Often I hear quite a few figures about how the typical American house has doubled in size, we own 2 cars per family, there are more TV sets than individual Americans.... yada, yada...This is the so called "normal" American lifestyle of today.
Yet without a hint of irony, the owners of the two cars, multiple TV's and lavish house will tell you how, "you just can't get by on one income anymore...." It's bizarre to say the least. I don't believe that it is a National secret that we aren't any HAPPIER than we were 50 years ago. But we sure have accumulated bigger houses, more cars, and TV's since then. Or how about closet space? Ever notice how old homes have small closets? Now everyone dies without multiple walk-in storage spaces for their piles of goods.
I suppose the Joneses' or marketing campaigns can be blamed for all this. As we try to impress our neighbors or prove our self-worth we just can't figure out how to do it without maximizing our stuff quotient. Yet the saddest thing is, that the idea of "necessity" has become so abstract.
I have quite a few friends who swear that they just can't afford to shop without utilizing Wal-Mart. But are these same folks starving? Wearing rags? Riding the horse and buggy? I don't believe so. It's just the weird notion once again, that they need more new DVD's, seven Barbie doll sets and a halloween costume for the dog. Go figure, we'll always need more.
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