Monday, October 24, 2005
He Who Dies With the Most Gold Still Dies
My younger sister is moving into another room, which means I get my own room! While this transaction is taking place a lot of stuff is being moved around. A lot of stuff needs to be sorted. A lot of stuff is being thrown away. We have a lot of stuff. I think it’s a societal thing and most people have a lot of stuff. I wonder why . . .
My grandparents love to give things away; once my mom asked them to stop giving us stuff, we had too much! They didn’t understand. My grandmother and grandpa grew up during the Depression when people were bereft of most things, and there was no such thing to them as too much stuff. We are taught in school that the United States is a melting pot from people all over the world. Many of the people who immigrated were, or are, from impoverished countries. Our big houses and large amounts of things could be to make up for what was not available to citizens in other nations.
The title of this post comes, as you’ll know if you’ve been there (I haven’t been), from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. There is a scene with a dead pirate lying on a large pile of gold, and a plaque that reads: “He who dies with the most gold still dies.” Having many things does not make you live forever. Whatever stuff we have when we die stays here—why then this mad race for possessions? Greed? No, surely not. Perhaps it is a comfort issue—when we are surrounded by objects we feel safe. For example people sleeping surrounded by pillows, or stuffed animals. We feel the need to fortify ourselves. If we are surrounded by stuff then nothing bad can get us, right?
We are going through a period in the world where labor is very cheap in other countries, therefore the items are cheap and there are a lot of them. One reason we may have so much is simply that we can. We are able to have large house and to fill them, and so we do because they are there.
My mom does not like a lot of stuff, but my dad loves my mom and would like to buy her things and show that he is thinking about her. They have come to a compromise that provides a lot of entertainment for me and my siblings. Once he and I were at a gift store and he found something he thought she might like. He didn’t buy it for her. Instead when we got home he told her all about it and how he thought she might like it, and then he didn’t get it for her, even though he would have liked to. And she will laugh and thank him for not getting it. My mom didn’t want or need the object, and just enjoys hearing my dad describe things that he saw that reminded him of her.
In our culture we usually have the means that when we see stuff that reminds us of others, then we will buy it and have it, or give it to them. The transfer of stuff is a way to show our affection. But as my parents show, we can communicate affection using possessions but without ever possessing them. Whether the reason for our having stuff is comfort, compensation, greed, the simple ability, or affection, we have lots of stuff, and we need to figure out what to do with it.
My grandparents love to give things away; once my mom asked them to stop giving us stuff, we had too much! They didn’t understand. My grandmother and grandpa grew up during the Depression when people were bereft of most things, and there was no such thing to them as too much stuff. We are taught in school that the United States is a melting pot from people all over the world. Many of the people who immigrated were, or are, from impoverished countries. Our big houses and large amounts of things could be to make up for what was not available to citizens in other nations.
The title of this post comes, as you’ll know if you’ve been there (I haven’t been), from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. There is a scene with a dead pirate lying on a large pile of gold, and a plaque that reads: “He who dies with the most gold still dies.” Having many things does not make you live forever. Whatever stuff we have when we die stays here—why then this mad race for possessions? Greed? No, surely not. Perhaps it is a comfort issue—when we are surrounded by objects we feel safe. For example people sleeping surrounded by pillows, or stuffed animals. We feel the need to fortify ourselves. If we are surrounded by stuff then nothing bad can get us, right?
We are going through a period in the world where labor is very cheap in other countries, therefore the items are cheap and there are a lot of them. One reason we may have so much is simply that we can. We are able to have large house and to fill them, and so we do because they are there.
My mom does not like a lot of stuff, but my dad loves my mom and would like to buy her things and show that he is thinking about her. They have come to a compromise that provides a lot of entertainment for me and my siblings. Once he and I were at a gift store and he found something he thought she might like. He didn’t buy it for her. Instead when we got home he told her all about it and how he thought she might like it, and then he didn’t get it for her, even though he would have liked to. And she will laugh and thank him for not getting it. My mom didn’t want or need the object, and just enjoys hearing my dad describe things that he saw that reminded him of her.
In our culture we usually have the means that when we see stuff that reminds us of others, then we will buy it and have it, or give it to them. The transfer of stuff is a way to show our affection. But as my parents show, we can communicate affection using possessions but without ever possessing them. Whether the reason for our having stuff is comfort, compensation, greed, the simple ability, or affection, we have lots of stuff, and we need to figure out what to do with it.
# posted by dancer @ 12:36 PM 
