OK, so this is my little “sermonette” (or just a rant?) for today: Maybe our nation and our world would be in better shape all around if we just all tried to get through life with less “stuff,” i.e., material possessions in general and luxury items specifically.
Sure, I know the yacht makers and luxury car manufacturers need to make a living, too. But what I’m talking about is all the individual and corporate GREED out there that leads to such crises as the mortgage industry meltdown and the Wall Street scandals. (Incidentally, if you honestly still think the stock market is even remotely predictable — at least for the short term — let me caution you to resist the urge. It’s higher stakes gambling plain and simple, on a level that would rival all of America’s casinos put together.)
Anyway, I started thinking about all the hardships we ALL suffer as a result of the very common drive to “own” or “possess” material stuff — a drive which we all have to some extent. Take me, for example. Most of the furniture I own (“we” own, as in my wife and I) is much closer to “decor by early Salvation Army” than it is something from Kichler lighting, or Macy’s, or even Target. (Although we own one or two very durable Wal-mart special items.)
Would we like a house full of fine furnishings and decor? I suppose so. But we’ve discovered the hard way that running out to buy something we want using a credit card or credit account opens a door we don’t wish to go through — the door that lets one more creditor creep in and snatch one more little piece of control out of our lives.
OK, that’s really about it. I urge you to rethink the importance of the “stuff” you possess or you want to possess. Is it worth the consequences that accompany it? End of “sermonette” now.