Things you own end up owning you…

Courtesy of Cristian Borquez (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ )

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For the lazy people….

• An important part of your better future and thriving in the green future is consciously choosing where your boundaries of ownership lie
• The key is to own enough assets to provide yourself with resources and stability without over-constraining and stressing yourself out.
• One approach to maintain a conscious boundary with consumerism and ownership is to prioritize, diversify, minimize and “temporize”.

Our market is increasingly be affected by environmental issues and adapting in kind. Ironically, one useful adaptation strategy is to choose to avoid doing things.

A really extreme example of this is the 1999 movie Fight Club and the quandary it so eloquently frames.

My formative young adult years were in the late ’90s to early ’00s so it was an important movie for me. Like a lot of young people, I considered myself an outsider and an anti-conventionalist (which probably had something to do with my pretentiousness at that stage).

The whole anti-consumer, anti-yuppie vibe of the movie really struck a chord with me:

“What you own ends up owning you”

That was Tyler’s line, and it always struck as a paradoxical fundamental truth of reality.

The Two Way Street Quandry

He was making the point that “owning” these things and committing to them, in turn, constrains oneself, as resources must be devoted to maintain ownership. Sure, that high-paying job is pretty sweet, but it will constrain you if you need to work 80 hours a week to maintain it.

Even though Tyler was talking about his companion’s apartment being destroyed, I think Tyler was talking about ownership in a more broad sense – taking responsibility and committing to something. However, for this conversation, let’s focus on the consumerism aspect.

So how does Tyler react to excessive consumerism?

In the movie, Tyler rejects many conventional things people “own” by doing things like living in a derelict house (and dangerous) house, not having a 9-5 job, owning little and shabby property. It’s best summed up when he says:

“It’s only when we’ve lost everything that we are free to do anything ”

In other words, one is only free to do anything if all constraints are removed. It sounds very romantic, but there is a dirty secret when it comes to this idea – most of us don’t want to be completely free.

Freedom… Horrible, Horrible Freedom

We need some kind of commitments, ownership and responsibility in life. It brings us important assets, both material and psychological. Without that, where is our stability and opportunity? In theory, some of the freest people in our society would be homeless people, the refugee who fled their country with nothing, etc. But they are often severely hampered because they usually lack the food, shelter and opportunity to pursue activities besides basic survival. Honestly, think back to Tyler’s house – is that a healthy productive environment most people would want to live in?

A good analogy for the pitfall of “ultimate” freedom are those space shuttle ants in the Simpsons “Space Shuttle” episode. Homer is on a space shuttle with an experimental ant farm. He mistakenly breaks their container and the ants scream out “freedom, horrible, horrible freedom” as they find themselves floating out of control and free in the space shuttle.

As hilarious as that scene is, it’s true for ants and us. Imagine if your home, meaning in life were taken away from you and you were thrown into a foreign environment. Probably not what most of us want.

Yeah Tyler, I got to be owned by something, right?

Without reliable material assets like food, shelter and medical care, its difficult to be effective. Without a sense of identity a role to play, its hard to feel a purpose. Yes, freedom is needed, but so are resources and stability.

So, to respond to Tyler’s statement “what you own ends up owning you”… well “we all got to be owned by something”. But maybe the fact that we are owned by something is not the problem – it’s the degree that we are owned by things and that we may have not intentionally made this choice.

The problem is we are not always conscious of this choice – what kind of life do I want to live? What do I want to own (and be owned by)? I think there are elements of society that try trick you into unconsciously constraining yourself with debt and loads of unnecessary things.

So if your better future involves making a conscious choice of what “owns” you, how do you choose it?

How to consciously define your boundary

How do you define the line you draw between yourself and ownership?

Communities like minimalists, financial independence and ethical investors suggest approaches. They might be worth checking out.

As a guide, I would suggest four principles:

• Prioritize – Tyler’s phrases excessive consumerism well ” Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.” Is there anything wrong with enjoying a brand new car, a large house, nice clothes and luxuries? No, but you probably don’t need to have them all and may not enjoy them all (especially if you can’t afford them). Instead, focus on what’s most important – maybe travel is more important than a big house and a nice car. In that case, forgo the big house and nice car and focus on travel.

• Diversify – the burden of ownership isn’t exclusively impacted by the amount owned, but how concentrated the sources of ownership. It’s important to ensure your assets are spread and diversified across a range of assets. For instance, if someone has concentrated their assets in the home (say 80% of their net worth), that can lead to a big loss if the house value went down to zero. A net worth diversified between a home and other investments is much more robust (and less stressful).

• Minimize – Just say no. Even though Tyler’s approach is extreme, there is wisdom in minimizing what you own. We often feel pressure to spend money, whether it’s an expensive night at a club or getting a new car to show our status. The concept of the power of “no” is often presented in terms of time and avoiding unworthwhile commitments. It also applies to what you buy and own.

• “Temporize” – More and more there are alternatives to owning something. Need a tool for one job? Take it out of the tool library. Need a car occasionally. Join a carshare. Join a freecycle group. The alternatives to owing things keep developing.

The Opposite of Insane is still Insane

Many think that Tyler’s character is an absurdist satirical response to the absurdist depiction of materialism. And in reality, it probably is. It’s making the point that the opposite of insanity is still insanity. Therefore, it’s up to you to find the moderation that suits your life.

Maybe the sane version of Tyler’s approach is

“It’s only when you cut out the unnecessary commitments in your life that you are most free to pursue what you want”.

In other words, you are truly ready to pursue the important things once you have consciously chosen and accepted what “owns” and constrains you.