In many ways, our society is based on the idea of buying things. It helps keep our economy active, but does it lead to us having too much stuff?
Having a healthy economy seems to be good for everyone. Companies have the resources to produce goods, workers have money to buy those goods, and owners can turn a profit. Everyone wins, right?
Of course, it is not that simple. One problem we are seeing is that people buy things without necessarily having the money to be able to afford them. Credit, in the form of loans or credit cards, make it all too easy to buy things without necessarily having the money for them.
Another issue is with the environment. Making goods takes resources and energy, and those are available in finite quantities. Our consumer culture is leading to the depletion of natural resources, or environmental devastation in the effort to get more.
The primary problem we are talking about today regards the accumulation of stuff. In a consumer culture, an entire industry has been created around convincing you that you need to buy the latest tech, another car, tchotchkes and doodads of all sorts.
Some people have a problem with hoarding, bringing item after item into their home and never throwing anything out. Others move their excess stuff to a storage locker, if they have too much to fit in the home where they live. Or perhaps things just get dumped in a landfill if we no longer have space.
Is this a real problem in our society? Are we living in an unsustainable way when it comes to our belongings? Or is it just a case of some people having too much disposable income and too little self control?
Related questions: How much is enough? What material possession means the most to you? What possessions of yours will someone want when you die? How many pairs of shoes do you own?