Earlier today, I was reading an article by Jon Carroll, better known around these parts as the writer I most admire. I was going to describe him as the writer I'd most like to be like, but the acronym for that is TWIMLTBL; not that I expect to refer to him by an acronym any time soon, but should I need to, TWIMA flows much better -- thus the admiration. I admired him anyway; I just wasn't going to put it like that. I thought about trying to twist it into a word, but that never ends well; you start with an attempt to make something short and witty, and the next thing you know you're referring to the guy as the writer of columns having acutely interesting researched subjects. I work with the Army; I see this sort of thing in project titles all the time. OpSec prevents me from giving examples, but trust me; it's better to resist the temptation.

Anyway, one of Carroll's recent columns was on the interestingly researched subject of stuff ownership. His point is summed up quite nicely in the penultimate paragraph; therefore, I shall reproduce it here, ruining the article completely:

You have to understand that, by any rational measure, we are all of us overconsuming idiots. That is how we learned to live. And although we are going to change too slowly to avoid malign consequences, it is not hopeless. All efforts are useful. The problem is known; a lot of the solutions are obvious. Here's the obvious one I propose today: Stop buying stuff.

I see his point. Wouldn't it be nice if people stopped overconsuming? We could solve so many problems if folks were just learn to live with what they needed. Get rid of the SUV; you're only driving yourself to work. Stop supersizing your food. Trim the excess.

Here's the thing, though: I like excess. I don't want to get rid of my house and move into one that's as big as I need, and no bigger. I don't want to quit taking road trips, just because I don't need to be in the places I'm going. I want to live in a large house, so that I can have parties that I also don't need to throw. I want to be lavish in areas where it's unnecessary, simply because I can.

It's not the most socially acceptable attitude to admit to these days, but I'm okay with that. I do try to help out people who are not as fortunate as I am, but I think of myself first. I would absolutely deprive myself of a luxury to help a friend in need -- but if no such friend exists, I'll certainly indulge myself.

I like my useless trinkets. I enjoy the fact that I have a tree in my living room, and a collection of stacking dolls, and a robotic vacuum cleaner. They are fripperies, and I freely admit that; indeed, I like them partly because of that. They are symbols of the fact that I am doing well, that I am succeeding, and am therefore able to live how I would like. I don't need the stuff -- but that is, while certainly nowhere near the whole point, at least a small fraction of it.

Mood of the Moment: greedy
Auditory Hallucination: Elastica -- Vaseline