Stuff Is Not Salvation

I would disagree with the cell phone replacement statement. Cell phones need to be replaced every 16 months because they're poorly made and intended to break before the end of those odious 2 year contracts.

Great article! Amazingly true! Many of us do have a sickness. I can't tell you how sad it makes me to see people literally being killed by our greed at Christmas. Maybe recessions, or depressions, happen for a reason.

I'm currently in a place without central heating. If stuff is a sweater, it is indeed salvation.

Anna, so true... i was going up the drive-thru at a local fast food chain for a coffee and apple pie, and I couldn't believe how many families in their SUVs were in line to place an order...we are not as wealthy of a nation as we once were. Trickle down economics no longer gets you to a decent sit down restaurant. God Bless America

The problem is not the way people spend, it is the people. The same people that value preaching from average Joe's like you are the ones that value preaching at their local places of idol worship, and in thier homes and "communities" where individuals with scarce emotional intelligence and self-knowledge offer lessons of phony wisdom.

Listen sister, markets cycle up, and they cycle down. Let's not over think this. We could make the system perfect by creating lots of rules and trying to control behavior of corporate america and main street America alike, but how much fun would that be? That would be a manufacturered existence with more corruption than we have now and I want no part of it.

To Anna and your readers - get over it. Things will be good once again and you will forget about this "crisis" just like you have forgotten about the energy crisis and your past calls for energy shifts in America.

I'm not disagreeing with the article's theme of questioning modern consumerism and instant gratification but I think the current crisis should not be blamed on consumers. This financial crisis was created out of a flawed financial regulatory framework that urged banks to invent ever more new investment products. The disconnect between collateral and debt created a spiral of increasing risk that now has to be paid for. When huge financial institutions run their entire enterprise on the premise that debt is a leverageable commodity then it is no surprise that households adopt that very same premise.

What Anna Quinlen 's article alludes to but doesn't say straight out is that we need a new paradigm of what makes a successfull economy. Right now, for our economy and the world economy to be "successful" requires us to consume goods, much of which we don't need and much of which are bad for our environment. That is the challenge for the current generation and the generation after-how to make a successful economy that doesn't require the production and consumption of more stuff. Working on "greening" the energy supply and improving recycling will help, but we need more of a service based economy, where services that don't require lots of stuff, such as health care or live entertainment, or education become the engines of growth.

I don't always agree with Anna Quinlen, but I always love reading her articles. She is an amazingly thoughtful writer. I do happen to agree with this article and I think she has made some great points that we could all use.

So many people are emotional shoppers. They are looking for instant gratification. I have one credit card (operative word being "one") and use it sparingly. I was taught that if you can't pay cash, you don't need it. Over the years, I've paid cash for a computer, an HDtv (20 in.), a refrigerator, a mattress set, a home theater system. I was also taught that if it's worth having it's worth waiting for. I saved up my money for years to buy these items. I am proud to say that I am debt free.