Last week I ran into a friend whom I had not seen in a while and she, with sheepish tone, apologized to me, “I’m working as a web designer for an e-commerce company that sells trendy fashions.”
This happens regularly. Because I am known as the 100 Thing Challenge guy who thinks American-style consumerism is ruining our lives, friends and family and even strangers I meet feel compelled to apologize for any involvement they have with consumption. It comes with the territory, I suppose. Yet, I would like to take a moment to say why I think stuff is important. Really important.
Everything people do involves stuff. Everything. This is a theme I am focusing on throughout the year. I have a few speaking engagements lined up and I am working on a new book. Everything I say this year is going to include the importance of stuff. Let me summarize here.
Try to think of any activity you do that does not involve stuff? What you are doing right now involves stuff, probably a computer. Are you in a house or a coffee shop or a library? How did you get there, perhaps a bus or car or bike? Were you clothed when you traveled to wherever you are?
I think you get my point. Some theoreticians might say that the most important activities do not require stuff. Thinking. Having a conversation. Making love. Perhaps sometimes no stuff is necessary, though I have never known any person who was magically transported naked, far into the wilderness, by themselves or with another person to think, chat, or share DNA.
The reason that stuff is so important is because it is always there. We know nothing and experience nothing and relate to no one without stuff.
It’s important.
Comments
I think this is the best line in this whole post – “We know nothing and experience nothing and relate to no one without stuff.”
The reason it’s great is that it puts “stuff” into context. A certain amount of stuff is a necessary catalyst for the processes of knowing, experiencing, and relating.
The flip side, of course, is that things that function as catalysts can still be overdone. You can, after all, extinguish a match in liquid gasoline. It’s not about getting rid of everything; it’s about finding the amount of stuff that’s right for you.
Great post Dave!
Sometimes I have people apologize to me for buying things. It seems kind of funny, but it also shows that I stand for something, even if it’s sometimes a little misunderstood. And I’ve had friends become more thoughtful about their spending habits just because of my example. I do hope, though, that my example extends beyond more than spending patterns!
I have thought about this a couple of days and have decided that it is the priority of stuff that matters. If stuff is #1 then you have problems.Stuff should not come before people and our relationships with them. If you put what really matters first, then stuff is just the tools you have to live, not your life.
I think that we will be facing a big changement in our economic system. If everybody stops buying stuff, a lot of people – like your friend – will loose job, and we all need to have a job. The challenge for companies and entrepreneurs is stop producing useless junk and start producing items and services which really help people to live better, and maybe to work less hours and with less efforts. We should ALL have a decent job, but if we all downsize our request of goods, it could be sufficient to work ALL 5 hours a day,instead of 8-10-12 or more. In fact in Italy they are asking people with a job to work more and they are doing nothing to create jobs for people who does not work at all….The fact is that companies prefer having 100 people working as dogs than 200 people working safe and happy. Crazy system
Love the blog! As others have pointed out it, the stuff is just stuff. It is the surrounding people and events that give that stuff value/worth.
I wonder whether stuff has three broad impacts……personal, economic and environmental.
From a personal point, this is subjective and I have no problem with people deciding what they need, however I think that for many distinguishing between a need/want and actual necessities has now become blurred.
I think it is important to remind ourselves of how we arrived at the current situation. It is only in the last thirty years and the first time in our capitalist history that with the advent of easy credit options, such as unsecured loans, credit cards, store cards, HP etc. that a correlation between rampant consumerism and debt has been fostered………so generation Y & a certain amount of X have grown up with an instant tap flow of money to indulge themselves. This has led to breaking/loosening the link between the ‘earning to save principle’, which is effectively the bedrock of prudent housekeeping. Coupled with this current culture of self-entitlement and we know the rest when a down market hits!!! The irony to those that have saved, has been a devaluing of their savings/returns in this bear market as well. I would also say that I have no problem with the concept of self-entitlement as this can lead to empowering the individual. However research has shown a link to high E.Q. and long term happiness and I wonder whether many just immerse themselves in stuff and the whole process of getting it as a form of distraction from the grind of daily life?
I think as consumers we need to start thinking more about the full life cycle of items we purchase, there are also potential economic benefits in this approach, creating money/jobs in the recycling chain process, but this will need a shift in mind set and govt. legislation. This idea of throw away products is just crazy….all that waste going into the ground…..madness! This idea of buying our way out the current debt crisis is also a smokescreen, a short term fix….GDP cannot simply keep growing like a snowball, creating more debt.
I wonder how many couples in their twenties prior to the recent crash saved or got cast downs from parents (second hand furniture), etc……probably not many, just go down to the mall and a new TV/couch on HP!!
Sorry for making this comment sounding somewhat negative. I think that for a lot of people they are going to have to re-learn what our grandparents new….’earn to save to buy’, but I am optimistic, as painful as the next 5/10 years will be, painful experiences have a way of burning themselves in our memory banks and maybe making people discipline themselves not to fall into the same trap??
As with all things, stuff is good in moderation. Have the stuff we actually need (and not what we percieve to need – if your old TV works you don’t “need” a new one) and enjoy the stuff we have. Too many people have rooms of stuff that has been bought and never used to anything like its full potential. Exploiting the culture of “need” is the main tool of retailers, and the game is to outwit them