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Hard for me not to see links between marketing and hoarding, all told. Some of it is in the lie that things last. I remember being appalled when a colleague p
by taeric 3y ago
Hard for me not to see links between marketing and hoarding, all told.
Some of it is in the lie that things last. I remember being appalled when a colleague pointed out that the point of consumption goods is that they are consumed. I thought that was too simplistic to cover all of consumerism. It really helped break a lot of my habits there, though.
Back to the marketing point, though. We are simultaneously told that we are bad because we don't find ways to make our shoes last longer, and that we probably need more shoes. On a regular basis. Shirts? Realistically, how many does one person actually need? How many have so many of us purchased in the last year, alone?
Then there is the "collection" aspect of things. We pour so much effort into making collectible copies of things. But then, if you collect too much, you are a hoarder? But, what is too much? Just more than you can financially keep clean? Is this just a "poor people should feel bad about their habits" kind of thing?
- ajross 3y ago> Hard for me not to see links between marketing and hoarding, all told. I don't think that follows. Hoarding isn't fundamentally about desire to acquire junk, it's about the inability to get rid of it. People who buy too much garbage they saw on social media or wherever are just "consumerists". It's arguably a mental illness too, I guess, but they aren't hoarding. Generally they just throw stuff out, or into a closet, etc... Though "thrifting" is suddenly an en vogue activity, I assume partly driven out of collective guilt over the amount of junk in our lives.
- taeric 3y agoRight, and marketing is a large part of convincing people that things are valuable and should be held onto. Or that you can find a use for it. Or find a way to clean it. Or whatever.
- cudgy 3y agoConsumerists can also become hoarders via their consumerist habits. I have an Aunt whose house is full of new books and clothes primarily with tags still on them. She effectively lives with her depreciated life savings.