Stuff

So today I am thinking about "stuff". Not "stuff" as in 'hey guys i'm thinking about stuff' but "stuff" as in, the "stuff" we have in our lives. material possessions.

We in America think we have so much "stuff". We pretty much rate our lives by how much "stuff" we have. Who do we envy and strive to be more like? The people with the bigger houses, nicer cars, and better "stuff" than we currently have.

And on that scale, I guess I could say I'm doing pretty good. I have a house, 2 cars (even tho one is a piece of junk), a steady job, this computer (and several laptops)... my stuff is better than a lot of people's stuff.

But how much of this is actually 'mine'? Let's say I lose my job tomorrow. Worse yet, let's say one of them solar-flare thingies hits and knocks out the electronics all over the country. cars won't start, communications don't work, etc.

For starters, I can't get to work. and that means I can't get paid, which means if law enforcement stays organized (and the banks want to be jerks) they could take my house. and my car. I'd still have my computers and cell phone, but a fat lot of good that will do me without a place to keep it or charge the batteries. All the sudden all the 'stuff' I own becomes pretty worthless.

What's important in life is the 'stuff' that doesn't fluctuate with your income--namely, people. incidentally, if the people in your life would leave you if you were short on cash (or more would come if you had more cash) those are not the 'important' ones I'm talking about.

The real important people in life stand by you. If we weren't so consumed all the time with our stuff, we'd be more choosy with whom we associate, I think. Right now America is sort of stuck in a perpetual highschool fairyland, where social status and trivial squabbles still mean a lot.

But the number of homeless and poverty-stricken americans is growing rapidly, and those people can tell you what they're worried about right now is survival. But once 'the system' runs you over, you can scarcely get back in. It's all court dates, tresspassing charges, and living meal-to-meal for them. Try to apply for a job with these things on your record, see how far you get.

your best bet is almost to go to prison, where they are obligated to clothe and feed you. it's tragic. and if out of my relative fortune I was to just fork over some cash, how does that improve their plight? ...it doesnt, really. I'm not rich enough to live like I'm independantly wealthy, much less make anyone else independantly wealthy. I could give them some cash for a meal, but that doesn't make a dent in the problem. I could give them enough cash to buy more gadgets (like I buy for myself all the time) but I can't get them back in to the system. I can't make their lives 'normal' again, and I fear that someday their lifestyle will be the new 'normal' in America and what we in the middle class currently refer to as 'normal' will seem like a very good, but very foreign dream when compared with that new reality.

And I hope to be in a position to have the people that are important around me if it ever comes to that.