Frugal (part 9)

There is a word that our culture has "black-listed"... it is an adjective that has come to hold all kinds of bad connotations... ideas like dirty, worthless and broken... it has become such a terrible label that we have coined a new phrase to replace it.

Have any guesses? The word in question is USED. Think about it. Even "used" car salesmen no longer sell "used" cars, they sell "pre-owned" cars. As if there is something inherently wrong with a car that has been used - that has been driven by another person. Our culture now equates "used" with "poor", "dirty", "old", "worthless", "lemon", "broken", etc. No one in their right mind wants used things. All must be NEW and SHINY to be of value.

Let's take homes, for example. How many of you are (or know some one who is) a person who is uncomfortable living in anything other than a new home? For some it may be a question of sanitation (who knows what the previous owners have left behind?!). For others it may be aesthetics (new=pretty). And for others it may be status (our cultural expectations). Why buy a sixty year old home, when for just a little bit more you can build and have a new one? Why buy a twenty year old one? Why buy an old home, with all it's potential age-induced issues, when you can have new? Somehow we have the assumption that only old homes have problems and new ones are problem free. Yet how many "new" furnaces go out the first winter? How many "new" homes have plumbing problems. A new home could be more of a lemon than a used one...

In my area, old is defined as anything built over ten years ago. (Ten years old=OLD, really?) My area of the country was only settled 150ish years ago, so homes that are one hundred years old are ancient. They deserve landmark status (or to be torn down to make room for NEW ones). What about Europe? Over there 150 isn't that old. Not when there are homes that are hundreds of years old. They do not balk, the way we do, at a fifty year old home. They face a different set of age and space constraints. When your city has been around for eight hundred years, the open spaces that still exist are there for a purpose other than building new homes, so it's not a question of new vs used, rather it is a question of just how OLD you're willing to buy. 300? 85? 127? New is not a frequent option. There are areas of our country where people are less prone to buy new due to similar space and age constraints, but still there is the underlying idea is that building a new home is the ideal.

And it's not just homes. We want new clothes, not hand-me-downs. New furniture, not second-hand. New electronics, not outdated. New experiences. New spouses.... I'll stop there.

So, why do we have such a fixation with NEW? I would like to propose two possibilities. First, consumerism. Second, entitlement.

Consumerism. The motivation to buy, buy, BUY! because stuff will bring happiness and fulfillment. I recently read a wonderful book on the science of happiness (here) and yes, stuff can make you happy. But... stuff is not the best, nor the most fulfilling, nor the longest lasting source of happiness. Unfortunately we easily and quickly become acclimated to stuff. That means we become "used" to it and it no longer has the same "effect." I find it ironic that stuff has the same effect as addictive drugs: we have to continually change it or increase the dose in order to get the same "rush." Science has shown that the most lasting and fulfilling sources of happiness are relationships. Interesting, but there's not a lot of money to be made there. So... let's play on people's natural "need" and make them want more, more, more as they attempt to find happiness and fulfillment. We can feed people the idea that new is the ideal, the best. That'll keep them coming back for more "new" when their old stuff gets "old." And we need to continually come up with "new and improved" stuff, so we can speed up the process and keep people buying and the profits coming in!

Entitlement. New is best and we "deserve" the best. If you think about it, that mentality is the logical offspring of manifest destiny. While those of you who are more historically literate cringe in the background, I will explain to those who are less so. "Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent." - Wikipedia That's right, it's the mentality that gave impetus to westward migration and all of the atrocities inflicted on the Native American tribes. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was our "right" to conquer the entire continent. It was what God wanted us to do. It gave justification to any and all actions. Many of the political policies from that era, that are now held in such derision, are rooted in that mentality. Does it make you uncomfortable to realize that feeling entitled to your lifestyle is no different than feeling "right and justified" in forcibly relocating native peoples? The behavior may be different, but the mentality is the same. I "deserve" this is only a step away from I was "meant" to have this.


Now, back to "used". Is there anything inherently wrong or bad with used things? Well, maybe. I would recommend you steer clear of used toothbrushes. Not only have the bristles been deformed (and they're not made to be fixed) in such a way that could lead to gum damage, but the potential for germ sharing is just GROSS! But other than such obvious "used" no-no's... is there a reason to shy away from used stuff? Is "new" truly the ideal? It a simple answer: no. There is nothing inherently wrong with using stuff that was used by someone else before you had it. If you don't like used clothing because of style issues... you haven't spent enough time shopping second-hand. You'd be amazed at the cute, trendy, hip, etc. things that people get rid of. (remember? they're all busy buying into the consumerist road to fulfillment.) And what about used furniture, dishes, toys...? The same truth applies. Most everyone around you is busy adding to or replacing their stuff, trying to find happiness, so you can get truly wonderful things second-hand. Add to that the fact that "they don't make things like they used to." Manufacturers today create stuff that is not meant to last. They want things to wear out or break down so you'll come back for more. Buying used, you may just be getting a better product. (You should see the size of the beams in my basement. Huge. Overkill. No builder today would go to such lengths to made a basement "safe". Cuts too much into profit margins. One of the many perks of a home built 60+ years ago.)


So... number nine: don't be afraid of "used"