the futility of consumerism

When I started this blog four and a half years ago, I was in a much different place than I am now. Well, figuratively speaking. I was sitting in the same chair in the same house, spending time in front of a computer and worrying about a possession. I came up with the name of this blog after thinking about the lyrics to a favorite hardcore punk song of mine by the now-defunct band Refused. The lyrics are as follows:

["They told me that the classics never got a style but, they do, they do. Somehow baby, I never thought that we do to." ]

I got a bone to pick with capitalism and a few to break
Grab us by the throat and shake the life away
Human life is not commodity, figures, statistics or make believe

And yeah, I like eating excrement, not getting paid for it
Play the guilt, play the fear & play the anxiety
And yeah, I like eating excrement, not getting paid for it
Play the guilt, play the fear & play the anxiety

Seduced by the opportunity and robbed of hope
Alienation is not commodity, figures, statistics or make believe

Marginalise away the joy and sell us boredom

And yeah, I like working doing nothing, not making anything
Blame the poor, blame the uneducated & blame the sick
And yeah, I like working doing nothing, not making anything
Blame the poor, blame the uneducated & blame the sick

I got a bone to pick and a few to break

By 2007, I had gotten to a point where I was beginning to be sick of what I was doing with my career and the lifestyle I had built up for myself, which focused primarily on consumerism. I spent enormous sums of money trying to fulfill every whim and desire that came to mind for music, electronics, clothes, accessories and so forth. It was not difficult for me to see that this was leading nowhere. Looking around the same room where I was sitting now, there were piles of stuff everywhere, particularly CDs and computer equipment. The situation has only gotten worse since then, but it's about to change. And so by "futility of capitalism", what I was really referring to is the futility of consumerism. We're all consumers and there's no escaping that, but I believe that a focus on consumerism as a means of driving an economy, a lifestyle, and/or happiness, really is futile. And if there's one truth I've discovered over the years in all my spending and stuff, it's that there's little joy to be found in it.

Fast forward to 2010. I took a job that required that I be on the road a lot. If you've been following this blog then you've seen all the photos and read the stories. It's been a wonderful trip. Being away from home so much has given me a lot of space and opportunities to consider what I believe is most important and what I want most from life. Being on the road also forces you to focus on the essentials, because you can't take everything with you. That doesn't mean that I haven't tried. On my first trip to the UK/Turkey in this job, I took my Kindle, my iPad, three mp3 players, a DSLR and four lenses, my work computer, and a ridiculous amount of clothing and shoes. It didn't take me long to figure out that I didn't need the vast majority of what I took. This trip and other trips made me realize that most of my possessions were and are superfluous. My possessions were literally burdens that I felt I needed to get rid of.



Inspired by these experiences, as well as concerns about my spending patterns and money-oriented behaviors, I've become interested in the minimalist movement over the past several months. At first, I had a passing curiosity in people and ideas that espoused living with few material possessions and focusing more on experiences, relationships and community. Based on this, I started to buy less stuff. The immediate effect of this has been our savings increasing at a faster rate than ever before, which is great. The other major thing that has happened is that I've been able to start de-cluttering my home, my office and any other space I spend time. This has meant throwing away, giving away, and now, selling. In the past two days, I've listed almost 50 items for sale on eBay (my ID is slbrownhk in case you're interested in searching for these items). There will be hundreds, if not thousands more items in the coming months.

Sometimes I look at all my stuff and I have a bit of regret. The CDs and movies alone probably cost me more than $50,000, and I'll never recover even close to that amount. At the same time, I've never been the kind of guy to focus much on regrets and I never bought all this stuff with the intent of selling it anyway. So, if all I got back was a few hundred dollars, I'd probably be OK with that. Why? Because I'd no longer feel burdened by all my stuff. Because I'd feel free to pick up and move to another country if I wanted to, and I wouldn't worry so much how to handle all my stuff. Because I'm getting time back to focus on things that I really care about.

What do I care about? My wife. Travel. Reading. Photography. Music. Already, by putting effort into getting rid of stuff and changing a couple of obsessive TV/movie watching behaviors, I'm seeing huge benefits. I'm actually reading books and magazines I've bought or to which I've subscribed. I feel OK about getting in the kitchen and cooking a bit, even if it's simple stuff from a box. I don't feel like picking up after myself is a chore. The space around my bed and in my closet is the cleanest it's been in years. Maybe the cleanest it's ever been.

This will be an interesting journey and a long one. I estimate that I have over 4000 CDs and 500 movies right now. And there's all the electronics that need to be pared down. I'd like to get down to 100 or less in each of my CD and DVD collections; maybe I'll get rid of everything. I've already started donating clothing and shoes; I'd like to donate more. In any case, I intend to write more about this journey.

I'm a bit scared, but I'm REALLY excited.