ma·te·ri·al·ism
\mə-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date:1733
a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things
December 02, 2007
HousingPANIC definition of the month
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43 comments:
Shouldn't you have a picture of Greg Swann up with that post?
ma·te·ri·al·ism
White Man
Here's a good essay on this topic:
http://tinyurl.com/2c3eca
Reed is an expat living in Mexico.
a bunch of ILLEGAL ALIENS
robbed Fry's Super Markets all over Phoenix
http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=660293
stole 50k in info.
why dont they run this at the YOUTUBE debate.
national media is gov't-media-complex
materialism: "the belief that an external world-- something beyond ourselves, is needed to be happy."
materialism - greedy fat stupid democrats
These POSs need the dough. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071201/ap_on_go_ot/tax_hit
IRS is hosed toooooo.Surprises ,curveballs,blindsided.
What a timely topic. I'm sitting here admiring my 900 square foot paid off house. A million in the bank and no debt. My prized possessions consist of paid off truck and my Thinkpad notebook. Oh, did I mention I just returned from a week in Texas with my fav gal? Life is grand.
Is it wrong to pursue enlightenment through suffocation under a collapsed mountain of material goods?
There is another way.
Coke Out.
Oh please! If that were true nobody here would care about housing prices. You'd all be happy living in a tent with your spiritual lives.
Everyone here is as materialistic as the biggest FB out there. Only difference is we're a bit smarter (or for many luckier) and were able to profit from the crash at the expense of the FBs.
But for the love of God stop this bullshit pretending you are all so much better people. You're not.
Forget that.
Ass-et Pro-tech-shun
Hey did you all see the sale today at Pottery Barn!
They should put up a sign with this word as you enter Scottsdale Las Vegas LA or Miami
Anon @ 9:58:
I agree with you. If HPers weren't materialistic they would not boast about havng $1M in the bank likeAnon @ 8:36.
Why not give $900K to a charity if all you need is your lady pal and your laptop? So you don't have $1M house, you have $1M in cash. No difference in the big scheme of things.
I am all for this crash going as far as it can. I only wish for it to continue so that I can profit more from it. I have profited quite nicely form the stock mini-meltdowns earlier this year. I am hoping for another one before the year is out. But I am not going to delude myself into thinking I am fighting for some noble cause.
My name is Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht.
ma·te·ri·al·ism
White Man
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oh please, it is not a white man thang
Hey did you all see the sale today at Pottery Barn!
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doh, missed that one but I did hit the sale a restoration hardware! They offered me 10% off my purchase if I opened up a charge account with them, which of course I did!
A few of the comments here are representative of the disease that has taken over the minds of many Americans.
A preoccupation with what they own and how much their net worth is compared to others.
This is a great American tragedy. They constantly compare their careers, money in the bank, houses, cars, boats, etc. to others that they perhaps grew up with and see themselves as successful or as failures based upon this comparison.
Is this really what our lives are about? Is this the proper subject to be occupied with?
I had a friend at work. He lived at home with his mother. He bagged his lunch everyday so as not to spend money. He always worked and never took a vacation or went out on dates.
He kept a list in his desk. He called it his "Death Watch" list. His hobby at work was to compare fellow employee lifestyles and guess who would soon kick the bucket.
I would say, how about "Wolfman". (a big drunk and constantly getting stoned and waking up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of the nights excesses, sort of like Larry Talbot when the full moon rose) . He's high on the list , he said. He'll never make 50.
Well, one afternoon I finally asked him about his money. He revealed that he had saved $400K since he started and was planning to leave soon and then he was really going to live it up.
About a month later he visited a local hospital because he needed something to handle a persistent cough.
He was led to a room and left alone. Suddenly a nun came in and handed him a card "For your last days" she said. It was a hospice card. He was 42.
Yes, he had the big terminal "C". and had only months to live.
Suddenly he remembered his "Death List" of fellow employees and laughing about who would die first. He then knew the truth...God had placed HIS name at the top of the list!
The Wolfman did die before 50. But Anderson died first and left all his money to his partying brother who never saved a dime and was always the "bad seed" . He was the happy man at the funeral.
Remember Anderson the next time you think you are getting ahead and comparing your life with others.
No person ever lived the scripture verse about the Rich man building more places to hold his wealth than Anderson. A perfect example of "You fool, THIS NIGHT your life will be required of you".
for a look at what americans are like, everyone should watch the show, ....housewives of orange county.....on bravo channel.......to get a view of what we are all about these days.
Bailout Part 2. Clinton is on board now with her own version of rates being frozen. We have 11 months until the election. Soon enough we will have Clinton and Bush buying everyone a McMansion.
It's over HPers. KEEFER, you may as well close up shop.
We're all materialistic to some degree, it's just that the housing mania took it to a completely new (and insane) level.
When *all* that matters most is what you do, where you live and what you own, that is when things reals get of control - that's where we are now.
In a few years, we'll be a bit more humbled, but a little wiser as well.
Like an overblown American Christmas, perhaps? A multi-billion dollar "dead loss" as people get things they don't want. Try to resist, HPers!
>> materialism - greedy fat stupid democrats
Moronism - the belief that either Democrats or Republicans, but not both, are responsible for all of the problems in America.
I agree with you. If HPers weren't materialistic they would not boast about havng $1M in the bank likeAnon @ 8:36.
Why not give $900K to a charity if all you need is your lady pal and your laptop? So you don't have $1M house, you have $1M in cash. No difference in the big scheme of things.
Materialism is not the same as wealth.
You can be Material rich, cash poor.
You can be Material poor, cash rich.
Admittedly, I'm as materialistic as the f'ed borrower.
Anon 8:36 has the right idea.
Quality over quantity. Conservation over waste.
First class over second rate.
Materialism is nice. Over Consumption sickness is not. Debtaholism is a serious disease.
Oh please! If that were true nobody here would care about housing prices. You'd all be happy living in a tent with your spiritual lives.
Everyone here is as materialistic as the biggest FB out there. Only difference is we're a bit smarter (or for many luckier) and were able to profit from the crash at the expense of the FBs.
But for the love of God stop this bullshit pretending you are all so much better people. You're not.
Agreed. There is nothing wrong with expensive material possessions as long as you earned them honestly and you are not up to your eyeballs in debt to pay for it all.
I can't stand phonies and credit-ridden fakers, but I equally can't stand righteous "holier than thou" types who label everyone with a nice car or house as a materialistic a-hole.
A thing it not consumed when you buy it. A thing is only consumed when you use it. Classic example: sporting gear for a good time you're going to have "someday".
It is not necessarily evil to have some luxuries, but if you don't consume them, it's pure waste.
The whole society is incredibly affluent. A problem with this affluence, is that we begin to take it for granted. The American Dream is to always want more. Apparently there is no such thing as "enough" in our culture. Nothing is considered gross.
Recently I saw hand towels decorated with beads, and rimmed with tassels. Anyone else notice the trend to overdo everything? Someone just gave me a container made to look like a paint bucket filled with popcorn that was coated in caramel, then chocolate, then "drizzled" (how did that creep into the lexicon?) with more caramel. They're actually pretty good, but the poor humble popcorn is pretty hard to taste under all that goop.
Can you put tassels on tassels? At what point will people stop gussying everything up? They especially do this for children. What will their level of expectation be?
Are you aware that there is a group in California that meets together and their central philosophy is that they are NOT going to DIE? (Not a religious belief in the hereafter either)
Boy the delusions are mounting!
The issue is not materialism. Materialism is just part of our humanity.
The problem is consumerism.
I still haven't understood how granite counters offer better quality of life than melamine. IMO melamine gives me better quality of life if it lets me have cash in my account for emergencies.
Keith,
McCarthy will come after you for your un-american attitudes.
Materialism is the American way of life. "You are what you own. Consume to make America the greatest nation on earth."
You all sound like a bunch of commies. Amerika is all about more more more. Consumerism is King.
Where have you all been?
Oh object of my desire, fill my soul with make believe accomplishment.
Oh object of antiquity, take my spirit to a place far from here, to a place that was better, a place where I was whole.
Oh meaningless escapist chattel, buy the friendship and envy of any new acquaintance so I wont be alone.
Fill me up, I need to belong.
"If HPers weren't materialistic they would not boast about havng $1M in the bank likeAnon @ 8:36."
money is simply numbers on a piece of paper. some of us are happy that we have money and nothing to spend it on and, ethically, I leave it in the bank because, otherwise, it might be used for destructive purposes.
"Oh please! If that were true nobody here would care about housing prices. You'd all be happy living in a tent with your spiritual lives.
Everyone here is as materialistic as the biggest FB out there. Only difference is we're a bit smarter (or for many luckier) and were able to profit from the crash at the expense of the FBs.
But for the love of God stop this bullshit pretending you are all so much better people. You're not."
I know I can't speak for everyone here but I just want to be able to reasonably afford a BASIC, modest house (in my case, a plain, 1100 s.f. rancher with 3 br built in the late 70s/early 80s) without breaking my back trying to pay it off. Such a house where I live now (MD) requires you to be rather rich (making about $150K/yr) just to be able to afford it without resorting to suicide loans. My parents could easily afford such a house here in the late 70s with my dad's modest income alone. I don't think I'm being materialistic AT ALL in wanting to buy a plain, unpretentious house on a typical salary.
"You all sound like a bunch of commies. Amerika is all about more more more. Consumerism is King.
Where have you all been?"
Then why am I (born in the mid '70s) able to get less less less for my money (even after adjusting for inflation) than my parents did when they were my age?
>> Are you aware that there is a group in California that meets together and their central philosophy is that they are NOT going to DIE?
Yup - liberalism *IS* a mental disorder. Need any more proof now?
I LOVE MATERIALISM. Want to know what I love even more? That you stupid folks like Anon who have one million dollars in the bank will pay for my lifestyle! I live wayyyy beyond my means. I bought a condo for 650K with no money down, I have fabulous furniture, a large lcd hdtv, two nice suv's, lots and lots of toys (i.e. ipod nano, ipod video, portable dvd players, etc...). Guess what? All of that is bought on CREDIT. Also, there is no way I can pay for this stuff so guess what? In the end, Uncle Sam will bail me out. Then I will get the last laugh!
Some of you act as though there is no difference between materialism and the desire to have a large amount of money in the bank.
There is a big difference. Materialism is the desire to surround one's self with luxuries, sometimes in an attempt to 'keep up with the Joneses'.
Having a large amount of money in the bank could allow someone to be materialistic if they wanted. However, it could also buy them freedom that comes from a cash flow that is independent from a job.
I also think there is nothing wrong with someone being materialistic as long as they have the funds to pay for it and understand the true cost.
Problem is, a lot of people throughout wealthy nations have recently proven they don't have the control to determine what they can realistically afford.
That's a big word. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, I need to get some.
Recently I saw hand towels decorated with beads, and rimmed with tassels. Anyone else notice the trend to overdo everything? Someone just gave me a container made to look like a paint bucket filled with popcorn that was coated in caramel, then chocolate, then "drizzled" (how did that creep into the lexicon?) with more caramel.
Oldest trick in the marketing book. You get common and boring commodities and add something to rip consumers off. That's why you have flavored water, chicken nuggets, fruit bars, cereal with a ton of crap, etc. I learned in B School that you make much more money by selling tweaked commodities because that gives the false impression of value added to the sheeple.
Wow...I hate to be rude but I think there's more to life than how much money you have. Consider too that if we rooted out the cronyism and fraud in the USA, the wealth inequalities would shrink rapidly. People argue that HUD and the government's meddling in people's affairs is good...but it's bad when Uncle Fed comes after YOU. I think the real argument being implied when people discuss materialism is personal freedom simply because even though the USA is in a much better boat than most countries, they don't have the personal liberty that the media depicts. Say something that offends your local politicians and watch what happens.
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