Materialism: a system that eats us from the inside out (opens in new tab)

(theguardian.com)

17 pointsgermainemalcolm12y ago5 comments

5 comments

I would love an apartment in a nice part of town with a decent view, a guest bedroom and maybe a den/home office. Does this make me materialistic? Because compared to housing, everything else is really inexpensive.

joshguthrie12y ago

Believe it or not, becoming "homeless" and couchsurfing friend's flats for some time() can be a way to retake some freedom in your life. Not having a key anymore in my pockets really felt like something new after having my own place for close to seven years.

"Some time" depending on your own needs and life rythmn, of course.

charlieflowers12y ago

I agree with much that the article says. However, it seems awfully subjective ... more like one person's rant on their own private blog than a news article.

droopyEyelids12y ago

And more than that, the extreme nature of the rant seems like sour grapes or jealousy to me.

Decadence, by definition, involves a decline but the author takes it to such a melodramatic level that a kid can not enjoy wealth without being completely broken inside.

agrostis12y ago

Btw., am I the only one to think it rather knavish that the word “materialism” which originally signified a school of thought emphasizing the physicality of the world and all things in it (think Democritus, Indian Lokayatics, de la Mettrie, Feuerbach) came to be used in the sense of “pursuit of property”?

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