Quote:
Originally Posted by pompousjohn
I talked to my 16 year old son today who is kind of a hippy wannabe and he told me that he doesn't call me much because I am always talking about work and money.
He says he lives comfortably with almost no material possessions and 50 bucks a week that his mom gives him for food, and is happier than "he has ever been". (He has such a long life to reflect back on)
What bothers me the most about it is that I used to say things just like that. The thing about being proud of having nothing is that its a crock because there is no competition for that. It's like being a dude and proud of your virginity.
In other words, losers proud of being lazy. I do love him though and I salute him for his ability to be content, and I am sure he will wake up one day and realize that being broke is not actually as cool as being not broke.
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For a 16 year old kid to say that is easy to question because, like you say, he has never earned money or bought himself anything so he has nothing to compare it to and may very well change his mind later in life.
That said there is a difference between being someone who is broke so they have very few things and have decided they are better off for it (which often is most likely a reaction to their situation) and someone who can afford to buy themselves things and chooses not to. I do okay for myself, yet I own very little. I personally find that many people I know who have a lot of possessions find themselves absorbed with them. It becomes a situation where they identify themselves through their possessions. For example, I'm over a friend's house and a bunch of us are watching some show on TLC where people are buying houses. At one point the woman looking at the house says, "I really don't think those counters and cupboards are me." I started laughing. When one of my friends asked me what was so funny I said, "If I ever find a time in my life where who I am is defined by why kind of counters and cupboards I have in my kitchen I hope you guys will have the common courtesy to punch me in the face until I change my point of view."
The idea that a person's personality could be defined by some kind of object that they own really troubles the hell out of me. For me, I guess I just have other things I want in life. I aspire to own little or nothing, but see and do everything. Maybe that make me just as bad as someone who is materialistic, but I feel that if I have the $5,000 to spend on something I would rather travel and see somewhere new and do something I have never done instead of buying some object that ultimately I probably won't get much use out of.
Just my 2 cents