> No one is original anymore, not even you. Article opens with the quote, but that's the essence of a vast amount of art through the ages: only the thinnest bit of art is truly original, and looking to get rid of the non-original bits generates absurd junk. I would argue that the cult of original and the cult of individualism-via-consumerism is largely an 1800s ideology filtered through post-war marketing. "only by c…
>Gently, I would suggest that we are neither original nor should we find our identity in material goods While I agree with the first part, identity is tied to society, unless we are to become reclusive hermits. I would suggest that while better, even people who look back to a pre-consumerist lifestyle, are engaging in lifestyle (and thus identity) unless it's a completely unattached choice (again reclusive hermit). I…
I am suggesting that a, how do you say, Stoic? Zen? Tao? attitude about material goods is something to be desired.
They are there, they are useful, they have a social context, but your identity is more than goods.