Life, liberty, and property
Why are we in love with stuff?
Stuff breaks.
Stuff gets old.
Stuff wears out.
Stuff is expensive.
So why do we love it?
I say we because I love stuff too. Of course, I'd like to think my stuff is a bit more socially acceptable, but at the end of the day it's really just more stuff.
Stuff is a symbol of our spending power--our worth.
Stuff gives us control, grants us status.
Stuff clutters our hallways and offices, yet we don't want to get rid of it, because we know we'll just go out and get more.
There are people who have serious issues with stuff; we call them hoarders. However, the strange thing is no one has ever come to my home, seen some stuff I don't use, and say, "Hey man, why you got all this stuff over here that you don't use? Are you a hoarder?"
I don't know. Maybe we're all not that obsessed with stuff, but it does say something that we live in a country with an entire industry built around storing excess stuff. I'd like to leave you with the words of one of the most ironically prophetic people of the twentieth century. These are just a few of his words on stuff:
"That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time...A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!"
-George Carlin
CPT
Stuff breaks.
Stuff gets old.
Stuff wears out.
Stuff is expensive.
So why do we love it?
I say we because I love stuff too. Of course, I'd like to think my stuff is a bit more socially acceptable, but at the end of the day it's really just more stuff.
Stuff is a symbol of our spending power--our worth.
Stuff gives us control, grants us status.
Stuff clutters our hallways and offices, yet we don't want to get rid of it, because we know we'll just go out and get more.
There are people who have serious issues with stuff; we call them hoarders. However, the strange thing is no one has ever come to my home, seen some stuff I don't use, and say, "Hey man, why you got all this stuff over here that you don't use? Are you a hoarder?"
I don't know. Maybe we're all not that obsessed with stuff, but it does say something that we live in a country with an entire industry built around storing excess stuff. I'd like to leave you with the words of one of the most ironically prophetic people of the twentieth century. These are just a few of his words on stuff:
"That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time...A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!"
-George Carlin
CPT
Do you know the song "I Got Plenty of Nothing" from Porgy and Bess? I could sing it to you sometime...
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