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Link to Tim Jackson's TED talk (~20 min): http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check.html http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_re

Link to Tim Jackson's TED talk (~20 min): http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check.html http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_chec... ---------- Anti-Consumerism was a main theme in the movie Fight Club. This scene, where Norman describes his "perfect" apartment, will always be memorable to me (partially edited): Like so many others, I had become a slave to the Ikea nesting instinct. Like a coffee table in the shape of a yin-yang, I had to have it. The Klipsk personal office unit. The Hovetrekke home exerbike. Or the Ohamshab sofa with the Strinne green stripe pattern. Even the Ryslampa wire lamps of environmentally-friendly unbleached paper. I'd flip through catalogues and wonder "What kind of dining set defines me as a person?" I had it all. Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and imperfections, proof that they were crafted by the honest, hard-working, indigenous peoples of... ...wherever.

Retric 16y ago
If your 26, and saving 20% of your income why not spend the rest however you wish? At some point spending money now is going to be more fun than spending 10x that much money when your in your late 50's. So, yes plenty of high income people buy nice things, but even if I had invested every cent I had ever revived I would not be a millionaire because I am still to young.
- Das_Bruce 16y ago
  I think the problem is not spending the other 80% of their income, it's spending the income they never had, or spending all of it and not realising that there can be unexpected hiccups.
- loewenskind 16y ago
  I absolutely advocate spending money but spend it smart. Don't buy e.g. a BMW. They cost a lot, are expensive to fix and don't last any longer than a cheaper brand. They are incredibly beautiful (to me anyway) but the value just isn't there. Instead, I would spend it visit another country or buying something that is expensive but either saves money in the long run or lasts a very long time.
  - ericd 16y ago
    I've always been in the camp you seem to be in, but having just started driving a BMW (not mine, my girlfriend's), I can say there's a lot more to it than just its looks. It's one of the sportier variants, and it is a significantly better driving machine than any of the japanese cars I've owned (I've only ever owned), to the point where it changes the way you drive. I think this is because you're much more confident in its abilities to handle things, and that it actually makes driving fun. It's different from other cars I've driven like Macs are different from the windows boxes I've used.
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      I'm sure it is just as amazing an experience to drive as it is to look at. The problem is that owning a car is a money-losing proposition. If you buy it new you lose up to 40% of the value just driving it off the lot. Another strategy might be to just buy the vehicle and keep it until the wheels fall off. That wont save you from losing on the transaction but at least you wont have to lose money every 3 years like you might with a cheaper car. Except that wont work with BMW. According to all stats I've been able to find (and I really looked for this because I wanted it to be worth owning one) they don't last any longer than their cheap counter parts but they cost a lot more to fix. The warranty isn't any longer. So that means I'd still have to do the same "piss away thousands every 3-5 years" but with numbers 2 or 3 times larger.
      - smithian 16y ago
        My solution to this problem wrt cars was to buy a low-mileage used BMW off lease and learn to replace my own brakes (highest cost routine maintenance task). I'm making use of someone else's wastefulness (the previous owner) to subsidize my fancy car ownership, and paying less for the car than I would have paid for a new Ford or Toyota.
        ericd 16y ago
        Yeah, this is what my girlfriend did, and it knocked about 40% off the new price, while still being only a couple years old and very low mileage. I'll probably need to replace the brake pads myself after the warranty runs out, but for another few years, maintenance is supposedly comped.
- zatara 16y ago
  Because... "The things that you own end up owning you." Tyler Durden

Retric 16y ago

If your 26, and saving 20% of your income why not spend the rest however you wish? At some point spending money now is going to be more fun than spending 10x that much money when your in your late 50's. So, yes plenty of high income people buy nice things, but even if I had invested every cent I had ever revived I would not be a millionaire because I am still to young.

Das_Bruce 16y ago
I think the problem is not spending the other 80% of their income, it's spending the income they never had, or spending all of it and not realising that there can be unexpected hiccups.
loewenskind 16y ago
I absolutely advocate spending money but spend it smart. Don't buy e.g. a BMW. They cost a lot, are expensive to fix and don't last any longer than a cheaper brand. They are incredibly beautiful (to me anyway) but the value just isn't there. Instead, I would spend it visit another country or buying something that is expensive but either saves money in the long run or lasts a very long time.
- ericd 16y ago
  I've always been in the camp you seem to be in, but having just started driving a BMW (not mine, my girlfriend's), I can say there's a lot more to it than just its looks. It's one of the sportier variants, and it is a significantly better driving machine than any of the japanese cars I've owned (I've only ever owned), to the point where it changes the way you drive. I think this is because you're much more confident in its abilities to handle things, and that it actually makes driving fun. It's different from other cars I've driven like Macs are different from the windows boxes I've used.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    I'm sure it is just as amazing an experience to drive as it is to look at. The problem is that owning a car is a money-losing proposition. If you buy it new you lose up to 40% of the value just driving it off the lot. Another strategy might be to just buy the vehicle and keep it until the wheels fall off. That wont save you from losing on the transaction but at least you wont have to lose money every 3 years like you might with a cheaper car. Except that wont work with BMW. According to all stats I've been able to find (and I really looked for this because I wanted it to be worth owning one) they don't last any longer than their cheap counter parts but they cost a lot more to fix. The warranty isn't any longer. So that means I'd still have to do the same "piss away thousands every 3-5 years" but with numbers 2 or 3 times larger.
    - smithian 16y ago
      My solution to this problem wrt cars was to buy a low-mileage used BMW off lease and learn to replace my own brakes (highest cost routine maintenance task). I'm making use of someone else's wastefulness (the previous owner) to subsidize my fancy car ownership, and paying less for the car than I would have paid for a new Ford or Toyota.
      - ericd 16y ago
        Yeah, this is what my girlfriend did, and it knocked about 40% off the new price, while still being only a couple years old and very low mileage. I'll probably need to replace the brake pads myself after the warranty runs out, but for another few years, maintenance is supposedly comped.
zatara 16y ago
Because... "The things that you own end up owning you." Tyler Durden