Sounds like this guy made a lot of money selling a business, and went on a shopping spree, then decided he did not need all of his crap. Not a cocaine, yachts, and hookers spree, but a bigger house than he needed, felt the need to hire someone to do his shopping, etc. A display in excess and lack of self control.
While likely well meaning the article comes across a bit preachy. The whole "stuff does not make you happy" things is getting to be a bit too trendy lately. Some people may indeed be happy basing their life in work, but not everyone is. Just because some people can't sanely manage the rewards of their own success, does not mean material things are somehow "bad".
I bought the equivalent of the turbo Volvo, not because I sold a company and suddenly was awash in cash, but because I kept my prior vehicle for 10+ years, and wanted to reward myself with something fun. I am 20 years into a tech career, and work too much at times - as a necessity, not an addiction - and felt I had earned something extra.
> "Does all this endless consumption result in measurably increased happiness?"
Only intelligent yet immature people who lack self control ask questions like this. Your income is the reward for your effort, and using or not using a portion of it to enjoy life is an individual question. I for one want to enjoy my time on Earth, and for me that means having some toys.
If I understand the analogy correctly, I want a team manager who says around for the season making sure that one pitcher does not have to work every inning of every game. One who puts a good team together and sees it through to success. One who it part of the team.
Honest question: Do you currently carry a lot of short-term or long-term debt? Do you have a mortgage, student loans, or credit cards to pay off? How many payments left on that Volvo?
I ask because I believe that people have different views on what makes them happy (a small enough opinion), and that this is greatly related to how they conduct themselves fiscally.
The trend I've noticed among people with a lot of money, no debt, and a desire to start their own things is that they care a great deal more about these sort of non-material things. I have no good explanation for this, but could make some wild-assed theories if pressed.
By contrast, many folks I know who have heavy debt burdens and not much money derive great pleasure from material goods. Again, I have no idea why this is--simple sample bias could account for it.
EDIT: Rereading this after posting, there is a suggestively-winking anecdotal correlation between people that like material things and people with a lot of debt. Huh.
> Do you currently carry a lot of short-term or long-term debt?
Nope: Mortgage + car < 20% of income. Enough savings for 2-3 years of frugal living if the bottom dropped out, and could (for some unimaginable reason) not find other employment. Vacations on cash, not credit. Never finance "toys", things like TVs.
I watched peers (in terms of age), go right into things like multiple car payments + high mortgages + student loans + kids right out of school, and were thus mostly working to pay off debt, and never really get out of it. Unnecessary financial pressure can be crippling.
"I went my whole life only eating ice cream once a week. Then I got my first paycheck and I ate ice cream three times a day, every day! I had so much ice cream I even had to pay somebody else to eat it with me! Then I met a foreign beauty and I followed her to her country where ice cream didn't exist and realized that all that ice cream I was gorging on didn't make me happy. We broke up but I still don't eat ice cream. Except 10 scoops of identical ice cream once a month."
Something I always wonder about people who are ultra-minimalist… do they not have art, photographs, mementos, heirlooms? Do they not engage in hobbies like music, photography, painting, writing, journaling?
I also wonder where he got his 10 identical shirts.
Is it really better to have less and be emotionally attached to that than to have a lot of junk and not care about it?
As for the carbon footprint - it's just as much vanity as everything else in our lives. When you die, you won't be rewarded for having had a small carbon footprint, just like your wealth will be useless to you.
Yes. It is better. Absolutely. Unquestionably. But if you can't see that creating an unwanted, unused piece of stuff is obviously, necessarily worse than not wasting the raw materials and human time and effort, I'm not sure any amount of discussion will help.
It is not vanity for me to hope that my daughter might be able to enjoy a world at least as good as the one I did (although it is, alas, vain). When I die I won't be rewarded - or punished - for anything I have ever done. But she might. Not to care about the effect our actions will have on other people is the very definition of selfishness. And I'm glad that I don't live in a world where the only alternative to selfishness is vanity.
People who come into money should think the importance of things, but to be a bit cynical, let's not forget:
This is an article about the virtues of living in small homes written by a man who is in the business of selling small homes.
And I think it's interesting that this article completely avoids any mention of the rise of ownership-decreasing and utilization-enriching services like Uber, AirBnB, Lyft, etc (as my buddy David Weekly pointed out to me on FB).
After reading the article, I painted a very minimalistic picture of the apartment in my head - Check out the video tour of his house -http://vimeo.com/55389782
I think this is living with a lot! but cramped into a small space.hmmm
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 51.4 ms ] threadWhile likely well meaning the article comes across a bit preachy. The whole "stuff does not make you happy" things is getting to be a bit too trendy lately. Some people may indeed be happy basing their life in work, but not everyone is. Just because some people can't sanely manage the rewards of their own success, does not mean material things are somehow "bad".
I bought the equivalent of the turbo Volvo, not because I sold a company and suddenly was awash in cash, but because I kept my prior vehicle for 10+ years, and wanted to reward myself with something fun. I am 20 years into a tech career, and work too much at times - as a necessity, not an addiction - and felt I had earned something extra.
> "Does all this endless consumption result in measurably increased happiness?"
Only intelligent yet immature people who lack self control ask questions like this. Your income is the reward for your effort, and using or not using a portion of it to enjoy life is an individual question. I for one want to enjoy my time on Earth, and for me that means having some toys.
Based on the definition at BusinessDictionary.com I hope to never work for one (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/serial-entrepre...)
I ask because I believe that people have different views on what makes them happy (a small enough opinion), and that this is greatly related to how they conduct themselves fiscally.
The trend I've noticed among people with a lot of money, no debt, and a desire to start their own things is that they care a great deal more about these sort of non-material things. I have no good explanation for this, but could make some wild-assed theories if pressed.
By contrast, many folks I know who have heavy debt burdens and not much money derive great pleasure from material goods. Again, I have no idea why this is--simple sample bias could account for it.
EDIT: Rereading this after posting, there is a suggestively-winking anecdotal correlation between people that like material things and people with a lot of debt. Huh.
Nope: Mortgage + car < 20% of income. Enough savings for 2-3 years of frugal living if the bottom dropped out, and could (for some unimaginable reason) not find other employment. Vacations on cash, not credit. Never finance "toys", things like TVs.
I watched peers (in terms of age), go right into things like multiple car payments + high mortgages + student loans + kids right out of school, and were thus mostly working to pay off debt, and never really get out of it. Unnecessary financial pressure can be crippling.
Something I always wonder about people who are ultra-minimalist… do they not have art, photographs, mementos, heirlooms? Do they not engage in hobbies like music, photography, painting, writing, journaling?
I also wonder where he got his 10 identical shirts.
As for the carbon footprint - it's just as much vanity as everything else in our lives. When you die, you won't be rewarded for having had a small carbon footprint, just like your wealth will be useless to you.
Yes. It is better. Absolutely. Unquestionably. But if you can't see that creating an unwanted, unused piece of stuff is obviously, necessarily worse than not wasting the raw materials and human time and effort, I'm not sure any amount of discussion will help.
It is not vanity for me to hope that my daughter might be able to enjoy a world at least as good as the one I did (although it is, alas, vain). When I die I won't be rewarded - or punished - for anything I have ever done. But she might. Not to care about the effect our actions will have on other people is the very definition of selfishness. And I'm glad that I don't live in a world where the only alternative to selfishness is vanity.
This is an article about the virtues of living in small homes written by a man who is in the business of selling small homes.
And I think it's interesting that this article completely avoids any mention of the rise of ownership-decreasing and utilization-enriching services like Uber, AirBnB, Lyft, etc (as my buddy David Weekly pointed out to me on FB).