Materialism and Modern Society

[Panici]

Does money buy happiness?
How much "stuff" is enough?
What does fulfillment look like for you?
Will society always be materialistic?


I often find myself contemplating these questions, sometimes after being bombarded by an advertisement for the latest and greatest tech.

Pretty much the only non-essential things I buy are older cars/motorcycles/parts/modifications. And that is more about feeding my passion for wrenching, restoring, and driving. These are the pastimes that bring joy to my life.
My phone/computer/TV are all many models old and I purchase second hand whenever possible.
I am content to pay rent rather then own a house of my own.

I think my lifestyle is atypical, as I constantly see folks with brand new cars, new $1000+ cellphones every year, etc.


What are your thoughts? Where do you fit in our modern world of conspicuous consumption?

[McGyver]

Well money can't buy happiness, but it does give the ability to pursue passions, experience new things, and have leisure time. Also, the absence of money for daily needs can definitely cause unhappiness in the form of stress or anxiety.

I prefer to not have a lot of "stuff", especially not disposable things. I have a relatively new phone, but got it on a promotion so it only cost $50 over 2 years. I won a 45" TV through work, prior to that my wife and I had a 32" one, which was sufficient. I travel for work often, so I bought a nice suitcase and Bluetooth noise canceling headphones, but I view these at tools for the job I have. I rarely buy clothes, which can be a bit of a problem because I look a little shlocky.

Most of my disposable income goes to either eating out, entertainment, or car parts/tools. My wife and I bought a house in Philly about 7 months ago that needs to be renovated. Having rented for the past 10 years and 3 of the last 4 buildings getting sold, plus having a car hobby, plus having a large dog, I'm just tired of renting. I'm tired of being a commodity to someone and always being at risk of being told I can't do something.

I definitely feel like I consume, but not really material objects.

[SOneThreeCoupe]

Money would buy my happiness, but I derive happiness from certain experiences and those experiences cost money. You can't restore a car without money. You can't go to the track without money. You can't go camping or visit foreign countries without money.

I hate my house. I love the shop but hate every other aspect of home ownership. Everything about the house is a compromise, and we will have to replace the other half of the roof and do some plumbing work in the next couple of years. Plus, the byproduct of having a convenient location is ridiculous road noise.

I only conspicuously consume old things. I have six vehicles, only one from the 21st century. I have many books, some of which are nearly 100 years old. I have old watches (but nothing expensive). Practically all of the music I like is from the '60s-00s or sounds like it's from then and I have more CDs than anyone I know.

If I were wealthy, I'd probably have a ridiculous number of printed tees because they're an excellent canvas for some designers and artists.

[MrBurgundy]

I think money indirectly facilitates happiness. My family and I were broke as shit for the most of my life... Stress was high, parents are frustrated, I was struggling to put fuel in my car to get to college... I wasn't unhappy, but the stress of walking home to foreclosure notices and negative bank accounts really inhibited my ability to relax and just enjoy the simple things. Things are different now. I worked hard and rigorously to get out of that and I can finally say I did. I'm going to mod the shit out of my cars, pay for my parents house, go out to eat and spent my disposable income on life experiences with people I care about.

When it comes to material things, my opinion is- If you're buying it for yourself to enjoy and it well within your means, I don't see any problem with that. I get the most out of life tinkering on my cars, so I can justify having 6. I can be alone and spent quality time with myself truly enjoying my time here on earth just doing that.

Some people buy BMWs that they can barely afford to show off or be perceived as someone with "money."

We enjoy the hobby of modifying, restoring, tinkering and driving. Car ownership to us is a genuine avenue for living a fulfilling life. It's not a designer bag hanging off my shoulder.

Society will always be materialistic as long as people are attracted to nice things, people who have nice things and the constant brainwashing that something old, reliable, repairable and engineered to last is not the way. Everything today is engineered with a shelf life.

[e30vert]

They once asked a Billionaire "How much is enough" - His reply " Just a little more"

[82eye]

i don't have a lot of stuff but i have way too much shit. does that help your dilemma ?

edit: i live close to your description.

[McGyver]

They once asked a Billionaire "How much is enough" - His reply " Just a little more"

Shit, the more you have, the more you have to lose. Better get just a little more, you know, just in case something happens.

[bangn]

If I've learnt anything in life its the more your earn; the more you spend. I don't go out buying clothes, shoes or really much for my self personally as I deem personal effects as a disposable items. My partner loves buying clothes even though she has HEAPS.. I say to her "why don't you buy something you can keep instead of something you just chuck in 12 months?" Probably the same reason I didn't go traveling in my 20s.. or even in my 30s (im 37 now). Because the idea of spending 10-15K on a 2 week holiday you will never experience again is just .. well retarded in my eyes.

I find dressing flashy just attracts too much attention to yourself, plus usually people I see draped in drip usually don't have money anyway. They're just trying to project they're wealthier than they are which I find pretty cringe.

Id rather spend money on the garden/house, cars, or something that allow me to get a lot of use from. I built a 10K watercooled PC start of the year because I work hard and its something I've never done for myself, it will last me ages and I really appreciate having it. Il be finishing the engine in my e30 this year and probably do a little work on my subi.. But after that I feel like I have everything I need to be happy. I just want my cars to reflect my vision and a nice yard I can watch the birds from.

but yeh its kind of weird regarding the money thing though, I've had really shit paying jobs, then average paying jobs and i'm now working in a role where I feel financially comfortable. I've always lived within the means of my wage but just because you earn more doesn't mean you will have more money in the bank, just means the items you used to buy get more expensive as you buy better quality things.

I think whilst social media is a thing and people project "their perfect life reel" - people are going to more and more turn to flashy phones, watches, holidays and selfies in gym gear at the supermarket. Gives young people the perception that this is what life looks like, and so they copy what they see to fit in.

[varg]

I think my lifestyle is atypical, as I constantly see folks with brand new cars, new $1000+ cellphones every year, etc.

What are your thoughts? Where do you fit in our modern world of conspicuous consumption?

I think you'll find many people in a place like this are on that same wavelength. The tech/"progress"-obsessed are not likely to own 30+ year old compact BMWs, we're likely to have a lot of stuff though. Having gone from minimum wage crap jobs and living paycheck to paycheck in a tiny apartment to where I am now I definitely think that more money can make you happier, not necessarily the things you buy with it, but I can't discount the other factors which also changed in my life such as having a good wife and being "done" with school. I don't believe in "happiness" as a result of status or things, buying a thing or achieving something is fleeting and there is always a return to baseline.

[AWDBOB]

Money is necessary as noted above, but your relationship to money/materialism is what, in my experience, has been important to develop, to find fulfillment. As also noted above, 97.8475% of people that make more money, spend more money. Some of those people aren't centered on personal goals that facilitate true happiness, but rather, focused on financial or material goals that feel like a convenient destination, and thus distract them, sometimes for their whole life.

I had to face a lot of this stuff head on recently, as I left my job in August, to do my own thing. I had to ask myself what was truly important, and take a long look through finances, goals, etc etc and figure out what I really wanted. We obviously want it all now, but the reality is, even if you have it "all" and work your ass off for it, you are sacrificing something big, even if you're unaware of it. So, working this out allows you to decided what do I want now (day to day quality of life, work/life balance, travel, experiences, etc), and what I'm okay with getting later.

What I figured out that I really wanted now was mental bandwidth and time for creativity and experiences. In many ways, you need money to get there, and that will never change. But defining money's function in my life was incredibly important, and by doing so really made me realize a lot of the stuff I was living my life for was done through the lens of routine (what I know) and destinational happiness (when I get to here it'll be all good), and neither of these things produced a fulfilling life. We're all different, in this, so you have to take your own journey to find the answer.

For me, I learned that I really don't care as much about cars as I thought I did, compared to other things that I care about far more. Boom, 40k a year I have spent on project cars I no longer need to make, and that can free up the time associated with making that money to build said cars.

Consumables (clothes, shoes, phones, daily driver car, etc etc) I have never cared much about, but really asking myself what function these served (to me) led me to realizing that these things only need to be tools, as they also don't provide fulfillment (for me), so I can purchase and manage these things as such. I bought shoes recently because I needed them. Found a pair I liked, waited for a buy one get one deal to pop up, bought 2 pairs, sold the second pair on ebay a few months later for what I paid for both. Free shoes, for an extra 13 minutes of time invested. I do this with most things that are tools, and it dramatically changes the relationship that I have between money and "stuff". When it comes time to buy good beer when I'm at the Vintage with my friends, I don't think about money, because it doesn't really matter, not because it actually doesn't matter, but because alllll of these other things I've done and defined in the background have made that mindset possible.

The catch 22 here was that, in defining all of this, I found myself with more money than I previously had due to naturally spending waaaaay less, now that I wasn't distracting myself through the natural cycle of work spend repeat, which is where the "later" comes in. The excess has a plan as well, and goes towards the "later" stuff, that I realized wasn't that important yet- stuff that I would be exchanging my time and mental bandwidth for, if I got it now.

I personally hated paying rent, so I found a way to buy a house for what I was paying for rent. Tool. Do I love my house? Not even remotely. Do I want to be in this location forever? Not even remotely. So then the conversation goes from "how to spend 4 years of my life rehabbing my current house" (what all of my friends did, in the work/spend/repeat cycle, who also don't want to live in this area) to "where do I want to live, when could I make that happen, and what will that look like?" Boom, I just saved myself from the pit of distraction that most people that I know fall into, only because they didn't define these small things. Now they all feel indebted to their house because of the labor they put into it, and spent their savings rehabbing their house that they won't get back out of it, and likely will take an additional 5yrs to move, if ever.

In running a business, the business typically consumes the owner. The goal with mine was for it to be purely supplemental to the things I am trying to do and enjoy in life. This warps the minds of all the old guys that try to give me advice, because their business became their identity. Mine is just a tool to get me where I want to go. But it only works because of the above structures I've defined and worked out.

I have spent many hours pouring over the questions in your OP, and figured I'd throw out some of the stuff I've done to help me along the journey (that never stops).

Edit:

Off the top of my head, these are some great books I've read that are related to the above: The Alchemist, Siddhartha, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The War of Art, Enough, Mastery, Mans Search for Meaning.

[uturn]

We forget what money is... a standard used for exchange.
Used correctly, it can buy happiness.... all four levels of it.
but you'll need a lot of it.

how much stuff? Look around you and if you think it's enough then it's enough. We'll make more if it's not enough, but if you think you need to hug a tree, maybe use a little less. The movement is to save the planet for future generations but that will decrease the stuff you can have, so choose...

Fulfillment- my ideal.... temperate climate, calm and peaceful, safe and secure. free of the daily grind, free of government oversight. Freedom in its truest form. A freedom that can only be found if we turn back the clock to happier days.

Society- forever materialistic


I'm on my own track to find what makes me happy.... only one shot at this life game. There's no winners or losers. Its life.

[hasa]

I don't need more money than what is needed to build M20 racing engines and own some good guitars. All the rest would be pointless and bring no more happiness.

[ZeKahr]

Does money buy happiness?

Of course money buys happiness. People who parrot "money doesn't buy happiness" are either broke themselves or they're super wealthy people (centimillionaires and billionaires) who don't want competition. Of course, there's a diminishing return on how happy more money can make you.

How much "stuff" is enough?

Depends on the individual. I'm just fine with an E30 and a small garage.

What does fulfillment look like for you?

A small garage, an E30, and lots of 18yo flatbacks.

Will society always be materialistic?

Yep, it's human nature to be materialistic. People aren't going to stop being materialistic unless it's programmed out of them en-masse through gene-editing technology.

I am content to pay rent rather then own a house of my own.

You never really own your house; either the bank and/or the government owns it. Even if you pay off your mortgage, you still have to pay property taxes (speaking from American perspective). Stop paying those taxes and you'll get a rude awakening as to who really owns the house

[Panici]

Society will always be materialistic as long as people are attracted to nice things, people who have nice things and the constant brainwashing that something old, reliable, repairable and engineered to last is not the way. Everything today is engineered with a shelf life.

Planned Obsolescence.
The E90 N5x turbochargers come to mind. They lasted just long enough for the first owner to be finished with the lease / for the car to be out of warrenty.

My mother's clothes dryer from 1989 still works to this day, good luck getting a new one to last more then a decade without any repair.

I'm not sure how these people/companies design products to fail with a clean conscience. Forgetting about the monetary cost, what about the environmental impact of creating & disposing of these products?

after that I feel like I have everything I need to be happy. I just want my cars to reflect my vision and a nice yard I can watch the birds from.

That's sounds pretty nice to me. I think the trick is realizing when you've achieved the vision.

defining money's function in my life was incredibly important, and by doing so really made me realize a lot of the stuff I was living my life for was done through the lens of routine (what I know) and destinational happiness (when I get to here it'll be all good), and neither of these things produced a fulfilling life. We're all different, in this, so you have to take your own journey to find the answer.

Edit:
Off the top of my head, these are some great books I've read that are related to the above: The Alchemist, Siddhartha, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The War of Art, Enough, Mastery, Mans Search for Meaning.

It takes good self-awareness to figure this out.
Some new terms and those reading suggestions for me to look into, thank you.

the conversation goes from "how to spend 4 years of my life rehabbing my current house" (what all of my friends did, in the work/spend/repeat cycle, who also don't want to live in this area) to "where do I want to live, when could I make that happen, and what will that look like?" Boom, I just saved myself from the pit of distraction that most people that I know fall into, only because they didn't define these small things.

I like the mindset of measuring your time as a resource in the same way you measure money, because it absolutely is.

In running a business, the business typically consumes the owner. The goal with mine was for it to be purely supplemental to the things I am trying to do and enjoy in life. This warps the minds of all the old guys that try to give me advice, because their business became their identity. Mine is just a tool to get me where I want to go. But it only works because of the above structures I've defined and worked out.

I saw my father go through this. He owned his own business and worked very hard to provide for his family and the families of his employees, at the detriment of his own health. He never had a chance to retire and passed away at 71. I can't believe it's been four years already.
Among other things, going through that made me take my health seriously. I can make decisions today that will give me a better chance of a long & active life.

I'm glad that you have it figured out, and thank you for sharing.

Fulfillment- my ideal.... temperate climate, calm and peaceful, safe and secure. free of the daily grind, free of government oversight. Freedom in its truest form. A freedom that can only be found if we turn back the clock to happier days.

Temperate climate is a big thing for me as well. Hard to beat stepping outside in shorts and sandals in the summer. And obviously the hobbies I am passionate about mostly require warm weather.
But I could never leave my family to pursue that. If my mom & sister agreed to pick up and move to the southern USA, or maybe to Italy I wouldn't have to think too hard about it.

And there are absolutely still places without government oversight, but sadly not in north america.

You never really own your house; either the bank and/or the government owns it. Even if you pay off your mortgage, you still have to pay property taxes (speaking from American perspective). Stop paying those taxes and you'll get a rude awakening as to who really owns the house

Not sure I necessarily agree with this. You have a lot more security even paying a mortgage compared to renting.
Last time I changed housing, it was because the landlord decided to sell the house. Thankfully he gave me a few months to move out, because it was a huge job to move with a home shop, a basement full of parts, and project cars on the go.

And with cars as a hobby, there is certainly a cost to not having enough space.
I've sold four parts cars over the years that I would have kept if I had room.
Between parts I could have sold, and parts I needed (that I ended up buying new), I'm out about $7k between the four cars.
Maybe this is nothing compared to the costs of owning a piece of property, but it still feels significant to me.

[ZeKahr]

Planned Obsolescence.
The E90 N5x turbochargers come to mind. They lasted just long enough for the first owner to be finished with the lease / for the car to be out of warrenty.

My mother's clothes dryer from 1989 still works to this day, good luck getting a new one to last more then a decade without any repair.

I'm not sure how these people/companies design products to fail with a clean conscience. Forgetting about the monetary cost, what about the environmental impact of creating & disposing of these products?

Even our E30s were engineered with planned obsolescence (although not as bad as the newer BMWs). The dashboards cracked as soon as the early 2000s, the odometer gears fail (usually before 200k miles), etc. The timing belt on the M20 was only designed to last 4yrs/50k miles (a little bit more past the 3yr/36k mile warranty these cars came with new). If anything computer related fails or has a fault (like the ECU, the SI board), you can't easily rebuild its internals like you can with a carburetor (unless you're an expert in computer circuits). IMO these were all indicators that told the current owner to trade the car for a newer BMW. Today we can scoff at these kinds of issues, but I'm sure they were a big deal during when people owned these cars during the 1990s and early 2000s.

The N5x turbos can go 200k+ miles, but it mainly depends on how the owner(s) drive and maintain the car. A car that's been driven hard and had turbo-related maintenance skimped on will very likely have turbos fail sooner than one that's been gently driven and had at least some maintenance done on the turbos.

The biggest issue is that in order to make newer generations of cars "better" over their predecessors in various areas (comfort, performance, etc), more complex and advanced engineering techniques are required. The cost of that more complex/advanced engineering is passed on to the consumer in the form of more expensive parts, more parts in general, and systems that are increasingly difficult to DIY repair with basic hand tools.

Corporations don't have any incentive to care about the environment vs their own profits. They only present the façade of caring because the government puts a gun to their head to do so with all sorts of environmental dictates.

Not sure I necessarily agree with this. You have a lot more security even paying a mortgage compared to renting.
Last time I changed housing, it was because the landlord decided to sell the house. Thankfully he gave me a few months to move out, because it was a huge job to move with a home shop, a basement full of parts, and project cars on the go.

And with cars as a hobby, there is certainly a cost to not having enough space.
I've sold four parts cars over the years that I would have kept if I had room.
Between parts I could have sold, and parts I needed (that I ended up buying new), I'm out about $7k between the four cars.
Maybe this is nothing compared to the costs of owning a piece of property, but it still feels significant to me.

Well yeah, you have more security paying a mortgage, especially in your case. But the point I'm trying to make is that, even if you finish paying off your mortgage (or buy the house with cash), you still have to make payments to the taxman to be able to keep owning the property.

With cars, even if the car is fully paid off and you stop paying your annual registration fee, you won't have guys with guns coming to your door taking it away from you (unless you get caught driving it unregistered).