Sunday Food for Thought - The Culture of Stuff

We were all reminded once again last week about how the culture of stuff so insanely permeates our lives with the release of the new Sony Playstation and the assorted shootings that accompanied the frenzied push to obtain the so-called modern holy grail of the gaming industry.

Even 'let's put the Christ back in Christmas' mega-retailer Wal Mart became the scene of senseless violence. Maybe their greeters should be wishing everybody a Sony Christmas instead of pretending to actually care about the spiritual values of their customers in the name of the Almighty (buck). Let's face it, when you're loading up your shopping cart at Wal Mart, you're not exactly putting Jesus in there too (unless you're buying this guy).

HANOI, Vietnam: U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday encouraged China to become a "nation of consumers" and buy more American manufactured and farm goods.
[...]
"I strongly support your vision, Mr. President, of encouraging your country to become a nation of consumers and not savers," Bush told Hu, according to a transcript of the meeting.
link

That's the mantra: spend, don't save, because everybody can always use more stuff and if there's an emergency like, say, a natural disaster, the government will take care of you just like Bushco did during the aftermath of Katrina. Right?

Now consumerism isn't the ultimate evil but just how much stuff does one person need? And just how happy does that stuff make you? Life, liberty and the pursuit of stuff. That's the western way.

Last week, Larry King had a few guests on to talk about how to achieve your dreams of getting stuff by thinking your way to your dreams. (He also had a guy on who believes you can think yourself out of having cancer, which King didn't even challenge, but that's another story...) These so-called experts had tips like putting up pictures of the stuff you wanted and then focusing each day on how to get your hands on that stuff eventually. Positive thinking. It seemed to me as I watched that show that perhaps if everybody was thinking about substantial stuff like how to achieve peace in the world and end world hunger, perhaps those brainwaves might actually produce some useful results some day. But, no. Why waste braincells on that stuff when that Maserati with your name on it (in which you can strut your stuff) awaits?

I have stuff. Not a lot of stuff, mind you. And pretty old stuff, actually. I still have a pair of pink knee socks that I wore in high school 30 years ago because they're not worn out yet. Yes, really. My three newest sweaters were given to me by my daughter last Christmas and the one before that. I rarely buy new stuff and if I do, it has to be on sale.

I lived in a cabin on an acreage for almost 5 years that was less than 400 sq feet, so I seriously reduced the amount of stuff in my life. The stuff I do lug around is essential (mostly) except for the too numerous books that line my crowded bookshelves. My TV is a 1980s model and my computer is a dinosaur. I don't care. They work. I believe in functionality, not having new stuff for its own sake.

I'm poor, that's true. But even at times in my life when I did have extra money, the pursuit of stuff was never my main goal and I certainly wouldn't stand in line outside of a store overnight or shoot somebody who got the stuff I wanted before I had the chance to.

When people lose all of their stuff due to fires or other disasters, the most important stuff they talk about or miss are the personal things - like pictures and mementos. Frankly, I think everybody should just scan their pictures and save them on disks that they can store somewhere safe so they don't end up losing them forever. I'd scan my pictures, but I don't have enough memory on my computer to install that $4 scanner I got at Value Village. I'll figure out a workaround, someday soon I hope.

In the meantime, the stuff I value most is easy to grab if I ever have to flea suddenly - stuff like the covered glass 7Up bottle that my daughter made for me in grade school 20 years ago. That's what I'd take with me (not to mention the cats, of course). The rest of it is just replaceable stuff and my Salvation Army Chic style of decorating means that my furniture could go up in smoke and be replaced next week without a problem.

I've considered myself lucky over the years that stuff is not a priority in my life. It's just stuff. I do understand why people get so attached to stuff that it makes them do crazy things but 'I was shot for my Playstation' is not something I'd ever want to see on my headstone.

I'll let George Carlin have the final word on the stuff craze since he sums it up so well:



Stuff: it will drive you nuts if you let it.