Loosing the will to buy things.

I’ve never been one to follow trends and fads for the sake of it. I’ve never worn fashionable clothes, restricting myself instead, to whatever was cheap, of the correct size, and probably black.

Even though I’m in IT, and hence apparently “into” the latest gadgets, I’m really not. My PC is an ancient 2 whole years old and worth bugger all. My TV, while being a 50” Plasma, is not “full HD” and was the cheapest one I could find without stealing. I don’t buy movies on Bluray, and my mobile phone is used for making calls, and very little else.

By today’s western standards then, I am odd. A misfit. A cheap and possibly smelly creature that should be avoided at all costs. Or so the marketing giants would have us believe.
You see, while I appreciate the finer things in life, it is becoming more and more apparent to me that I don’t need any of them. Further more, it is also clear that there is this ever present drive to replace all the fairly new, and perfectly working things in my house, with slightly newer versions that do the exact same job.

Sure my plasma works fine, but really, how can I sleep at night knowing it’s not FULL HD? How can I live with myself knowing my kids have been robbed of “motion flow technology”? And what will I tell the wife when she wants to watch one of the 3 films released so far in 3D, that she can’t?

People apparently lined up to buy the new iPhone4. A device that is widely known to not work very well if held....like a phone. But the fact that it doesn’t work is irrelevant because it “looks” nice. It has a touchy feely screen, and it does...stuff. People are not buying the phone. They truly believe they are buying happiness. They are buying something that will make them feel good when they open the box and press the screen. Furthermore they believe they are buying “acceptance” from their piers. They are buying into the community of “users”. Funny, I thought drugs were illegal?

But this isn’t about phones or TV’s or small things like that. This is about our general discontent with ANYTHING we already own.

I spent $50K on a sports car. It’s very nice. My friends all tell me how nice it is. People at work tell me how nice it is. And I know how nice it is when I get in it in the morning. I know how nice it is when I drive to work, and then, I know that it’s not quite as nice as the new model that just pulled up next to me at the lights. And instantly I loath my car. It’s old. Crap. Outdated. But the truth is, there is ALWAYS a better car. I could sell everything I own and spend half a mil on a Ferrari, and then a Bugatti may pull up next to me at the lights, and I’d be forced to cry.

And here is where I think I have the answer to one of the worlds current ills. Divorce.

Once upon a time Marriage was for life. But we don’t understand “for life” anymore. Advertising, pier pressure, and very underhanded viral and social marketing are all telling us that what we have is out dated and should be replaced by something a little more shiny.

Is it no wonder that we are happy with our spouse when we wake up in the morning. And happy with them as we go to work, and then suddenly, not quite so happy with them when a nicer newer model smiles at us at the lights?

Just perhaps it’s time to turn off the TV, throw away the product and store catalogues, stop clicking on web adverts, and simply look at what we have NOW, and be bloody grateful for it. From the phone in your hand, to the car you drive, to the house you live in, to the spouse that is there for you when you’re sick, maybe, just maybe we should apply “till death do us part” and be happy with what we’ve got.

People used to be able to interpret the phrase “the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence”. These days, we’d just buy the house next door and move. We simply don’t get it anymore.