This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Guest Post: Is Anybody Else Tired Of Buying And Owning Stuff?
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
Is Anybody Else Tired Of Buying And Owning Stuff?
We are suffocating in stuff, physically, psychologically and spiritually.
I know this is a sacrilegious question, but is anybody else tired of buying and owning stuff? Is anybody else tired of dealing with all the junk cluttering up every corner of the room/house/nation?
Has anyone else noticed we have surplus stuff coming out our ears? And that therefore we don't really need any more stuff? Has anyone noticed the psychological consequences of constantly buying and managing possessions? Here is how correspondent B.D. recently put it:
Kids have a melt-down when they don't have the latest iteration of the (insert trendy electronica here) or if they are asked to tidy up the gargantuan collection of "stuff" they are slowly suffocating themselves with. Most kids these days don't have bedrooms anymore ... they have a small warehouse of goods in which they have a sleeping space.
Everybody has a warehouse of goods, even "poor" households. Of the four households on my block with one-car garages, we're the only ones who actually park a car in the garage. Everyone else's garage is jammed with stuff. And this is not an upscale neighborhood, it's working-class/renters.
Have you been to one of the many gigantic swap meets recently? You know, the kind with hundreds of sellers hawking everything under the sun. Our young friends (newlyweds renting one bedroom in a house, they don't own a car, both seeking fulltime work but currently living on one-part time job) recently described their visit to just such a sprawling cornucopia of over-consumption.
People are selling any and everything to raise some cash: birds, snakes, used iPhones, laptop computers, clothing, furniture, you name it. A guy was selling a guitar for $15. Our friend offered $5. The seller took $8. $8 for an acoustic guitar. Granted it was a cheap one, but $8? Was it even worth hauling it to the swap meet for $8? A set of strings costs $4.
"Almost new" bicycles--again, cheap, poor-quality versions--were being sold for $35. You can't even buy a replacement bicycle wheel for $35.
Were these stolen goods? Our friend asked the seller how he could sell bikes for so little money. The seller replied that he buys the contents of abandoned storage lockers for a few dollars and then sells the contents. (Apparently there is a reality TV show based on this process of acquiring the contents of abandoned storage lockers.)
This raises an interesting question: why bother stealing stuff when it is basically worthless? Smash-and-grab burglars are only stealing electronics (and jewelry if it is laying around in plain sight). Nothing else is worth stealing. Bicycle thieves abound, of course, but they're picky as well: a rusty made-in-China bike with a cheap (and easily snipped) cable lock will be left untouched; only the expensive bikes will be ripped off.
As I keep saying: what's scarce is not stuff, it's cash and reliable income streams. People are trying to convert stuff into cash, but it's tough because there is a surplus of stuff.
No wonder organizations that promote giving stuff away such as Freesharing.org are so popular. People are giving up trying to get any cash at all for old TVs, etc.; they are delighted if someone hauls it away for free.
Is anyone else sick of the "buying experience"? No wonder online buying has become so ubiquitous--the experience of shopping to acquire stuff is a form of torture, at least to some of us. Getting there is a nightmare (unless I can bike to the store), parking is a hassle, clerks generally don't know much, and the selection is often limited or skewed to the high end. The "fun" is in leaving empty-handed.
I suppose other people can't wait to get a new mobile phone; I live in dread that my old "dumb" phone will expire and force me into buying another one. Ditto for everything else we own.
There is so much stuff floating around America that we end up with stuff we didn't buy or even ask for--old laptops, bicycles (abandoned on our property, left by neighbors moving away, left to us by elderly neighbors who passed on, etc.) and clothing, to mention but a few of of the things that we have "inherited."
I make a point to be a "good citizen" by taking outdated printers, modems and other electronics to the recycling yard; others aren't so civic-minded, as proven by the piles of high-tech detritus that litter street corners and dumpsites around the nation.
When the university students leave town in May, dumpster after dumpster is filled with broken Ikea furniture and old mattresses, many of recent vintage. It isn't worth hauling any of it home. They will buy more future-landfill at Ikea when they settle down somewhere else.
My new mantra is "please don't give us anything we won't consume in a few days." What with all the insecurity in the world, a lot of people have assembled stashes of precious metals. Quite frankly, I don't want physical wealth I have to store, manage, protect, etc. I am not at all sure I want any "wealth" at all other than the "wealth" of productive land, a functioning infrastructure / civil society, and the "wealth" of freedom of movement and choice.
I just want to get rid of stuff, not acquire more. I welcome the digital age because "entertainment" no longer requires physical collections. I have already accepted that most digital stuff will be lost with time, just like physical stuff. Who wants to lug around 50 years of digital files? Yes, it might fit on a small drive, but who will sort through it all or even look at it/listen to it?
The clutter of all this stuff, physical and digital, clouds the mind and spirit. I think it was Sartre who noted that our possessions own us, not the other way around. I am tired of being possessed by possessions, of any kind or nature. I would be delighted if the can of WD-40 in the toolshed lasts the rest of my life. If it doesn't, then I will replace it, grudgingly.
More than likely, I will find an almost-full can in somebody's trash, along with everything else anyone could possibly want. The only thing missing from sorting through all that's been abandoned is the drug-like "hit" of the purchase. Sadly for a consumerist society, some of us are immune to that potent drug.
Many others will suffer consumerist withdrawals as the cash and credit needed to complete the purchase become increasingly scarce.
»
- 28416 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
"Forced into driving junkers." lmao. Go cry in your root beer, kid. How can you ever learn how to fix a car if you've never driven a hoopty?
I know I know, why buy when you can rent?
Why own when you can borrow?
Why accept delivery when you can be hypothecated?
Why live when you can serve?
Why chew when you can suck?
Why breathe when you can choke?
Apart from them not existing? Or having completely useless routes?
No shit.
Take the bus? What bus? What planet do these people live on? Do they honestly not grasp what percentage of the North American landmass lacks bus service?
That's even assuming I wanted to ride in the same shitboxes that the cops use to exile mental cases to other precincts because they don't want to be bothered with having to arrest them.
Buses. Ha. Next they'll be telling me that I should drive a subcompact. Yeah, that'll do great in a foot of snow in the mountains.
Here's a tale from when I lived in the US.
I had a cheap decent Jetta.
I lived in a neighborhood that I believed was incredibly convenient. 5 large supermarkets. 2 western, 1 discount, 1 chinese, 1 korean. Great food at good prices. Go a little bit further and hey, even more great supermarkets that are even cheaper. Cheap clinics, pharmacies nearby, basicaly lots and lots of options... even a Fry's!
One day, the alternator dies and just my luck, there is a sale at the local autoparts store. I can get a recertified, trade in the old one for credit on the core charge and another $20 off. $35 for an alternator? Score!
Just so happens that my housemates are all away for the week. No biggie I think, I'll just take the bus, it's only a 5 minute drive. After walking 40 minutes to the nearest bus stop, I find that I missed it by 5 minutes according to the schedule that is only posted at the bus stop and nowhere else. Next bus? 1 hour later. I wait. The bus finally comes, I have to take that bus to another station so I can transfer onto another bus that will get me where I'm going. The hitch in my plan however is that the second bus wasn't running that day. After getting off at the station and learning from the schedule (which is only posted there) that it's not running, I wait 30 minutes for a different bus which will take me another 5 miles down to road to meet up with a 4th bus that IS running and makes that stop. 3rd bus gets there just in time to meet up and I don't have to wait. 4th bus gets there after doing a stupid route that takes an hour.
So after 4 hours I am finally there. Fortunately they knew me from the last time I was in, and as they were closing up shop anyways, I scored a ride home from someone who worked there for $5... the buses were stopped for the night anyways, so I was kinda screwed. Only takes 5 minutes in a car going 85 (which is typical there), but that's 7 miles each way. Sorry, zero intention to walk 14 miles in the summer cali heat.
It was this experience that got me to realize how utterly retarded the system is. Not a city bus either, it was privatized. They just killed all stops and routes that they deemed unprofitable. Try to go shopping when you have to rely on the bus. Taxis will eat you alive.
Over here, subways are everywhere and being built up further. Buses are everywhere. No stupid time schedules either, they come when they come and you are rarely left waiting more than 10 minutes for one. Taxis are cheap and everywhere as well. The taxis actually receive a subsidy from the government to keep the fares low in light of inflation and gas prices. The buses operate at a net loss, as does the subway system, but they are state-owned and operated and are public services. Their existance enables far more commerce and economic activity than the operating loss created. Our highway system has distance-based tolls. Add in the cost of gas, and unless it's a car of 4, it's just cheaper (and faster) to take the train or fly... or even take a long-distance bus for stupidly cheap.
Driving here is a luxury and it's really not required until you get really really remote and most small villages will have regular buses and motorcycle taxis to the nearest town and neighboring villages. A personal car SHOULD be a luxury, not a requirement of basic life. In the US you are slaves to cars with the rare exception of a handful of cities that actually have semi-functional mass transit. Actually living in those cities, you are either rich as hell and can afford property, or you are renting a slum and/or sharing with a roommate or two, or three, or more.
Trouble with the US is that it is becoming a third world country but without the services of a third world country.
You mean, like an AUDI?
http://gothamist.com/2012/09/07/photos_mob_trashes_audi_on_broadway.php#photo-1
Another good arguement to carry...
Well, you don't NEED a government in order to get absurd malinvestment...
This article is absolutely pathetic, come on Tyler!
Too close to home.
Silver is not ikea furniture
When you have people making statements like this (emphasis mine in the quote)...
...on a widely read (not sure if it's respected) website, it's easy to see how out of touch with reality good portions of our society are.
Quote source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/09/07/amazon-samsung-rivalry-analysis-tablets/
Tero Kuittinen - you win the Fail of the Day medal.
The alarm that goes off in my mind when someone asks me if I am tired of "stuff", is that they are trolling for an excuse to take my stuff from me, or keep me from having enough money to buy any more stuff. In short, this is often socialist-speak.
Life is more than just stuff, but that is a personal and private decision. But we all need stuff, even when that stuff is only the staples of daily life and even if it is stuff that others may not approve of.
WTF is up with you retards? SHOO!
fat-finger doublepost
In this you are wrong. Nobody is talking about taking away involuntarily. What we are talking about is becoming enlightened enough to reject materialism and becoming more self-actualized (or whatever term you prefer for living better). I struggle with these ideas because I own a lot of tools and other items (guns?) that I don't use a lot, but they're available to me when the occasion calls for them. Keeping a house and two cars well-maintained is a lot of work and work breeds more work. It's nice once in awhile when there's a problem you can actually solve without having to run out to Home Depot.
shift in human consciousness.... showing in some earlier than others. moving away from crass materialism to something else...
I make a point to be a "good citizen" by taking outdated printers, modems and other electronics to the recycling yard; others aren't so civic-minded, as proven by the piles of high-tech detritus that litter street corners and dumpsites around the nation.
There are a lot of good points in this post but this one underscores the fact that if you make it difficult/expensive to throw certain things away...they won't get disposed of properly and will instead pile up in places it shouldn't thereby increasing not decreasing the liklihood that the stuff will contaminate or pollute.
Yes, Mr. Smith...I am right there with you. Yesterday I went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought 1/4 yard of leather to recover the worn arms on an office chair. It now looks new. I couldn't bear the thought of buying a new chair when nothing else was wrong with it, yet three years ago, that is exactly what I would have done. Live, learn and consume less.
I upholstered the seat of my office chair two years ago with the tough denim they make jeans from. The fabric had frayed and worn out. I, too, considered tossing the chair but instead went to a fabric store and paid about six bucks for a yard sitting on the discount table. The job took about thirty minutes from removing the cheap old torn material to stapling on the new. It looked great, still does today.
The average age of anyone that sews in this country is 70. While I haven't used my sewing machine for anything other than repairs for some time, I see that it's going to be valuable in the future when TSHTF. Schools are even teaching these skills again & the classes are coed. A friend told me the other day that a taylor she knows makes $48 for hemming a pair of jeans. For 10 min. work max, that's not bad.
One problem is that many people cannot see a use for something other than it's original intent. Anyone that grows their own food knows that cut worms can mow down ur seedlings. 1 gal nursery stock containers with the bottom cut out solves that. Hammer in a T post & they stack nicely for the next season. Milk jugs make a nice greenhouse for those that want to plant early & not worry about frost.
I had an old bike that needed repairs that I didn't want. Found a kid on Craigslist that took it off my hands. By the looks of him, the illustrated man with more holes in his body than a seive, rehabbed these bikes with his own money & gave them to under privileged kids. One mans trash is anothers treasure. Buy less, use, re-use, and donate to those in need. It's infinitely more rewarding.
I figured this out in the 90s... a great deal of "stuff" exists only to fill emptiness that is better filled in other ways.
Lots of folks must want the stuff, I have no less than 4 scavenger operations patrolling our neighborhood trash. One scavenger operation is on a TWO HOUR cycle all day Sunday, he circles every 2 hours looking for fresh trash.
I'm waiting for a trash war to breakout.
Please keep your video capture device handy!
TRASH WARS!
Coming soon to a cable station near you.
Actually, already documented in third world countries - but can't find - people fighting over better positions on the land fill/dump pile for scavenging.
But there is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQsJWlYoIfw
Sounds like tweakers at work.
I got an umbrella clothes line & a bakers rack to cure my potatoes & onions that way. No shame in it.
The problem is that the "stuff" we own now is of such low quality, it's utility is lost in no time. It took me too much time to figure out that I should only buy quality goods. It's never a problem to sell, trade or give away something that might be older but still useful or attractive.I have less now but what I have will be an estate issue one day because it is quality stuff.
When my daughter moved out, she had a decent amount of solid birch furniture that she and her fiance still use. The sad part was the trip to Walmart we made to get all the odds and ends that make up a home. Stuff like cooking items, lamps, rugs, a vacuum etc. By now nearly everything we bought on that trip has been thrown away or due for replacement. It was cheap and quick but it bothers me to this day.
Around here ,first of the month, always someone evicted and kicked to the curb by the sheriff. The cardboard boxes containing their shit lasts longer in the weather than their furniture
where is "around here". thankfully i haven't seen that in my parts.
I wonder about the economics of trash patrolling. Gasoline is $4 / gal. How can you circle my neighborhood endlessly in your gas guzzling van just to harvest the metal out of the trash and break even? Nevertheless, put anything out on the curb made of metal (like my grill that the last wind storm sent flying to a crushed death) and it's gone in single digit hours. There is a nonstop patrol of people harvesting disposed of goods.
The metal never lasts...always first to go , the rest of the stuff just sits out there for a week or so till its disposed of. South shore of long Island BTW...flyover country for the wallstreeters heading furthur out east to the summer house
I got tired of it, and liquidated pretty much everything I own. I own a car (paid off), laptop, printer, basic furniture, a few guns, and storable food. I did own lots of precious metals, prior to an unfortunate boating accident.
You're lucky you didn't lose your guns in that accident, take it from me! I miss my metals and guns..
Here in Costa Rica the poor could live easily on the used stuff in the USA. I garage saled and filled a container and shipped it down filled with used clothes, old broken TVs which we can fix cheap, anything broken almost we can fix.
Any old remodeling things like windows, old kitchen sinks, half gallons of paint whatever.
If anyone is part of a church or non profit that could organize filling a containedr and shipping it we can distibute it to the poor. And save all that expensive landfill space.
You would not believe the smiles on a poor kid that recieves an old used pair of nike tennis shoes. And it saves the family a big expense.
Find some compatriots who have set down roots in ConUS and build a competitor to 1800GOTJUNK that does exactly what you describe. Ka-ching.
rodo, that's a great post that fills me with sunshine. However, according to some on this thread, perhaps even the author himself, actions like that would only encourage some sort of foul materialism in those kids receiving gifts, who were previously free from such polluting influences.
Tyler should tag this article under "white guilt".
You have a great point ParkAve. Not to worry. The materialism and desire has reached us here long ago. The local banks and credit operations are happy to offer 50% loans for new toasters, microwaves and flat screen TVs etc. Most of the crap will be junk before people pay off the loans.
This is basically an export from the US and other developed countries in order to make it easy to buy new shit.
Just keep people slaves. The poorer the people the easier to control. I will say based on SNAP participation and disability (of which we have little here) up there the percentages of poor has now met or exceeded the rate here. We have families that help each other rather than gov. handouts
My overarching concern here is in proper valuation. The sneakers become dearer to those kids because they can't get them. HOWEVER, I would NOT call those kids poor, unless they were starved, unloved, or uncared for. This is a distinction that must be made.
Written about this as well. Shit just breaks anyway. Less is really more.
I only have/buy what I really need and really use and have been like that a long time. Two car garage holds two cars almost everyone else parks 2-4 in the driveway.
Dear Santa,
More ammo.
What is truly amazing is what the lower end of my Tenants leave when they vacate or are evicted.
My last Tenant left a Sofa, Love Seat, upolstered chair and three office chairs. I had to pay to have them hauled away.
Or if they have children they leave ALL of the Childrens clothes, shoes and toys. Strewn all over the place.
They also leave pots and pans, dishes, silverware, fans, air conditioners. Just amazing.
And these are what I would call poor people. But I guess that if the Government gives you everything you need why keep the old stuff. Just leave it for the Landlord and buy new stuff.
"poor" people in the usa often have lots of shit, that's part of the reason they are poor.
Alot of that they either did not buy new, or it's not worth the expense to move it. Furniture is a giant pain in the ass to deal with, especially if you use a moving company. "Stuff" is cheap and crap, services are overpriced (and crap), so why pay for services when you can just get new stuff? This is why no one bothers to repair anything when it breaks also.
I fix everything fixable. If I can't find parts sometimes I make them. I've actually turned it into a little side business on top of restoring classic cars. In the last couple of weeks I have rewired a pool motor (savings $200+), replaced a capacitor in a plasma tv (savings $1000), just a couple of examples.
Love what I'm doing after years in 'managed care'. I almost forgot that I was the kid who took the alarm clock apart when I was 10 and put it back together for fun.
I'm told I will be rich when it all starts to look like Cuba. Tools and silver!
I advise investing in learning all about molding/casting and welding. Tools are cheap, materials are cheap. And there's something that's just satisfying about it. Don't even need top-of-the-line tools to do it either. Basic soldering skills and learning how to etch are also great investments.
Agreed- already there.
dbl.
I salvaged 2 motors when I had to replace my heat & air. Used a 55 gal plastic food drum for a compost tumbler. The motor turns it great. Black gold for the garden.
There's a good reason why they're poor--they're fuckheads! Completely stupid fools who are a waste of good air.
When you are moving your family ino your parent's house, or a friends house, or your car, why bring along furniture? Get a grip...
A Bernanke Bungalow, otherwise known as the family car/home.
Charlie is right on point, my own experience being that the Porsche can hardly fit in the garage anymore due to all the surplus stuff accumulated there....
Being serious for a moment....aside from our economy being designed upon ever increasing consumption (aka 'growth') we now produce disposable goods rather than solid, well made goods that can be repaired and used for a lifetime, or longer. One would think that the environmentalists might have figured out by now that making things not destined for a landfill within 3 months of being bought would help the environment. There is absolutely no reason why a refridgerator, washing mnachine, dish washer, etc cannot be designed and made so it last and can be easily repaired. Well, actually there is a reason, that would reduce 'growth'.
.
Good point.
Ask any auto engineer:
Even the damn U.S. cars are intentionally engineered to fail after a certain period.
This is why I drive Japanese.
200,000 miles was when I had the first problem I did not cause myself.
Whenever I see your moniker, I cannot help but remember a passage I once read about Bhutan. Apparently one of the King's manservants used to take the bedpan each morning and dry out the defecate, then sell it in the local market to adoring subjects who would sprinkle it on their food. Don't know if it was ISO 9002 certified.
I don't know. Somehow "kami-unchi" doesn't have the same ring.
Wait a minute:
If people stop compulsively consuming, how does a growth economy continue to function? How does capitalism function without never ending growth?
Serious questions.
"How does capitalism function without never ending growth?"
That's easy. It doesn't.
You're welcome.
The question is: how does an economy based on fractional reserve banking and debt backed money, function without never ending, accelerating growth? It doesn't.
Yes, I see that, +1
I'm still not clear how an alternative capitalist system functions without growth and debt. I'm not proposing a "socialist" solution, or setting up a strawman to knock over, or baiting the ZH Randroids.
Well, I was baiting them there a little bit.
Have children. No seriously, that's the answer. They are more, new consumers, and producers.
All real economic growth is driven by real population growth.
All regulations have one goal in mind: fewer children.
Even the simple ones that seem to have benign purpose.
Example: Child seats in cars. Now you need a minivan for a minimum growth family of three. Three children is generational +1 growth over two parents. What a fuckin coincidence.
Child seat laws are an outcome engineered by corporations lobbying government for favorable regulations. Nothing more.
Hey fuckhead - child seat laws are an outcome governed by experience. As a former paramedic, I can state without any fear of contradiction, based on grim and bloody and fatal experience, that you are full of shit.
You probably think seat belt laws are government/corporate interferences in our life as well.
You are just wrong, wrong, wrong on this. Stupid generic, right-wing bullshit.
I have been on runs where the hippie parents didn't believe in child seats, and mama was holding the child in their arms - like god and and cosmic forces intended - when the crash occurred. Just fucking guess what happened to baby?
Fuck you, asshole. Fuck you big time from someone who has cleaned up the fucking mess and dealt with the hysterical parent.
Child seat laws save lives. Period. You want to drive around with your kid not in a child seat - great. Darwin will prevail, and you will have no heirs.
This kind of thinking makes me want to puke.
Not everything the gubermint does is wrong. Lots of it, yes. But not all of it. Get a fucking grip on reality. - Child seats save lives.
If safety was the first concern, why not just limit speed?
How many lives would be saved by SLOWING PEOPLE DOWN?
Why not make car cabins foam-firing titanium spring-suspended impact cages?
Oh that's right. Safety isn't really the first concern.
Perpetuation of the suburban dispersal of population and dilution of generational wealth is the first concern.
I'd call you an overzealous fuckhead, but it's beneath me.
And I won't apologize for your own need for serious counseling for the terrible things you've seen.
And I won't apologize for your overuse of capitals.
Paramedic service was nothing compared to Nam.
And speed IS limited, and drinking while driving is limited, and people violate it all the damn time. You do not have to be speeding, or drinking, or be doing anything wrong to be killed by some asshole who IS speeding and/or drinking - you can be that poor sap in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Your (or your baby) can be just as dead.
Now I know you are a nut. The war is over. I know, NOTHING IS OVER! NOTHING!
If a car can't physically go 80mph, IT NEVER WILL.
perhaps you've never seen one fly thru a windshield in a wreck.
Perhaps speed should be regulated.
Perhaps you shouldn't use obtuse, emotionally-charged arguments.
Or perhaps our highways should be designated as more than simply high-speed easy-kleen freight-hauling voids that the pleebs have to figure out their lives upon because we build Levittowns all over creation where there should be countryside and farmland.
And the net improvement of current autos over 35mph Model T's is what again?
Perhaps speed should be regulated.
Well dopey me. I thot those signs did just that. Oh & regulations have not only worked, they've been rigorously enforced. Yea, that's the answer, more regulation. Sheesh.
And soccer moms need 285hp engines and 3 tons of steel. They need an airport cart that is somewhat weatherproof. But then, how could the population be plunged into nomadic if they have no automobiles?
Dumbasses all!
I think the point was,
'Then put your kid in one, but you (plural ie Gov.) shouldn't be able to dictate to me to do it.'
That's the difference between a Republic and a Democracy
Thanks - lot of truth in that.
Since I'm not an ideologue or a historian I don't have a quick answer . . .
Capitalism can certainly function with hard money and has . . . but can capitalism function without growth? I'd have to think about that one . . for a long time. A capitalist could invest in new technologies, without debt, and gain more market share through more efficient production -- that's capitalism but how that fits into a systemic no growth or negative growth environment -- how it plays out, I don't know.
I remember asking a prof, years ago, in grad school -- what happens when people have all the stuff they want? Ans: they will always want more. In other words, this system doesn't work if people don't want more stuff.
As always, Bastiat, I enjoy you posts. /...can capitalish function with growth? / is a very fundamental question that I have considered for some time. Would that not be a great Econ 201 final exam essay question? I think it can, through innovation (consider the internet) and financial growth that does not involve resource depletion - but it it very, very difficult, because we do not have any historical, appropriate models.
WE have to build those models - or evolve to a post-capitalistic 'something else' economy where all (or most) can prosper without war and resource depletion.
Good luck with that...
Thanks. I have enjoyed zh and learned much over the last couple of years and if anything I post adds even a touch of value here, that's good.
That would be a great final exam question--if you put it in a grad level macro course students would be shocked and pissed. "WTF?" would be the median response.
Another question: if, because of gains in production efficiency (and cheap energy), an ever smaller amount of labor is needed to provide basics, why do we work so much? One reason is that demand is created far beyond needs. If that's not happening, it seems to become a problem of distribution vs wealth concentration. That's probably Marx, I don't know, I never read much of him and it was a long time ago.
Another article pointing out how fucked up the world is.
Almost every purchase I make I think of how it will help me during the zombie apocolypse. If its not going to help during the ZA, then I probably wont buy it.....unless its booze, of course. I mean, booze would help during the ZA (trading, anesthetic, drinking), but I just always drink it so fast it never stays "in storage".
I mean, booze would help during the ZA (trading, anesthetic, drinking), but I just always drink it so fast it never stays "in storage".
Piker. Buy it by the case next time.
Then maybe you should spend some of your cha-ching on a 12-step program. Or else, enjoy dying of stomach cancer.
AeroJet? You need a swift kick of " un-Iced single malt Scotch!"
Sounds as if writer doesn't want to own anything. That would mean he doesn't want responsibilities either. Writer forgot to mention debt. Writer owns debt. And, guess what buddy. You'd better own a firearm and you'd better own some metal, incl silver gold and lead. And you'd be better off if you'd stop griping about yourself and your neighbors who are obviously mentally-ill hoarders off their meds. Want to get rid of something you own? Try your government, which shredded the Consitution and turned it into dogshit. Otherwise, you will never own anything but debt.
How fashionably unfocused.
I am still purchasing "stuff".... although none of it requires fuel or electricity to run\consume.
I can't believe no-one has quoted Fight Club yet.
"The things you own, end up owning you."
Actually, one of the very early posts did quote it, but still ok to re-quote. This is classic Buddhist philosophy - sort of - and many other religions and philosophic thoughts.
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
-William Morris
My wife has this quote on the wall of our pantry.
Seems like the accumulation of "stuff" does hit critical mass eventually. You either run out of space, run out of money or get bored with it.
We got sick of stuff a few years ago. Since we don't buy as much stuff we have been able to reduce our trash bin in size. Now we don't even fill the smaller bin (household of 4). I am always shocked to see 3 person households in our neighborhood with 2 big trash bins overflowing every week. I would also consider their garages a fire hazard. My teenager's friends tell my kids that our house is so clean. My kids respond that their mom doesn't like clutter and it just looks cleaner. Ask any hoarder if at some point their stuff doesn't become a burden. To some over-consuming is like over-eating. They're just trying to escape the pain but the escape is actually inflicting more pain.
Granted inflation has eaten at any savings we would have realized by consuming less. At least we're just keeping our heads above water and not drowning
Check this out: http://www.freecycle.org/
Charles. I didn't mean to make you jealous by tweeting you that picture of my 98% full 30x50 storage unit.
Im not a hoarder but yes, tired as hell of all the shit.
I refuse to buy happy meals and employe chinese rats to clutter my house.
I DRED XMAS LIKE A COLONOSCOPY!!! I truly dred it....WHERE ELSE AM I GOING TO PUT SHIT?
AND LOOK AT ALL THE GARAGE SALES EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.......EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.....SHOVEL SHIT ON SOMEONE ELSE....
Seems like it is easier to obtain stuff than get rid of it. When it comes to gifts, think consumables or cash.
"Summer of recovery" is over...and I, for one, am glad.
Any more of this type of 'recovery' and I'll be bankrupt !
Who wants to lug around 50 years of digital files? Yes, it might fit on a small drive, but who will sort through it all or even look at it/listen to it?
Shit, I have a hard enough time filing my "favorites/bookmarks" on my laptop every week!
Don't file them. Tag them. Get TagSieve.
If you file something it has to go in 1 category. If you tag it, it can have many tags. When I want a bookmark back I hit the button and begin describing what it was. Boom it appears. I don't have to go manually hunting through hundreds of folders, that's what computers are for.
css1971 Thank You for the reference,(Re;TagSieve)." I'll put it my [ favorites] and get back to you.
What the fuck kind of idiotic article is this?
Half of this is nonsense. Thieves steal just about anything that isn't bolted down and most of what is, even if only for scrap value.
This guy rants about not wanting to store wealth, yet they want to own productive land. Come again? That's fucking retarded. Nobody "owns" land, they simply lease it from the government - that requires taxes, which requires stored wealth (well, at least as long as there is a government around).
Sounds like the author is confused about the distinction between the broader category of "stuff" and the subset of that labeled "crap".
Yes, most Americans have lots of CRAP. Cheap made in China bullshit. The problem isn't how much stuff you have, it's how much stuff you have that is crap.
I have lots of stuff. But it's stuff like quality hand and machine tools, welders, sturdy clothing and outdoor equipment, well maintained vehicles and parts/fluids for the same - things that actually have value because they can produce things of value.
I suppose that if you've been stupid enough to spend the last decade or two buying crap, then yes, you're probably unhappy with that decision. But this is just ridiculous.
Other people's stuff is crap. My dad has all that crap you hold so dear--welders and machine tools and a whole barn full of junk like that. It's still just crap because he never uses most of it because he's too old but won't admit it. His working life is over and yet he still accumulates items based on some sort of notion about how he might need it if he is going to start his welding business back up. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN. I'll be liquidating all of it for .001 on the dollar in just a few more years.
Call me!
You don't go from a $6 trillion economy to a $16 trillion economy without overproducing massive amounts of needless stuff.
Lulu Lemon and Coach come to mind over the recent years.
You forgot the population culling , " Air Jordans".
Reminds me of a coworker who, "OMG, I just saved $100!" after paying $120 for a Coach purse.
Well, wait a minute here. Coach is quality stuff. I'm still carrying a Coach bag I received as a gift sixteen years ago and it is in great shape. :)
just curious - what nationstate production line created your sixteen year old Coach bag, and is it the same production line used today?
in other words, where have the corporate profit corners been slashed. . .
I have no idea. It was purchased in NYC. It is the only bag I have carried in all this time. (I'm just a boring, basic black bag kinda girl). Prior to receiving it as a gift, I used to go through several less expensive bags a year because they weren't well made. I have no idea if the Coach brand is still as good, so perhaps I was mistaken to defend the quality.
Don't apologize, remember, this is fight club.
I used to buy Skil Saws (tm) - Model 5150 standard 7 1/2" saws and built 1/2 my homestead with them - they would get flakey, then quit, I'd buy another (they WERE cheap). Then I finally bought a 7 1/2" DeWalt. Wonderful carry/storage case, long cord, and quality through and through. Nine years and counting, built a ton of shit with it, cut a bunch of 2 by with it, still cuts true and good.
Quality tools, BitChez! Less landfill, better ROI, and you have a better tool to work with = Priceless!
The thesis of this article is correct: "Possessed by your Possessions" And, that applies to the rich, the poor and all others.
It is not the quantity of your possessions that matters - it is their quality and utility.
I have two examples:
I used to own a 5-year old cell phone. Verizon offered me a brand new iPhone 4 for $20.00. Yes twenty Dollars. I bought two - one for my wife and one for me. Ok, they made me buy a data plan and upped our combined monthly cell phone bill from $80 to $120. What got me was that I needed a protective housing for the phone. That piece of plastic cost $40. The point is that the phone has no long-lasting value. It is a mere portal to a cell tower or a wifi. It will have some utility, but no value in 5 years.
On his death bed, my father - then 94 - made me promise never to get rid of his Torro self-propelled lawn mower. My parents bought it for about $600 in 1975 from a local hardware store. This machine is 100% metal - engine, gears, cables, everything but not the rubber on the wheels. It is 2012 - I am still using this mower. It starts without priming with one pull. Belches few fumes. And, runs like brand new. More than 35 years old - has probably little resale value, but optimium utility.
Ok, technology destroys the value of electronics and other gagets almost instanteously. But, stuff that has to work - like pipes, wires and machines, has to be built well to last long.
"It will have some utility, but no value in 5 years." The "xau" in your !phones circuitry will have more value in 5 years. (good post)
Don't worry, ethanol will destroy that mower, thus saving the economy.
Great -- I still have the Milwaukee circ saw and drill I bought in 1975. I have some of my grandfather's Buck chisels too.
I like stuff that does things, tools. And I like good ones that last and are a pleasure to use. Includes kitchen stuff. Life is too short to use cheap, dull knives.
We have several cast iron pans from my wife's grandmother, including an excellent stove top griddle. These get constant use. We also have new cookware, but went with good stuff -- Le Creuset. Also cast iron.
This got me thinking about what I still have on the homestead since I moved to the land 40 years ago:
A stout wheelbarrow from local hardware store.
A TrueTemper McCloud that has fought many a fire and done much moving of material around the place. Also a True Temper Pulaski, re-handled once and a good TT square faced shovel that has dug 1000's of yards of water and power trenches.
A Craftsman toolbox and tools, box repainted 10 years ago - Craftsman tools are the best price/value ever.
A TT Woodsmans Pal.
That's about it. Note, no power tools have survived that long, although One Makita drill and one Makita power planer have done 20 years and a LOT of service.
Also please note I take good care of my tools - every fall, after the rains come, everything gets really clean, repainted if necessary, oiled, wood linseed oiled, etc.
Moral - buy really good hand tools, take care of them, will them to your kids. Cheap tools really suck, and are not worth the savings...
My parents are still using a blender they bought in the mid-sixties.
I buy a new one every two to three years.
C'est la vie. At least in some small way, I'm adding more to GDP than they are. This is what's meant by "consumer culture."
Without continually accumulating stuff, how can you be a Consumer ?
The Consumer was the counterweight to the Producer, since it was the Producer who was the pilar of communism.
If not Consumers, who are we?
Is there a dialectical turn here?
Do they still thief car radio's? I was walking home one night from the pub, a lock'in, circ. 2am, Abingdon, England. So, so over drunk, I couldn't even see straight. This cop car pulls up, next thing I know I'm across the top, hands spread, the two of them restraining me (I'm not fighting) and they say, and get this...
"We've had a lot of car radio's nicked in the area and you look like the sort of person who might be stealing them. Why are you here at this hour? What's in your pockets."
Next thing I know the gits had emptied my pokcets on the roof of their car, I asked why, they come out with looking for tools that might be used to remove radios.
You know the worst thing about all this, a). I normally carry the screw driver (I wasn't that evening), b). Did people really care enough about a friggin car radio?? I wouldn't know what I'd do with one even if I had one sitting on the side, just nothing I'm interested in. Maybe an IPad but car radio??
Possessions = Responsibilities
You never want to own a boat, a snow thrower, a KOI pond, a chain saw, etc.
Well, at least my chain saw is a capital investment.
I can't imagine why somebody down arrowed you on that. I live in the woods, and ditto. There have been a bunch of days in the winter after a big ass winddstorm over the years when I would not have made it to town without one of the saws (I have a short bar and a long bar saw). I have a good misery whip hand saw 5 footer, and a spider and files to keep it sharp if need be, but life is too short to hand saw if you have a good chain saw and fuel available. I suspect the down-arrow person never cut any wood in his fucking life. Hint: it is time-consuming and damn hard work (also very rewarding).
Why do people buy stuff? I think the more appropriate question is why do they buy crappy stuff? The problem is not China to be honest. China only bothers to make what the importers demand from them and they do it as cheaply as possible. Demand higher quality stuff and China will make that too, the fault's not on their end, it's on yours. That random shitty kitchen appliance you paid $100 for? Unit cost on it was $3 FOB. The rest of that price was all due to marketing gimmicks and other bullshit on the US side. Profit to the factory was probably around 10 cents a unit if that.
So why do you buy crappy stuff? It's primarily because you are being fleeced by marketing, have no idea of the actual value, and without a direct line, you have no choice in the matter. So it breaks and you see the "Made in China" stamp and scream at China. The importer, the marketer, they get off scott free, win-win for them. Demand higher quality stuff, and you'll still probably get fleeced by marketers and importers. Buy domestically manufactured, and you'll get fleeced by high labor and marketers. In the end, you lose. Simple as that.
Ok, so you're destined to lose and get fleeced. The only way to win is to insist on quality and to be willing to pay for that quality. With the intent that you are probably never going to have to buy another one, or at least not for a long damned time. My laptop battery is a consumable, it's a 3rd party manufactured battery. I willingly got fleeced paying $35 instead of the $15 because it comes with lifetime repair. The seller and manufacturer are gambling on the notion that by the time it dies, you'll have a new laptop anyways, and as such, they pop in quality cells instead of crappy Sanyo ones like everyone else.
Cookware? Mine's all a mix of cast iron, stainless steel and copper. It will last a lifetime and probably longer. Household appliances? I buy high quality brands with long warranties and I do my research to ensure it's exactly what I want/need while accounting for future changes in needs. I anticipate they will last well over a decade. My cars? Only bother to get ones that have cheap parts that are widely available and I can mostly fix myself for cheap. I simply do not buy crap unless it's something intended to be temporary or the price point and anticipated replacement time outweighs buying quality. I don't buy plastic junk, I buy metal whenever possible. I don't piss away our money on "professionals" when I can do the same damn thing for free or cheap (and let's be honest here, unless you are an idiot, it's still pretty easy to learn your way around your own stuff).
When I need a gadget or something purpose-built that either does not exist or is hilariously overpriced, I either build it myself or send the design to a local shop that can have it made for cheap. Specify everything and it will be exactly the way you need it. My kitchen is very nice, entirely custom and it cost me far less than what it should have.
I don't actually have much "stuff", probably a bit more than I actually need, but it gets recycled or torn apart for parts and repurposed when I get sick of it laying around gathering dust. Stuff is stupid, it owns you, it limits you, and the only stuff you should bother with is high quality that might actually increase in value over time or at least resell for close to what you paid.
Refuse to give in to impulse buys. Recognize marketing for what it is and refuse to buy products which are marketed to you, cus in the end you're being scammed. Focus on a balance of price and quality. Any durable good purchase that is over 1% of your paycheck... research the crap out of it. In the end, you'll either end up walking away with a great product at a great price that is precisely what you need... or you will decide that you don't even really want/need it anymore and not buy it in the first place.
All that being said, "service economy" is a scam, and only surpassed by the "finance economy" when it comes to the hilarity of the coming collapse.
You are right, cheap Chinese junk is a symptom. The disease is stagnate wages, loss of gold standard, and 100 yrs of overwhelming marketing.
People don't buy quality because they don't have the money they used to and the fake quality has been substituted for real quality.
Look at the worst offenders:
starbucks- low quality overoasted robusta sold as premium
bottled water-
Prada- they make 16m hand bags a yr on track for 25m- all made in china.
All homes built in the last 15 yrs- crap spec homes with sprayed stucco over Styrofoam held together with tape, a fucking bargain at $500k with a 5% mortgage (french for "death pledge")
post modern anything
hardwood floors- pre 1950 bare floors were a sign of poverty, only rich people had rugs, later carpet. now people are converting barns and using distressed salvaged lumber, they do that in TJ mexico too.
paint on walls- same thing.
music- any electronic music.
lightbulbs- its as bad a those 911 stories- total scam they have ones from the 1800's that still work. they are ment to go bad.
High quality watches- cheap 10 cent steel cnc cases, with non-propritary movements for 5-10k
even ink is cheap now- used to be permanent, now its not because its cheaper to use less dye and use more water.
university degrees- took a math course in university, fucking teacher just moved from iraq last week- cannot speak english, text book alone was 120 bucks.
We have been sold a lie, and we create nothing but garbage.
I just look around especially in older cities and marvel and the craftsmanship of the architecture and design- there is nothing comparable. 100, 200, 400 year old buildings still looking great, its a real disappointment to see how far we have come.
Even hi end appliances once considered well built are now crap. e.g. Viking, Thermador. When WHP bought up many other brands quality went all to hell! I do have a tankless japanese made Noritz h/w tank that I wouldn't trade for. Never run out of hot water & no standing pilot. Sad thing is that tankless water heaters were invented around 1906 by the Jewel stove co. in IL. There's not much made here worth buying.
Tankless water heater? No pilot light? This is like standard here now. We got one from Guangdong Macro Gas Appliance Co. 16L/minute. It was only like $200. Absoultely faultless. No idea why anyone bothers with a tank anymore. Digital controls, goes up to 150F if you really want it to.
I'm a fan of the hipsters who are resorting to "small houses" and converting vans to live in. The levels of denial are just absolutely staggering. Living in a van down by the river is lower than living in a trailer park. The "small houses" are not being built any better than the garbage large houses, I do believe they are dressed up slums. Spend the time, spend the money, invest in quality and insist on quality. My home in the countryside is just a beauty. In-floor heating, subfloor raceways for easy wiring. Solid concrete slab construction that was studded and plastered, easy to rewire and modify, great sound quality, and the floors are for the most part all slate with handmade rugs that I liked and got for a song. Furniture is all handmade solid wood made from walnut that was harvested when clearing the land for the family farm. Fixtures and fittings are a mix of high quality domestic and german. AC is central and Mitsubishi. Some solar on the roof tied into a 110 circuit for imported electonics and random appliances, but the 220 solar is to offset the AC primarily. Wiring in the house far exceeds any spec. REAL Brick exterior... over the concrete, but at least it looks good (siding sucks).
My only real gripe is that the roof is concrete, but at least it has steel supports and it makes the attic-space into actual space.
I have a nice pantry room with a wine rack on the lower floor (half basement opening to the back).
Current project in planning is to make use of a pointless storage room below the garage. I really want to cut some access points for a hydraulic lift and turn it into a car servicing room and make life more fun. It's just an overly pointless room as it is now and without the ventilation, light or direct garage access, it's pointless for using as a workshop or even tool storage. A pair of slats covered with removable steel and a small lift recessed into the slab and an access point in the corner with stairs or a small lift or something would basically be my dream. Just trying to figure out the logistics, decide on the right equipment and convince the wife that I'm not entirely insane.
This little dreamhome of ours is a mere 20 km outside of the city, is served by regular buses, and the main subway line is being expanded to within 3 km of it. No property taxes, great neighbors, a great private school in the community. We bought it brand new as an empty shell and the total bill so far is about $500k. Officially it's about 3800 square feet of construction space, but that doesn't include the half-basement, so call it about 4500 of livable space. Of that $500k, about $150k of it has been blown on furnishing it out, but it was totally worth it. All paid in cash, no mortgage. The only regular expense (paid yearly) is the management fee of a whopping $980 a year which provides for repair/replacement of the roof, AC, heating system, structural faults, security at the complex, regular maintenance.
Oh, but they cry, it's only a 70-year lease, it's not really ownership. Yea, but it's 100% legal, fully documented construction and it will be easy to renew when that time comes for the kids (I plan to be dead by then anyways).
The really funny thing is that we showed off the place to a new neighbor and his relative was trying to buy it off of us for $800k cash. Chinese LOVE quality stuff once they see it and learn about it. Most of our neighbors are overseas returnees, so there's that. I could probably just live there full time now and make a living furnishing out places with quality stuff.
The wonderful thing is knowing that I can fix pretty much anything in this house, and the even more wonderful thing is knowing that for the vast majority, I probably never will have to. Someone will surely come along as whine about the pollution in China, but this little corner is clean as hell. Natural reserves nearby, so no industry allowed. Far enough away from the city that it will basically never be seriously developed either... close enough that I can get there pretty quickly too.
Nothing says you can only do this in China though. Save your money, blow it on nice stuff and do the hard work yourself. This is the way it was done for pretty much forever until the instant-gratification disposable consumer culture took over.
not sure of your "opinion" here, unless you're using sarcasm?
if you're referring to the "tiny house" peoples, every example I've seen has been quality construction, albeit most from reclaimed building materials. . . the majority are owner-built, and all are owner financed, in that there is no debt involved, just invested time & materials, and lots of imagination!
spend a few minutes clicking pics on this site, see if it doesn't fire up some creative brain cells:
http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-concept/christiania-tiny-houses/
Doesn't change the fact that it's a shanty town. Most of the stories I see are due to economic destitution, not because they actually WANT to live that way, they just tell the story as if it's their choice.
You can deck out that white panel van with solar panels, an xbox a desk a bed and a kitchen. You can install shelving and a tv and load it up with batteries and whatever you want. But in the end, you're still living in a van down by the river... or in some cases, in the parking lot at your underpaid mcjob. There's a whole lotta denial going on.
There is also the fact that you are living as a foreign national in a totalitarian police state and have ponied up 3/4 of a mill on land you have no ultimate claim on.
To each his own denial.
Right on! Fuck this asshole and his $500K house. What a clueless asshole. I don't know how much my house cost, because I built it myself over a 5plus year period, but it sure as hell was not $500 K. It almost certainly wasn't $50K, yet every visitor that has ever been here thinks it is beautiful - and it sure as hell is functional and works as a home.
What an troll asshole. $500K, and I don't really own it, and I didn't build it, and it is in a foreign country, and...
Asshole.
I wouldn't and will not buy a house, especially a condo period. The metrics never really work out, and if you do get appreciation its almost on par with renting and for far more risk. Plus not a yard worker, I just don't like doing it, for me to hire someone, check keep tabs, etc its just easier to pick up the phone and call the landlord.
Home ownership (exception of farms where the land works) is really just a great way to keep the population tied down. Its a stinky investment generally speaking.
Locking up $500k in a foreign illiquid asset when interest rates are low and residing in a foreign country where you cannot get citizenship and after 70 yrs you loose all of your investment including the cap ex in maintenance, prop tax, utilities, etc?
I am sure that in this aspect some here at ZH may think that you are really smart by doing this, but maybe some won't think so.
Personally I am surprised, I remember some of your other posts and you seemed to have really good insights.
Maybe this is just an emotional buy for you, I can understand how people can justify it that way.
This isn't a condo. It has land attached, it's called a "villa" here.
$500k. The house itself was around $300k. Tack on some for transfer taxes and fees, and then another 150k on what we call "decoration" (floors, walls, appliances, furniture, solar, AC, etc etc). There is no property tax and prices for villas are only going up, especially when they are nice ones. 6000 RMB a square meter is cheap as all hell.
We also have that family farm near us as well. The point here is that I live here, am getting my Permanent Residence status by the end of the year, I'm married to a local, I own a business, and we have a kid on the way. If we ever choose to sell this, there are not taxes on capital gains, and it would be stupidly easy to rent this place out as a vacation house for considerable amounts. It has fiber internet for dirt cheap too :)
If you understand how the lease program works, the clock starts ticking once the developer pays the transfer taxes to the government and acquires the rights. This is a small percentage based on the value. Worst case, in 70 years you pay the tax again.
This is not strange or weird at all, MANY countries have similar systems. It prevents land from being bought up and held forever unused.
It's also not our only property. We have our condo in Beijing and another condo that we rent out. Mortgage rates here are for the most part all variable, and paying in full is the best option pretty much always, as there is no such thing as non-recourse. Management fees can be unpaid if you want to, the odds of being sued over them is basically nil. The only ongoing expense is keeping the lights and utilities on, and it's all prepaid anyways. No HOA rules to deal with either.
The nature of my work means I can be literally anywhere on the planet and do it as long as I have an internet connection and a phone, so it's not like I'm being tied down anywhere. This was also by NO means *all* of my money. The place is usually full of family, so it's not empty and useless either.
Technically, we could have just built the same damn thing on the farmland for far less, but the problem with that, is that it legally has no value and if, perchance, someone gets pissy, it can be torn down as an illegal construction. It can also never legally be sold, and if the farmland goes fallow, we would lose all rights. This is far safer
The point I was getting at here, is that unlike many idiots out there, I am actually responsible with our finances. I have ZERO debt, live cheap and when I do spend, I spend it on nice, quality things. When we buy property over here, pretty much everyone doesn't pay attention to the mortgage rates. We pay attention to the TOTAL amount that has to be repaid, as that is far more meaningful.
"I just look around especially in older cities and marvel and the craftsmanship of the architecture and design- there is nothing comparable. 100, 200, 400 year old buildings still looking great, its a real disappointment to see how far we have come."
Good point. I know exactly what you mean. For the past 20 years I've lived in a house built in 1896. Architects and builders had pride in those days. You can see the love that's been put into all the details. No prefab elements, no plaster, no cheating. I love the fact that all the materials used are "natural" (wood and bricks). I love my pinewood floors, the tiled stove in the living room.
I have a lot of friends who live in houses that are recent constructions, all glass, steel and concrete. And mould in the bathroom. I wonder what their houses will look like in 120 years. Some things were definitely better in the old days.
Never was a big buyer of stuff, even when I had the means to buy it. I have much less now than at any time in the last 40 years. I still wasted money and resources on stuff that was useless or of no value. But I never went whole-hog and filled the basement, garage and attic with leftovers. I am much more selective now and don't miss many of the things I used to own.
After the kids move out, try moving to a smaller house, Do that a couple times and slim down each time. Pretty soon the "extra" stuff is gone....
Considering a yurt myself.
Hey China! " fuk u berry much"!
If there's one thing Americans will never get tired of buying and owning it's guns.
My new mantra is "please don't give us anything we won't consume in a few days
does a 6-pack of beer and a night in the back yard looking at the stars (when possible) count?
Inundated by "stuff" is the "american dream",...oh look sweetie another yard sale.
Most of the "stuff" in the consolidated retail channel are liabilities, not assets. Thus the garage full of "stuff" is a liability, not an asset. Why convert your currency to liabilities?
"You can't destroy the Earth! That's where I keep all my stuff."
- Invader Zim
It was The Tick and the quote was used in heavily roatated promotion spots.
"I'm doing laundry!"
-the Tick
There's a word y'all are missing.
Quality.
Imagine you're in the market for a widget. You know that tomorrow your money is going to be worth more than today. So when you're looking for your widget it's relatively important that you get the widget tomorrow rather than today. However at some point you are going to have to purchase the widget today anyway. So when people are purchasing in a deflationary environment they make sure that the widgets they do buy today will still be suitable tomorrow. That is, people tend to delay spending yes, but when they have to spend they tend to be more careful with money and buy higher quality in a deflationary environment because they expect the widget to continue to function. You're buying tomorrow's quality today.
In an inflationary environment it's more important to get rid of the money than in the deflationary one. It's more important you spend today.
Put another way. Cheap disposable crap is a characteristic of inflation.
For me its furniture. Totally overpriced, worthless the second after you buy it, and if you cheap out, move a couple times the stuff disintegrates.
How about flat panel/screen TV's? I bought in 02 "wide(flat) screen tube 40", for $15 hundred.
Now " 55 inch LED/3-D for under a grand"!
but everyone can use 10 of them so keep buying ! I can watch netflix on 20 devices
Green arrow for dark pools of soros . / He gets it:-)
Your $3,000 check is in the mail. Buys lots of jingymathingies I heard...
Greetings,
In 2006, my wife and I decided to get rid of everything (more or less) so that we could move on to a sailboat.
It took us two years to dispose or sell all of our belongings but we did it in an orderly manner.
Now, we live on a nice sailboat just North of Malibu. I no longer have to worry about shopping because the boat has no room for anything. It is such a relief knowing that all that advertising to buy this or that just doesn't apply to us. It is like an incredible weight was lifted from my shoulders.
Now, we focus our time on enjoying ourselves. We hang out at the beach or go camping on the deserted islands that are just 20 miles offshore. Also, we can generate our own electricity and make our own water. Plus, it never hurts to know that we can make our way to Canada or Mexico or just about anywhere (and powered by the wind) should the need arise.
The people that purchased all that crap did nothing but design their own prison.
...so you dropped anchor by the slot machines didn't ya?
It boggles my mind when I look around at all the material possessions I own, especially so when I compare all that I own to what my father and grandfather owned. Both of those men were more successful than I in terms of the money they earned, yet they accumulated much, much less in material objects. Those prior generations simply did not consume they way we do today. And what goes around will come around. My nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces will consume much less than I have done. Unfortunately for them it will be because they are poorer, not because they have been culturally conditioned to be that way.
This comment thread is quite the echo-chamber. CHS has gone off the deep lately with these platitude-heavy meaning-light missives, it's like an editorial column in some rag news media such as Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, etc - the author tells you he's right and that you should be more like him, that's all.
"I think it was Sartre who noted that our possessions own us, not the other way around."
Please, Mr. Smith, I strongly doubt your opinion on Sartre's theory of objects could be called an educated one. CHS's problems is that the problems and predicaments he writes of are blatantly obvious, he adds very little that has not been said many times, and he offers neither conclusions nor solutions, only non-falsifiable predictions.
I agree with what I take to be his basic premises - westerners have too much material crap and not enough wealth. Unfortunately, when he writes gems like, "Quite frankly, I don't want physical wealth I have to store, manage, protect, etc." the whole thing sounds childish and pretentious. The pervading subtext is that Mr. Smith would like everyone else to believe what he believes and do as he does, which is quite contrary to his self-professed love of freedom. Taken to an extreme, this could be read as the prelude to an argument for deep-ecology, austerity, anti-materialism, etc. which will always find themselves backed by totalitarian regimes; here is no other way to achieve sociocultural homogeneity than by forced imposition.
This argument could be, and has been, presented far more persuasively and cogently by others, CHS's version feels half-assed, failing to address the roles of larger structures or systems in producing the observed phenomenon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paraphrasing Sartre was a mistake, Baudrillard - who of course drew upon Sartre's theory of objects - would have been a far better choice.
"Baudrillard's proliferating metaphysical speculations are evident in Fatal Strategies (1983, translated in 1990), another turning point in his career. This text presented a bizarre metaphysical scenario concerning the triumph of objects over subjects within the “obscene” proliferation of an object world so completely out of control that it surpasses all attempts to understand, conceptualize and control it. His scenario concerns the proliferation and growing supremacy of objects over subjects and the eventual triumph of the object. In a discussion of “Ecstasy and Inertia,” Baudrillard discusses how objects and events in contemporary society are continually surpassing themselves, growing and expanding in power. The “ecstasy” of objects is their great proliferation and expansion; ecstasy as going outside of or beyond oneself: the beautiful as more beautiful than beautiful in fashion, the real more real than the real in television, sex more sexual than sex in pornography. Ecstasy is thus the form of obscenity (fully explicit, nothing hidden) and of the hyperreality described by Baudrillard earlier taken to another level, redoubled and intensified. His vision of contemporary society exhibits a careening of growth and excrescence (croissance et excroissance), expanding and excreting ever more goods, services, information, messages or demands — surpassing all rational ends and boundaries in a spiral of uncontrolled growth and replication."
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/#3
Sartre's theory of objects properly starts with his early understanding of intentionality in Husserl.
http://mccoyspace.com/nyu/12_s/anarchy/texts/03-Jean-Paul_Sartre-Intenti...