Poll: Materialism

[vxicepickxv]

As some comedian once said,"Money can't buy happiness, but it can but a jet ski, try to frown on a jet ski."

What do I win for that one?

 

[mr mcshiznit]

Quite honestly money does not buy happyness but being broke sure as fuck wont buy you any happyness either....

 

[vxicepickxv]

Unfortunately this entire thread is flawed in one simple assumption. The assumption is that materialism is nothing but a desire to posess new toys. The actual term materialism is one of the many views of athiesm, which has the idea that nothing is real unless you can sense it.

This is more of a consumerism / keeping up with the joneses desire for material wealth.

 

[Clairaudient]

I definitely depend on a handful of electronics, but I do value friends and family more in the end.

Items are a means, a common ground on which to build up a friendship. You usually meet people with similar interests be it emotionally or materialistically and enjoy their company most.

"It's not what you're like, it's what you like" - Rob, High Fidelity

 

[Saskwach]

As I heard many years ago on some show (if anyone remembers please let me know what it is)

"Money cant buy you love, but youd be surprised how easy it is to rent."

Money may not be everything but that dont mean I am going to give all my shit away and live in the gutter to prove a point.

I heard a similar saying: "Money can't make you happy but it sure doesn't make you sad either."

The world with advertising and simply our joy and talents of playing video gaming evoke a strong connotation of reliance and blind objectivity in my mind, which I think is distressing.

What is this blind objectivity of which you speak?

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

The ancient Greeks believed in "moderation in all things." It applies to materialism as well, of course. You need material goods, and it's OK to desire them. But obtaining them shouldn't become one's only motivation. I don't think a person who plays too many video-games is necessarily materialistic: I think it's merely incidental that they happen to be sitting in front of a TV screen or monitor. Their fault is not excessive accumulation of objects, but rather sloth or gluttony. Consider this an admission of guilt!

 

[AuntyEthel]

Forgive me, but under what definition does enjoying those things make one a materialist?

Dunno, but I bet my giant hangover is telling me that I made an incredibly crappy ill-informed post in the dark hours. Ow.

• Philippians 4
  [sup]11[/sup]I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. [sup]12[/sup]I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.[sup]13[/sup]I can do everything through [the Lord] who gives me strength.

Well I can do everything without the Lord because I draw strength from humanity, nature and possessions.

 

[742]

it all depends on what the people are, and what the things are. i personally, prefer myself and ideas. but sure, why not have both? and yes, whoever dies with the most toys... probably wont be buried with them

 

[huntedannoyed]

Dies anyway? Everybody dies. We only remember the names of the people who die with the most toys. Not counting anybody that you know, name one poor person who ever died... Now, name ten rich ones.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Materialism, the art of Materializing.

I laughed. Genius.

I dunno, I believe in both sides of the spectrum.

I can get emotionally attached to inanimate objects. My laptop's hard drive was destroyed last Friday; a year's worth of random stuff I found on the internet, my work, parts of my own pet projects - including half my archives of Lord Krunk Reviews - were gone in an instant. I put a lot of free time and effort into everything on there; and it's gone. Not to mention the laptop itself; I did a Paper Run to earn the money to buy it; and anyone who's done one as a Minor understands how hard it can be, while you get next to nothing for your effort.

However, love/being loved is more important to me.

 

[Dys]

Materialism is all I have.
Really I try to like people, but these same people slap me in the face with their blatant stupidity.
The people that I care about will always come before material possesions, however these people are few and far between, and I couldn't care less about the stupid masses and I rarely put any effort into making people I don't already know like me. Making people hate me is much more fun

 

[Redlac]

I like my stuff. But I know from experience that stuff alone doesn't make you happy. My PS3 is only as awesome as it is because I can meet with my friends online and keep in touch with them. I try to live the Phillipians ideal of being content with what I've got right now rather than sending myself loopy over all the stuff I could have but don't. There's a lot to be said about being content, especially in times of little or no cash flow. Having said that though, if I were to get a large lump sum of cash or a good pay rise I'd certainly buy myself some nice things. Money is after all, only a tool.

 

[corporate_gamer]

Well there really should be a third option, i like shiny things, want more shiny things but they don't define me.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

material possessions are only what you make of them.

to say you're un-materialistic is ridiculous because we all have 'wants' and we all have things that we feel we couldn't do without.

however the point that i think the topic poster was trying to make is that, without good friends and friendly company, a person to love you, to laugh with you, all the material possessions in the world wont' buy you companionship. money can't buy love.

 

[Ultrajoe]

I think a bigger question needs to be considered.

What the hell is wrong with materialism?

 

[jimClassic]

HAHAAAA!!! I love it!

 

[WhitemageofDOOM]

People should focus on People.

Humans aren't very interesting.
There selfish, xenophobic, irrational and hypocritical.

Focusing on them just makes me more depressed.

 

[SecretTacoNinja]

Speaking as a young person who has had her social life completely destroyed by moving school and house I will say:

Fuck people
Apart from family... and guys on the Escapist

People laugh at you behind your back and let you down, the only people I can stand are adults and little kids, I live in possesions.

 

[runtheplacered]

All in all, I agree with Ayn Rand on the subject of materialism. Value is the keystone of civilization, typically represented by money. The desire to obtain it is what causes us to produce value and meaning with our lives

That's about the saddest thing I've heard on the subject. You produce value and meaning from money? That's got to be nothing more then a road to misery. If you don't want anything to do with materialism in the first place, then being "poor" means absolutely nothing to you. The saying in the Tao Te Ching goes, "One whose needs are simple can fulfill them easily." And that's exactly how I look at things. You can only be sad about not having lots of stuff, if you cared about having lots of stuff in the first place.

Also, Ayn Rand is incredibly full of shit. But that's another subject.

As for the poll.. I didn't even know how to answer it since obviously there's no such thing as "winning" at life. And what does "dying anyway" have to do with the subject, I have no idea.

You won't get too many responses on the side of the coin that says materialism is wrong, considering we're all typing this from our glorious computers that we purchased because we felt we needed it. And of course, we're all video gamers, which seems to breed materialism.