Consumerism on Steroids
I watch commercials. I don't particularly like commercials but they are a great indicator of where and who we are because I'm certain if they didn't resonate with at least a fairly large segment of the population the companies that pay to air them would not be spending millions to do so.
This one for U.S. Steel Buildings (video here) is driving me completely nuts.
Did you watch it? What is wrong with this picture?
We are so obsessed with our "stuff" that we now spend thousands of dollars to buy extra houses for it to live in, that's what's wrong with it.
If you need an extra 40 x 60 foot steel building to store all of your "keepsakes" please seek professional help immediately. Your stuff owns you.
14 comments:
I agree with you that we have too much stuff, but I so want one of those anyway. If I lived somewhere that my neighborhood association wouldn't lose their mind over it, I would have one in my backyard. It would be great for a wood shop.
I have long thought that the amount of stress in life is directly proportional to the number of keys owned.
No one has enough. If I had this, I could put in a 2nd bathroom!
Ryk: buy one and lock them in it.
I had a house in one of those neighborhoods once. I sold it for a ridiculous price to an immigrant family we were friendly with and got rid of everything that didn't fit in the back of a Honda. There is probably still a contract out on me ;).
Probably a bit extreme for most people but everyone ought to try at least a watered down version of that at least once.
mama-
You couldn't have put it better... "stuff" is what ruins the quality of our lives... if you don't have it, you want it.. if you've got it, you work more hours cause ,heaven help you, someone else might have more stuff, or (horrors)even worse, BETTER stuff... in the words of one of my favorite philosophers " Simplify, simplify, simplify"...later modernized to become "Keep It Simple, Stupid"... I'm sure Thoreau would agree.
E
oops-- and tomcat-
I couldn't agree more :-)
E
Just last night, the wife and I were talking about this very thing. When I met her, my whole life would fit in my '67 Galaxy 500. I didn't start amassing my particular collection of worthless crap until we started living together. A woman can take you down a path you never intended without you even noticing.
There are people who would rapidly fill one of those - and then want another one.
Incidentally, thanks for your comments on Sparrow Chat. Unfortunately my spam machine tucked them away. I only recently realized and released them. Hopefully, Akismet has learned its lesson and won't do it again!
ryk - In my case, it's my husband who can't seem to let go of anything. While I routinely engage in purges of my stuff (and I still have too much crap), he finds it well nigh to impossible to do the same. He didn't have a deprived childhood, so I am at a loss to understand his inability to "lighten the load."
I could use one of those U.S. Steel buildings to store my uranium before it's shipped to the buyers...
But what about my yacht. I can't very well leave it out in the elements. It might get wet or something.
newsflash.... Armed special forces are now circling woozie's shed... VP Cheney has declared that FBI and CIA have infra-red photos of the shed and proof that woozie is using poohbah's yacht to move the uranium to a desert island where it's being sold to space aliens intent on using it to take over the earth... we will all need to be moved into internment camps for our own safety until this crisis has been averted...
E
OK, this is not mine, but I thought it was really funny. Why did Thoreau say "simplify, simplify" instead of just one "simplify"? Also remember George Carlin's routine "A Place for My Stuff"? a popup from Amazon, hope it works.
Link works. I hadn't seen that, pretty much nails it doesn't it.
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