TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Chill Out Room
-- The more you get, the more you want
Pages (2): [1] 2 »

The more you get, the more you want

[Or..."the cycle of consumption and dissatisfaction."]

So you get a decent job that lets you afford all your necessities -- food, clothing, living space, and so on -- and a few amenities like going out to the movies and music or wherever your interests happen to be. Eventually you accumulate enough stuff that your current living arrangement starts to feel a bit cramped, or maybe you just want a change of scenery.

So you buy or rent a new and bigger place, and move all of your stuff from the old place into the new one. But the stuff you already have starts to bore you, as stuff long owned tends to do, and you decide you need newer and more expensive stuff. You go out and buy some things, and your finances start to feel a bit stretched. But that's no matter, because soon you get a raise at your job. The raise is significant enough that you feel you can afford a bigger place across town.

So you buy that one, and you move all your stuff there. Then you buy some more stuff to fill out the new place. Eventually you have more than you know what to do with, maybe even more than you would have told yourself you wanted, had you considered the question ten years ago when you got that first decent job. But the funny thing is, you look at all the stuff you own now, maybe books that go unread for months or years, more music than you'll ever practically have time to listen to, the car you bought simply because the last one had started to feel a bit shabby -- you look at all this, and you still want a bit more.

At least a few people reading this will probably think, "Ha! I'm not like that! Once I have x, y, and z, I'll be quite content, thank you very much!" If that is actually the case, then you are a rare person indeed. But chances are that if you think that, you are only fooling yourself, because for most people (and I include myself) our "needs" and our "wants" for material goods are part of the same continuum of forces tugging us along the road to ever-greater consumption in spite of any stories we would like to tell ourselves about how we'd be content if only x, y, and z would happen to us.

I'm not saying that there's necessarily anything wrong with this. I find it kind of amusing, the treadmill that almost everybody is on, the cycle of buying something, taking the thing for granted, and then finally giving in and buying a new thing when the old one has shed too much of its original lustre, only to repeat the process again.

I am one of those rare people, and I'm not fooling myself.

I have my areas in which I am very much so like that, but it is only with technology. I personally want 2 cars. 1 as my daily driver that gets SUPER fucking good gas mileage (I am looking at an MCC S.M.A.R.T. car) and then my project car. I like a nice place, but honestly, I just want to live downtown where I have no need for a car. That way all I will have is my project car.

Sounds eerily familier to one of the themes in Fight Club... the things you own start to own you. Tyler Durden? Is that you?

familiar

quote:

Originally posted by The17sss familiar

Click! See how that works?

Man should not consider his material possession his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need.

My advisor is one of those "rare people." She and her husband make easily a million dollars a year (just salary) and they have a relatively affordable condo with not a whole lot of stuff in it. I was really amazed when I walked into it. They use their money to fund the business theyre starting (part of which Im involved in - forecasting hurricanes for oil companies in the Gulf).

I have to say its totally possible to not get sucked into an expensive lifestyle... you just have to be constantly aware of the situation, and probably have better priorities.

One theory I have is that if your job is well-paying but you dont do anything that's personally gratifying or meaningful, it's a lot easier to replace that gratification or meaning with possessions. If you're doing something with your life that makes you genuinely happy, ie., to draw on Plato, "the good life", then it's a lot easier to keep perspective and not let your life run away from you.

Oh yeah...my bf's parents are those "rare people" also.

EVERYONE IS A RARE PEOPLE

cor version:

thread won.

quote:

Originally posted by mezzir cor version:

lol wut?

Oh, that song brought back some memories. THANKS!

I like living the basic life. I don't have cable, and for over a year I didn't have the internet.

Now I steal someone's internet, but that's besides the point.

This reminded me of:

Re: The more you get, the more you want

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles [Or..."the cycle of consumption and dissatisfaction."] So you get a decent job that lets you afford all your necessities -- food, clothing, living space, and so on -- and a few amenities like going out to the movies and music or wherever your interests happen to be. Eventually you accumulate enough stuff that your current living arrangement starts to feel a bit cramped, or maybe you just want a change of scenery. So you buy or rent a new and bigger place, and move all of your stuff from the old place into the new one. But the stuff you already have starts to bore you, as stuff long owned tends to do, and you decide you need newer and more expensive stuff. You go out and buy some things, and your finances start to feel a bit stretched. But that's no matter, because soon you get a raise at your job. The raise is significant enough that you feel you can afford a bigger place across town. So you buy that one, and you move all your stuff there. Then you buy some more stuff to fill out the new place. Eventually you have more than you know what to do with, maybe even more than you would have told yourself you wanted, had you considered the question ten years ago when you got that first decent job. But the funny thing is, you look at all the stuff you own now, maybe books that go unread for months or years, more music than you'll ever practically have time to listen to, the car you bought simply because the last one had started to feel a bit shabby -- you look at all this, and you still want a bit more. At least a few people reading this will probably think, "Ha! I'm not like that! Once I have x, y, and z, I'll be quite content, thank you very much!" If that is actually the case, then you are a rare person indeed. But chances are that if you think that, you are only fooling yourself, because for most people (and I include myself) our "needs" and our "wants" for material goods are part of the same continuum of forces tugging us along the road to ever-greater consumption in spite of any stories we would like to tell ourselves about how we'd be content if only x, y, and z would happen to us. I'm not saying that there's necessarily anything wrong with this. I find it kind of amusing, the treadmill that almost everybody is on, the cycle of buying something, taking the thing for granted, and then finally giving in and buying a new thing when the old one has shed too much of its original lustre, only to repeat the process again.

Im too much of a jew to go through life like that. I buy new stuff when I honestly need it. I wear my clothes til they die, and I drive my cars into the ground. Im a fan of spending money on stuff that has a qualitative advantage, ie a video card that runs better, or a television that has a higher resolution etc. fuck just buying stuff coz your old stuff is "boring".

Re: Re: The more you get, the more you want

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN Im too much of a jew to go through life like that. I buy new stuff when I honestly need it. I wear my clothes til they die, and I drive my cars into the ground.

Haha, I'm the same. Although I don't own a car anymore thankfully. What annoys me is how crappy most products are these days. For some kinds of purchases I've had much more success buying older things on the cheap and fixing them up. They tend to last, whereas new products usually have terrible craftsmanship and need to be replaced after a couple of years anyway.

My office chair, for example, was manufactured 1976. It's not in great condition right now, but I am going to get it refurbished rather than buy a new one. It's so well-built that I know I can expect it to last another 32 years after that. If I bought new, I couldn't get that kind of quality these days, even if I paid a premium. There might be some quality manufacturer out there somewhere, but I sure as hell can't find them. Even if I could, I know I'd end up paying more than it will take to fix this old one which will do the job just as well. And that would be dumb.

I own everything I need right now, and that's mainly just a bed, some clothes and a computer. I'm somewhat of a minimalist and I tend to get depressed when I have too many possessions to manage and hog around.

quote:

Originally posted by Project-K I own everything I need right now, and that's mainly just a bed, some clothes and a computer. I'm somewhat of a minimalist and I tend to get depressed when I have too many possessions to manage and hog around.

Yeah, so do I.

I go on spending sprees, but mostly it's stuff that takes up little or no space like new software or MP3s from Beatport.

quote:

Originally posted by Enigmatik This reminded me of:

I've never seen that before. So accurate.

quote:

Originally posted by Intuition I've never seen that before. So accurate.

Makes me think of that quote, that goes something like "We get in our cars and go to work, to pay for the homes we leave empty and the clothes we need to go to work, and the car to go to work"

Re: The more you get, the more you want

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles At least a few people reading this will probably think, "Ha! I'm not like that! Once I have x, y, and z, I'll be quite content, thank you very much!" If that is actually the case, then you are a rare person indeed. But chances are that if you think that, you are only fooling yourself, because for most people (and I include myself) our "needs" and our "wants" for material goods are part of the same continuum of forces tugging us along the road to ever-greater consumption in spite of any stories we would like to tell ourselves about how we'd be content if only x, y, and z would happen to us.

Plenty of people do that and still end up on a treadmill of incoming and outgoing money never ending up where they want it for one simple reason.
Most people really aren't as clever as they kid themselves to be
Because they never factor in conflict, disaster or simply things going to hell in a handbasket while they're at their weakest and often forget that life is severely unfair.
They make that 3 step plan of obtaining and even if they do manage through dumb luck or management, very few will ever factor in a multiple of worst possible scenarios which will let them actually keep what they obtain.

co signed to OP

Although I am a cheap bastard, and rarely spend money unless I really need to (my living room still has no furniture ), I like to waste invest quite a lot of money on books (just as I used to buy dozens of CD's every year when I was younger).

And I'm never satisfied with my achievement so, although I don't really go on a buying spree that often, I always think I could be doing better professionally.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.