People Want Stuff

There's one thing that all people regardless of their race, religious beliefs, height, nationality - whatever - want. Stuff.

That upstairs neighbor? You know - the one that plays Barry Manilow albums really loud whenever it rains - the one to whom you've never spoken. She wants stuff.

The woman you happened upon while walking through the park the other day? She was sitting under a tree playing, of all things, bagpipes. You were too surprised to even tell if she was playing well or not. She wants stuff.

The screen name from the UK? The one you exchanges barbs with while on WritingUp . They want stuff.

Aside from perhaps some monks in Tibet and a few other folks living in a commune, people want stuff.

Even the one who say they don't...most actually do.

It might not be extravagent stuff. That neighbor might only want to buy some rare Barry Manilow bootlegs and be able to jet off to Vegas for a one-time only performance of him doing Bob Seger covers.

The bagpipe player? She wants a can of orange soda, a new bagpipe, an estate in Scotland, and $22,000 in cash. I think?

And that screen name in the UK just wants you to go away.

And there's never enough stuff. Most people will keep reaching for one more item, be it something tangible or conceptual. This results in a lot of disappointed people, some of them downright pissed off.

There's a lot of dissapointed, pissed off people out there.

Some people handle it better than others and often these are the people that have some stuff because some stuff allows you to keep slightly pre-occuppied and distracted while you try and figure out how to get more.

If you don't have enough stuff to keep you distracted and you repeatedly fail to acquire some, you'll have a lot of time on your hands. It's easy to fall in with what my grandmother would have called "the bad crowd."

And a lot of these people are the ones that you see getting tweaked over Danish cartoons and rioting outside embassies. A lot of these folks are the ones seduced enough by the promise of stuff in the afterlife that they strap explosives onto their bodies and blow things up.

Think about it. There's disappointed, pissed off people in Detroit, but they're not blowing things up because the Pistons are on tonight and they'd rather catch the game and pound some PBR.

Maybe the answer is giving out some goods. With the billions being spent globally, battling terrorism, perhaps it would be more effective to set everyone up with cable or XBoxes or whatnot. It's just a personal theory but most people would rather be sitting at home, downloading Eminem songs illegally or watching "Survivor" than blowing themselves to bits.

This global war, this clash of idealogies, is not a religious battle. It's a conflict between the haves and the have nots disquised as such because that is what best suits a relatively small and influential minority who understand how to exploit it.

For some interesting thoughts in a similar vein, check out Money CAN Buy You Happiness, but...