Want to know why the gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps growing? The haves live within their means. They don’t waste their hard-earned money on all the crap that American consumers spend billions, maybe even trillions, on each year.
We have an almost insatiable appetite for just about any type of useless garbage that anyone decides to make in China for a few bucks and sell here for a few hundred. That’s why nobody has any savings and everyone complains they don’t have enough money to live on.
Actually, the problem is much worse than that. The all-consuming consumer is a lifestyle choice that’s quickly becoming the norm. What’s it all for? Honestly, I don’t know. All I know is that it wastes far more than our money. It wastes our time. It wastes our lives. And it doesn’t make us happy. It makes us miserable.
Don’t get me wrong. Buying and selling goods is good for the economy. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about stuff that nobody needs or can afford. I’m talking about stuff that has no benefit. I’m talking about stuff that’s a flat-out scam. Here’s a surprisingly long laundry list, off the top of my head:
Cars for every purpose. We have minivans, SUVs of every size, crossovers of every shape, convertibles, pickups, and options for everything but driving. I have a neighbor with a sedan, a minivan, a VW Bug, a pickup, and a convertible – just for two adults. And they have way too much junk in their garage to store any of their vehicles there.
Foodie fads. Just because you call yourself a foodie doesn’t make you a chef or healthy; it just means you pay way too much for all sorts of pricey stuff. These days everyone is gluten-free, lactose intolerant, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, or something. And kitchens are filled with gadgets nobody needs.
Gadgets. Smartphones are making us dumb addicts. There, I said it. We’re all like lab mice in some cosmic behavioral conditioning experiment.
Weight loss systems. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve somehow managed to become a society of obese people who spend billions on fitness gadgets, miracle diets, club memberships, and workout equipment. And have you noticed how everything is a system? Even a caffeine pill is a diet system.
Costco. Let me just say this. The Tobaks have enough toilet paper to last a lifetime.
Self help books. We’re obsessed with self-improvement, personal productivity, leadership nonsense, and positive thinking. They’re all fads. We spend billions trying to become what we’re not. I don’t care whose habits they are, where you put your cheese, or what some guy says he can do in a 4-hour workweek. It’s all BS.
Vitamins, supplements, and miracles cures. Don’t even get me started on homeopathic medicine, colonics, hair growth, male enhancement products, and pills for your libido. They’re all scams.
Gambling. Forget Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Indian casinos. What about fantasy football, the lottery (a sucker’s bet that rakes in billions), and the stock market? Think you can time the market or pick winning stocks? That’s funny; the pros can’t.
Sporting goods, gear, and garb. When did athleisure become a category? When did a $20 pair of sneakers become 5 pairs of $100 running shoes, cross trainers, basketball shoes, walking shoes, and hiking shoes? Everyone has a basketball hoop but nobody plays. We’re all in terrible shape but our closets and garages are full of crap we never use.
Fast food. It isn’t that fast and it isn’t cheap. On the other hand, it tastes like garbage and is terrible for you. If you just stay home and learn to cook from scratch, you can get a healthy, great-tasting meal on the table for less. And no, it doesn’t take that long.
Water, sports, and energy drinks. Water, sports, and energy drinks are a huge industry. It’s hard to believe that people spend billions on H2O, sugar, salt, and caffeine. Don’t even get me started on Starbucks and Jamba Juice.
Smart homes. Everything is networked with sensors and displays. Why do we need smart thermostats, light switches, blinds, and door locks? The more features and functions, the more it costs and the faster it breaks. We don’t need smarter homes; we need smarter people.
Beds. The best mattress I ever owned cost about $500, and I think that included the box spring. Know how much a Tempur Pedic or Sleep Number bed costs? Me neither, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the thousands. Our backs evolved for sleeping on the ground. How complicated can a bed be?
Here’s the thing. Life is for living, not owning or buying. Just ask any legitimate Buddhist monk and he’ll tell you: the less you have, the happier you’ll be. The more stuff you own, the more stuff owns you. The simple things make you happy. Complicated things make you miserable. And expensive things make you broke. No kidding.
A version of this first appeared on foxbusiness.com
Why are you always insulting people? Your ideas are very simplistic, self serving, and unoriginal.
It’s a gift.
ROTFL
What, no comments? You’re undermining the entire American lifestyle, and nobody has noticed? I guess too many people have drunk the Koolaid.
Hilarious column! And thanks for affirming my lifestyle.
Give it time.
Steve, I started following you on twitter from a post you had recently done about real leadership (forgot the resources) and I really like your thinking. What do you think is the key to fulfillment in middle-class Americans? I think the majority think that by buying stuff they get some sense of belonging and fulfillment from the stuff they get. I’m looking forward to reading your book on leadership, and hoping to implement some practical advises from your book to become a better leader and smarter at what I do on a daily basis.
P.S. I did buy a pretty expensive bed (2k+) and best investment I’ve ever made 🙂
The key to fulfillment? Being the genuine you (not someone you think you’re supposed to be), focusing on what really matter in life (family, friends, and work), dealing with reality (life is not utopia), and making good decisions. Also, having a comfortable mattress. 😉
A “have” friend is a director at a well known Silicon Valley company but drives used cars and owns a set of hand-me-down golf clubs.
A “have” has a rich ratio greater than or equal to 1.
rich_ratio = amount_in/amount_out
I call bullshit on this article! The reason the have nots are miserablI’me is because the haves have driven the price up on everything as they often times do not care about price. Also, banks are to blame as with the introduction to credit manufacturers have made sure that average Americans cannot afford to buy anything, including an education, without it. For example, If all Americans refused to pay $50,000+ for a new Ford F150 then the price would have to drop. But that isn’t what we do. We just except that year after year the price goes up and the credit is adjusted to meet the increase. It’s not that we buy what we can’t afford, but rather everything has been made unaffordable without the use of credit. We as Americans have allowed banks to own our lives by allowing them to implement credit, as well as unfair and gamed credit reporting agencies.
While I agree with the bank borrowing scheme – If you want to be a “have” go build F150’s for half the price and make some money. Anyone can do it. Really; all they need to do is stop consuming and start producing. I don’t buy into the polluted theory that all “haves” didn’t earn their money by offering service – especially in a free market. Of course theirs the “haves” that use government mandates (i.e. law monopolies) – like education.
And it always kills me when parents, that lived in a time when you could buy a house for $20,000, a car for $2-$4,000 and a job they could depend on for 20 years, pension and retirement tell me don’t buy the car you want, and you don’t need that big screen T.V.. Screw that, you only have one life to live and you can either live within your means, which in today’s world for most basically means pay check to paycheck, a shity car and a shity life or you can play the game the bank has created for you and buy what you want, and die in debt with a smile on your face.
I think what you’re really trying to say here is; When a person falls for the deception of disconnecting product from labor by means of credit, installments and 1000 other deceptive means that make the purchase seem effortless. The stupidity of such a deception will soon make a person pretty miserable.