Forum Post: my main problem with america is not in being poor
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 29, 2011, 7:51 p.m. EST by buik2
(66)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
lord knows i will never be poor. but the real question is, why do people go to target and buy things they think will make them happy, and then the things stop making them happy, so they go to target again. and what the fuck is a pottery barn?
and who the fuck goes to tiffany's and buys a $1000 lamp? arent they embarrassed to own a $1000 lamp?
The pottery barn is a store that carries various furniture and furnishings, mostly centered around the kitchen and dining room. In answer to your first question, the answer was in the question. The stuff doesn't make them happy, but we are a society of stuff...consumerism cannot sustain itself if people are not addicted to buying stuff...so many are the victims of a lifetime of brainwashing via commercials, tv shows, etc. to lose weight, gain weight, buy a new car, buy the latest fashion, buy name brands, etc. Once we realize we don't need very much, we will recognize how much power that gives us. You apparently know it, so I assume you are quite content. I do not believe, by the way, that the hordes of marauding shoppers that showed up this past weekend could qualify as "poor," but I must admit, I was pretty appalled at the whole scene.
when a pottery barn is not a pottery barn, you know you're fucked
My wife cannot get enough of pottery barn. I believe my ass is currently embedded in a pottery barn couch right now. And I have to say, it is not bad.
Advertising and mainstream media influence.
American's grow up in front of a box programming them to adopt all sorts of artificial materialistic values.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uUU7cjfcdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7_w3w9VLIw
Material values are a poor substitute for family values and ethical virtues.
Great point... Even movies are built around the future marketing potential. Psychology studies are designed to find how best to appeal to to the shopper, how to get people to desire a product, and now we have hgtv to treat stylie in the home like fashion. When i was growing up, a home decor style lasted for at least 15 years, but they are now training the public to update and modernize homes. Ill be interested to see how long it takes for the current colors and trends to be swept aside...i think in the spring, the current brown/blue, and gray colors will be out for fresh bright sunny colors.
The problem with being ethical is that obviously the 1% have a very different code of ethics. It comes from their very real belief that they are different/special/better. They sincerely believe that if we deserved to be rich we would be, so since we are not, we obviously dont derse to be, and they therefore do not have to share their wealth by paying employees more than deserve.
Family values is hard to define, though. If you want to go with religious text, it says honor your parents, dont let your kids walk all over you, give a brat a loving welcome home when he learns he has been one. Anything more is some persons idea and may fit your family or not. I prefer to just treat everyone with respect until they prove they dont derserve it. If a person is not someone i respect, i dont make time in my life for them. If i cant avoid them, i treat them politely and keep contact to a minimum.
Yes, our generation has the opportunity to move from the age of information to the age of ethics (or principles/virtues/humanity)
Many are beginning to wake up to truly important values and I believe this begins with the family. The wealthiest individual isn't one that owns the world, but is the person able to experience the world with those they care about.
Technology can free up the rest if applied humanely.
"The wealthiest individual isn't one that owns the world, but is the person able to experience the world with those they care about."
Love that! Well said!
Old hippie fuck I need your help. Need help making a t-shirt. We need to draw a picture of Zooccotti Park with a cage around it. Here are some ideas: Draw a hippie climbing the cage like a monkey and throwing shit. Draw a hippie rolling in mud and shit like a pig. Draw a hippies fucking like dogs. Draw a picture of a hippie eating peanuts like a big fucking elephant. Draw a hippie as a lazy fucking Ape doing nothing.
the sad thing is that money were more evenly distributed it would just be more morons buying stupid shit all day long.
Education is key.
Many people need to understand how truly unfulfilled many material addicts (hoarders) are in comparison to family and socially oriented individuals.
Also, being sustainable and adopting methods of shared consumption saves people a LOT of money. It is also greener in most cases. e.g. limit vampire devices, growing family gardens, owning alternative energy systems, etc.
i remember that dude who lived on an island and thought he could power it with the sun. lololol. what a hellish existence
I don't know anyone that goes to Target because they want to. I'm sure they exist. But, I have not once gone skipping in thinking it was the best day evah because I needed toilet paper, shampoo, and deodorant. Not once.
This is Pottery Barn http://www.potterybarn.com/shop/furniture-upholstery/?cm_type=gnav
The name of the game is that if you are going to buy furniture then buy something that is going to last. Two pieces that are used the most, cost the most, and, therefore, takes so long to replace are the bed and the couch. This is why some of us had grandmothers that had plastic covers on the couch.
I know what you mean--my best girl friend--and I love her dearly, bought a $1000 wallet and she told me about it and thought it was great and I told her she was an idiot for spending $1000 dollars on a wallet---I mean jesus what kind of cow leather costs $1000 dollars??? There is something truly wrong in this country--Americans are commercialized Zombies. I wish I could shoot them all with common sense.
Ikea is a portal to the underworld.
i was always a little turned off by the child's playroom there, that bacteria pit full of plastic balls. its nasty
Tiffany & Co.does not sell lamps. The glassware ( Favrile) produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany is beautiful . L.C Tiffany lamps can cost as much as $100,000.
And a floor lamp will run you an easy quarter million, as you probably know. But worth every penny IMO. Truly an investment grade antique. At least until recently, I haven't kept up in the last couple years.
$100,000 ?!
right! for a dam lamp.
thats just embarrassing
They're antiques and highlly sought after.
like i wanted to know that bullshit :)
YOU brought it up.
also tiffany and co does sell lamps, and probably one for $1000 but i dont feel like spending any more time on it
Sorry dear, they DON'T sell lamps.
It's all part of Americas culture. When you thrive on consumerism you end up with $1000 lamps. Kinda like when a new Nike shoe comes out and people at the shoe store riot when there are no more of that shoe to buy.