There is a difference between capital goods and consumption goods. The former are the far more impressive to the holder, and include both human (e.g. education) and inanimate (e.g. milling machine); they expand our capacities and are impressive to capitalists. Consumption goods, on the other hand, are wasting or depreciating assets; if they are "impressive," that perception perhaps arises because their purchase demonstrates the destruction of otherwise usefully deployed capital.

Just look at a typical border. Since 08 I have learned to travel very light. When contracts have me on the road for a year I learned that if it doesn't fit in the golf it doesn't come along. While doing that I have learned that while I might not be able to carry much around. I can pretty easily hope on a plane and meet my wife someplace interesting. The result has been lots of business class flights and getting to see plenty of the country. At the same time, I dont carry much but what I do have needs to meet a pretty high quality standard. Overall I would say that mostly my life is better for it.

People will compete about anything. Whether it's a car or how many places you have visited or how many upgrades you get because you have traveled a lot. Sometimes, it's easier to buy material things than to get the time off to travel, depending on your job. This is just another way to make people feel inadequate. The best way is to take a little time to think about which things do make you happy and stop boasting. Interesting how experiences=travel to a lot of people. I disagree that people buy things merely to create envy in others.

I can attest to that. When I found some property to claim, I spent the money traveling. To a country with the richest archaeological history of all the countries of the world.

I found in my life that I enjoyed travel more than things, and now have great memories and photos of the decades of travel around the world.

I think we accumulate material things to impress others. We get little satisfaction from the "thing" but enjoy the "experience" of the impression of envy it evokes from our peers. This is a short lived gratification and it leaves an emptiness. If we have innate self esteem we could care less about the envy of others and are interested in pleasant experiences whether they are shared or not.

The obvious way to defuse this whole dichotomy is to buy a guitar. And a big, gnarly amp, and a wah-wah.

Just sayin'.

Seriously, though travel is likely my first choice too on how to spend a sizeable chunk of cash, buying a musical instrument combines material and experiential goods in the best way possible. You are not buying a fleeting experience and treasuring the memories, and you are not buying a thing whose appeal fades after sufficient time has rendered it as no longer new. You are buying a thing upon which: you learn, you create, you contemplate, you express, you emote, you entertain people, you annoy the neighbors, you scare random animals, you build memories. I suppose the same could be said of an easel and canvas, or a word processor.

If the item you buy is a tool for creation, you have fused item and experience, mind and body,
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As a former sailor in the US Navy, I've been trying to talk my wife into a cruise for years. Unfortunately she has no spirit of adventure and would rather visit San Diego for the 35th time in 22 years. BAH, I so miss the salty days of my younger years (minus the heavy drink and chasing skirts) and would relish the opportunity to stand on the fantail watching the sea without worrying about having to work. BAH (my angst is worth the second exclamation) :)

my wife and I have gone on at least 8 cruises, and the memories are glorious! we also like to go on driving adventures -- where we goin'? who knows! then, when we run out of money, we come home and save up some more!
also, I bought a good ham radio which can talk long distance, bringing in memories of the Pittsburgh and Florida conversations, with the attendant learning about other folks and places. delightful and never-ending ,,, become a ham; no code general is not that tough!

I've always believed that the measurement of a good life is one as full of experiences as possible, even if a little cramming is required.

A life of things, unless they provide or add to experiences, has always seemed a little empty to me.

Txs for the article. +1

I so agree. The "thing" can be broken, lost, stolen or just gather dust. The experience however "is MINE". I earned it. I experienced it.
my next adventure is a return to Sabah - pretty impossible to skite about that destination to people who travel to resorts in Fiji or the Gold Coast, but another experience that will be mine so long as i have memory.

In 1980 my wife and I were in Kuwait. We were making a fair amount of money, enough to cause us to ask ourselves whether we wanted to spend a lot on "stuff," or spend it going places and doing things. We chose the later, and we are still very glad we did.

:Gone with the Wind" says it all - it's the land from which we get our strength, our tranquility, our peace. Even experiences can be competitive and verge on irritating, who needs it. Land, not ostentatious building, but that which brings calmness. My worst two years were spent in a city apt. while I worked at OSU., I needed to dig, to smell the fresh air, to have pets. Next comes cars, ones with which I can bond, ones that when I drive them on a deserted road, bring me close to felling one with infinity. I don't care what anyone else thinks of my cars, but I bond with American sports cars. Solitude is high underrated, even in a family, one must be comfortable with being by ones self sometimes, taking time to smell the roses, as they say. Peace comes from withing, and whatever it takes to get there, which might be cheap or expensive, it is personal. People are not true to themselves. A book, "Driving Passion" talks about the cars people say they want, then what they actually buy. The majority buy what they are sold by TV and ads, not what they said they really wanted. It is societal pressure that turns people away from what is authentic inside them.

My "things" have increased my happiness. I have bought the best, and it has paid off over time.

This study is nothing new. The Hindus knew about it centuries ago. It's called "The Tragedy of Desire." Here's the illustration: Draw a circle. The circle is you. Draw a circle around the first circle. Make it considerably larger than the first circle. It represents stuff - things you desire to have. Imagine the first circle growing until it overtakes the second circle. Now you have everything you want, right? Wrong, for now there's a still bigger circle surrounding your circle. In other words, you will always desire more and never have enough. The answer to that is to live in such a way as the acquisition of stuff is not your primary motivation.

Aw, Geeze. I just agree with a lot of what was said. Nice stuff.

I would add that, while you cannot buy security, you can bend the odds in your favor. Purchasing things that will make your life more secure is a worthwhile investment. (I am saving up for a liner for my water tank so that I can have some-many gallons of water close at hand if an earthquake cuts off the water supply to my area.)

I think that the first trip 'overseas' is the most important one. It is the one that says, to the heart (not the brain), "Wait. You mean all these people do not think/live/speak like I do?" This realization is worthwhile.

Jan

While I do agree with that on some level, on another, as a producer, it's equally enjoyable to acquire something (such as the new welder in the shop) that allows me to be productive, artistic, derive profit, and enjoy a relaxing pursuit I could not have when I lived out of a suitcase.

I'll give you the double-header... we have property in Italy. Some of the fondest memories there (and yes, we did the travel and tourist thing as well) was working on the property, clearing the debris from the ruins of the 19th century "apartments" (long abandoned) and 12th century church (even longer abandoned)... Even going to the Ferramenta (Hardware Store) in town (population <1000), was an experience that was better than the café we went to next to the Vatican.

Don't get me wrong - I love to travel - but normally (for me, anyway) it's just as fun to produce as observe.

"When I have met an immigrant tottering under a bundle which contained his all ....I have pitied him, not because that was his all, but because he had all that to carry. If I have got to drag my trap, I will take care that it be a light one and do not nip me in a vital part. But perchance it would be wisest never to put one's paw into it." Thoreau

Very interesting and a point worth remembering

The article takes the position that we have to expend money to have experiences that will enrich our lives. I don't agree with that logic, the best things in life are free (or at least low cost).

That's odd. I wonder if some primitive part of our brains does not account for depreciation and thinks if we trade something for "things" we could always trade those "things" back for something else.