[tmarsden]

This is what the WEF meant when they said “You'll own nothing and you'll be happy.”

It’s not all bad really. As someone in the US living the middle class “American Dream” honestly it’s too much stuff. I don’t want so many things and am constantly looking for ways to minimize possessions.

[gottorf]

> the middle class “American Dream” honestly it’s too much stuff

On one hand, this is absolutely true, where people living in houses with many thousands of square feet still rent storage units to store their extra stuff. On the other, having minimal possessions is in some ways a sign of the luxury of the times; it's a vote of confidence in the status quo, that no substantial decrease in the availability of stuff in the future (corollarily, no substantial decrease in your future purchasing power) will take place.

For people whose expectations are different, it makes sense to convert some of their purchasing power into stuff now, in case stuff becomes scarcer in the future.

[tmarsden]

I totally agree with you, it is a luxury to be able to live minimally knowing you can afford to just buy/rent/hire for a need when it comes up. On the other hand having less money means you might need to keep more tools or spare parts around just in case which means more clutter.

[slowmovintarget]

"Very few of us see owning our own homes, owning our own cars, and owning our own clothes as a major problem to be solved, the sort of crisis that requires Danish legislators and global business elites to gather and come up with a plan to rescue us." -- Jim Geraghty, National Review