World of Excess

How much is too much? When will people be satisfied with what they have, and stop going into debt to purchase more? Are all these things truly something we can’t do without?

The human race has become obsessed with having every new thing that comes out. Once they have obtained it they either use it minimally, or not at all. It’s as if the goal is just to be able to say you own the latest “whatever” that has come on the market.

People have amassed so much that they can’t even keep it all in their homes; they are renting storage units to put the overflow in. Over the last ten years, the number of storage facilities that have been built has grown rapidly. As of 2018 there were between 44,000 and 52,000 of these facilities in the United States; more than the number of McDonald's and Starbucks locations combined. There has to come a point where we ask ourselves, “Is renting space for things we don’t use fiscally responsible?How far in debt are we willing to go?"

I have often wondered what other intelligent species might think as they observe our behavior. Do they too have all the latest and greatest items, or do they look at us as strange and frivolous? If their needs and wants are very different from ours, then the concept of needing storage facilities must seem quite odd to them.

I find it enough just to keep up with what I have in my home, and can’t imagine trying to keep track of items in a storage unit. About every other year I go through closets and cupboards once again and start clearing out what I have not used or touched in the last few years. My hope is to eventually be down to only the things that are necessary, and a few keepsakes and family heirlooms. With each year that goes by I realize how little I truly need.

Possessions, devices, gadgets; inanimate objects taking over our lives. Many of them are useful in our everyday life, and others are left piled in a closet in the abyss of forgotten items. Even if we have a use for them at some point, we may forget they are in our homes. What then? Do we go out and buy it again? 

It may be time to take stock of what we have in our homes (and storage units if we have them), and start parting with things that are unnecessary. Of course when we do, the question becomes "what do we do with all of it?" Something to think about the next time we want to purchase the latest and greatest item they say we just can't live without.

My guess is we'll realize we really don't need it.