When I was a kid pretty much everything I had was a hand-me-down from one of my older ...

... brothers. With over a decade between me and my oldest, you can imagine that styles may have changed by the time I received their clothes, but I didn't care much at the time, even though I felt that I didn't really own anything. Yet, I do think this has had a profound effect on my stance of ownership now, and my unwillingness to rely on others for my needs.

With Christmas coming, my wife's sister asked what she should get for our daughter and was told she should gift old toys that belonged to her kids as there is no point buying something new. She has 4 older children, they have plenty of appropriate and unused options.

This isn't about money as it was when I was a kid, it is about wasting resources when there are perfectly good ways not to waste. They aren't going to do it and instead bought new stuff. It is an interesting social pressure that even after asking and getting a reply, they still felt that a Christmas gift has to be new. The programming is strong.

Gone are the days of a simple gift built to last, now it is all just disposable crap that barely holds the interest past Boxing Day. It is just the way it seems to be and every year the presents seem to go up in price with a decreasing life span.

I think the frequency and number of gifts devalues them all in the same way increasing currency supply devalues money. I believe we do the same thing with much of what was special in life, we have made everything a consumable on a short release cycle and therefore, a low-value disposable. Including our relationships, and who we are as humans.

These days, it is so easy and cheap to replace, there is no point putting in the effort to repair. It is more difficult to care for something or someone who will soon be discarded.

Ownership is important, so what is what is owned and what one values as worth holding on to.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]