Australia has the largest size homes in the world. Round here in our middle class estate, 20 year old houses average A$1,000,000
Average homesize has more than doubled despite family size declining by 28% in the past 60 years. Plus we send the old fogies off to live in aged care homes, so they are no bother.
Not only that, storage facilities are booming and are a serious investment option!
What does that say?
It says to me that we are rabbits in the headlights of marketers. Our lives are continuously cascaded with marketing messages and information.
We are driven to buy the bargain, its so cheap. We each have 50 shirts, 10 pairs of shoes, 50 dresses and a million knick knacks. Our televisions grow in size by the year. We have speakers in every room and 12 different appliances in the kitchen. We have so many types of insurance we need a broker
Our houses are so cluttered we buy sheds and park the cars in the road. We hire storage space to accommodate our possessions.
Why? We don’t need most of the stuff we have…
I am reminded of the riots in London in 2011 which was sparked by police shooting an armed suspect. It led to wide spread looting. My thoughts at the time (just after the 2008 recession) were that despair and futility and lack of money coupled with incessant marketing messages could lead me to do some looting too.
That’s when I began to dislike marketing.
It’s sad because we won’t be able to stop it without a cataclysmic event or events which could lead to radical recalibration of our values and drives.
Covid was clearly not sufficient.
A world war would do it – and that is not too remote an event….
sillysocksonfriday 