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Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 |
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Is Anybody Else Tired of Buying and Owning Stuff?
Charles Hugh Smith
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:
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. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple Contributed by Charles Hugh Smith of Of Two Minds. Please share: Spread the word to sheeple far and wide
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for the last 7 years we have live off the grid minimalist lifestyle.,
When I look back on my 6 figure income (now 4 figures) and all the shit we owned I would prefer this life style any day. No electric bill, no mortgage, no credit card debt, no neighbors, we make time every day to go out side and lay in the sun.
Life is what you make it, you don’t need as much as you think to live good…….
survivingsurvivalism.com
i am way ahead of you there, four years ago…. the last time i moved! i was able to do it in one pickup truckload but i had to borrow a truck to do it!!!
cosmyccowboy
Haven’t you grown tired of buying “value engineered” products that fall apart within a week after coming out of their wrapper?
The biggest problem with buying anything these days is that there are NO quality products available to consumers. It’s basically been a game of “how cheap can we make it and still find an idiot willing to pay for it?”. That’s how it’s been for decades, so I stopped buying stuff may years ago. No cell phone, no TV, no video games, no “pod” devices, no gadgets, etc. etc. I even bought an army-surplus vehicle because it was the only way to get a car to drive that wasn’t designed to fall apart.
I only buy things that are durable, practical and functional, and that policy excludes almost everything sold to the morons that occupy this country.
Americans are idiots. They’re the dumbest bastards that ever walked the face of the Earth, and that’s why you can sell ‘em crap, and when the piece of crap falls apart, you can always count on the fools to return to the store and buy more of the same.
Any business owner would have to be a fool to supply Americans with quality products when they’re perfectly willing to work their asses off and turn over their hard-earned dollars for any piece of garbage that has a TV commercial associated with it.
You reap what you sow in this world, and Americans are sold nothing but garbage because Americans are stupid enough to keep paying for it.
I am sick and tired of having the stuff I do have. Too much already. I don’t want the stuff I have. Gonna get rid of it. Sick of it. NO MORE. I don’t even garage sale anymore. No kids left at home, don’t need to. I don’t have fancy stuff or electronic stuff, just stuff stuff.
very timely article for me. I was just sitting in my liv room looking at it. I have a sleeper sofa in an extra bedroom mad in the 80′s ( not pretty) but it was when things were heavy from the real wood. I looked at my 2500.00 liv set which is only 7 years old and it is not comfy, it is creaking and it has a few frays. I want to sell it. It is too big to over the top to me for some reason. I want my small comfy ugly sleeper sofa in there now. I will buy a slip cover of my liking. I have crap in the attic by the ton..I want it gone. Nothing material matters. I care my mortgage is paid, my elec,water and have food. We do have pay as you go phones as my hubby works out of town and my child is in college. we still have cable, kid needs internet for some courses. we are working on off grid, not fully but at least enough to cut some bills down. we wish we could pay off our mortgage but we just pray about that. I thank God our cars are paid off, running alil shabby but they are paid. I feel so closed in by the TRASH we have. I see what I really want to keep, heirllooms like china etc from family that passed and that and pics are the only sentimental stuff I would keep. We are trying to buy furniture that is older and painting it etc as we will not own Ikea, walmart etc furniture. I want it to last until I croak. How did we become so hollow that we filled the holes in our lives with stuff instead of relationships. We need to rewind and take inventory of what really REALLY matters.
What a blessing to find this article and like-minded people commenting. I am far behind you all, I am living on grid and in a home full of stuff and having to go to my parents home once a week and go through their stuff in order to prepare their home for an estate sale. My eyes have really been opened, now I just need to find the time and energy to downsize my own place so my kids won’t have to deal with it later!
I really enjoyed this article. Our society has become a bloated, greedy, need for immediate self-gratification society. I was one who had to have the latest fashion, next new electronic device on the market, and could accumulate debt with the best of them. Then I read the many promises of God. He promises shelter, food, and clothing, but do they need to be the best to keep up with my neighbors. NO. I have learned to say NO in my head many times while shopping.It is such a blessing to dream about having something and knowing if I save I can have it someday and walk out of the store without using my credit card. It’s a pure joy to know that what I thought I needed today (new TV, new cell phone, etc.) and realizing in the process of saving for that “special thing” and a few days, week, etc. finding I didn’t need it at all. The freedom that comes from not having material things is such a blessing because I don’t have to take care of this “stuff” or have a garage or basement full of things I thought I needed be stored away…for what. So I can brag that I had it?! My friendships and relationships with family and friends are more real and meaningful. “I EMBRACE THE FREEDOM OF HAVING LESS BECAUSE I HAVE FOUND SO MUCH MORE RICHNESS IN THE PEOPLE I KNOW AND LOVE.” THANK YOU JESUS
What is wrong with you people take it to a consignment or thrift shop.
We should be proud. The corporations cannot force people to buy inflated stuff with so much excess. Now the corporations are stressed because few will buy their inflated goods on credit. Cash in the bank! Trade or sell, donate for a tax break.
Group homes/children’s homes and rescue missions need all kinds of stuff, and will haul used furniture. I do regular de cluttering because others are in need and things no longer used/needed others need. We use our garage; 3/4 of all garages are not used to park cars; these folks are really stuck in stupid and would rather stash them full of junk. I see them as losers and want nothing to do with them. Some in my subdivision even have mice and rats from filth as nothing is cleaned; just piled. City got after some. It is a fire hazard and attracts mice, snakes and roaches.
They are called hoarders. Some people I know buy and sell old trains and they are millionaires. I have little but some clothes and books. Sell everything or give it away.
Some have a disease want more and more. Peole are buying less and second hand.
95% of the junk in these stores is just that. Yet they expect top dollar.
I do not feel sorry for a ceos portfollio just because fuel and corn costs are high. So what, that does not make the junk more valuable because of.
Many people line up and leave items at Good Will and take tax credit and rid themselves of many things. And those will little or need replace items from fires or other reason go and buy them.
I watch many children getting school clothes that way this year. I do not shop. I just watch from the car as a friend shops. Over the years only old car arrive to buy. Then mostly women. Then newer cars and more and more men. Not just dropping off their wives but now shopping for themselves. Rid the mess and let it be bought when there is really a need.