I agree with your sentiment, but what do you do with all of the stuff you already have? Almost nobody reading these books is starting from a position of zero s

I agree with your sentiment, but what do you do with all of the stuff you already have? Almost nobody reading these books is starting from a position of zero stuff; they're starting from a position of X stuff, with X being an amount higher than they'd like. The real appeal of these books and the philosophy they espouse is that they allow you to whittle down the number of things you already have whilst also learning healthy habits to avoid ending up in the same situation later.