Consumption Is Not the Problem

Consumption Is Not the Problem We all need some stuff. Many of us have taken it too far, though: the average American household contains more than 300,000 possessions. We accumulate more than we need hoping it’ll make us happy someday. It won’tâ€"we know this. Needing more will always lead to a pall of desire until, ultimately, we feel trapped by consumption. But consumption isn’t the problemâ€"compulsory consumption is. Purchasing more stuff to make us happyâ€"adhering to a broken templateâ€"is the real issue. The solution is to consume deliberatelyâ€"to ignore the inane advertisements so we can determine what we need based on our lives, not on what we’ve been told. Were all different: what we need is different for each of us. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.