I agree that Americans are too consumed with stuff. More importantly, though, we don't even make our own stuff any more -- the Chinese do. While stuff might n

I agree that Americans are too consumed with stuff. More importantly, though, we don't even make our own stuff any more -- the Chinese do. While stuff might not seem important, if that supply line ever gets cut, we'll see how important it really is. The making of stuff also factors into global power. The US was able to win a war on two fronts in WWII in part because of its ability to make stuff. Remember the guns vs. butter axes on the production possibility curve in ECON101?