unison “…the government will pay for that…” Now personal commitment is concentrate on sloth, gluttony and personal satisfaction…
Lose god? Good.
Lose family? Good.
Lose government? Good.
-----
The problem is, humans have lost themselves. The vast majority of humans clearly don't have a clue who they themselves are. And that is the ultimate problem. For when an individual knows who they are, they can decide where they're going, and figure out actions likely to get them there.
Humans are lost. To find god, family or government is not a solution. Find reality. Find self. Then find your place in reality. The rest of reality will sort itself out without your supreme guidance.
Humanity is going down the tubes, one human at a time. And the primary reason is, almost no humans focus where focus is required... and ignore all else. The more humans get their own act together, the better "the world" will be. Count on it.
No one owns anything.
We are just monopoly pieces on the board.
After we die.back in the box we go!
Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. The message of the book Who Moved My Cheese? is that all can come to see it as a blessing, if they understand the nature of cheese and the role it plays in their lives. Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable that takes place in a maze.
Four beings live in that maze: Sniff and Scurry are mice--nonanalytical and nonjudgmental, they just want cheese and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Hem and Haw are "littlepeople," mouse-size humans who have an entirely different relationship with cheese. It's not just sustenance to them; it's their self-image.
Their lives and belief systems are built around the cheese they've found. Most of us reading the story will see the cheese as something related to our livelihoods--our jobs, our career paths, the industries we work in--although it can stand for anything, from health to relationships. The point of the story is that we have to be alert to changes in the cheese, and be prepared to go running off in search of new sources of cheese when the cheese we have runs out.
I'm a 'big' violoator if this article. I would downsize, and personally i'd love to, but it's not just my choice so I guess that's that. We are big hoarders. But then I buy and sell a lot so i'll always have stuff around. Problem is keeping some of it. I need a helper just to maintain my fleet of autos lol.
Did you ever notice, their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
Never give up the tools that will maintain your inalienable rights or the supplies that will enable you to stay at home when the grid goes down.
Liberty will be preserved by the prudent, not by the poets.
Logistics, logistics, logistics.
(And your grandfathers and great grandfathers are turning over in their graves).
My top tool is an FNH FNAR with tripod and scope and the food to feed it.