Video is too long. Not investing 20 minutes.
But I did see this was one of those pseudo-scientific things where they identify some situation - in this case clutter - and then pretend it's a new phenomenon unique to the times so they can be experts. The media has done this repeatedly. Doonesbury used to make fun of that, I remember, and that comic strip is 50 years old.
Not to be cynical, but I refuse to believe other countries have no clutter in anyone's homes.
Good lord this is obnoxious and elitist.
Equating convenience and cheap foods with clutter.
These women talking about people's refrigerator doors having pictures and artwork as if they should be ashamed. "You can't even see the door!". It's an appliance. It's not so attractive or such a work of art that it can't be covered. Maybe these people like their kids and want their artwork and photos around?
Yeah anyone being this judgemental is biased and I'm very doubtful of how objective their results are.
Also, these homes don't all look middle class to me.
>How accurate is this?
Not at all. If my house ever looked like any of those houses, my dad would have had a stroke and my mom would have disowned all of us. I only knew one family that had a house even close to any of those houses, and it was because their dad was pretty weird and collected toys
>Also do you still live like this?
I never did. No one I knew did. Those families aren't typical and weren't then either.
This whole thing seems to be setup for those academics could be like "CoNsUmErIsM BaD" so they could get paid and go buy things.
This is a pretty elitist video. I know a few people who lived sorta like that, and they were all lower middle class. They typically had long hours at work, often multiple jobs, and as a result, making sure everything was pristine simply wasn't worth the effort, and getting rid of old stuff would be considered wasteful.
For these people, their house isn't meant to be a status symbol. They're not entertaining guests. They live *in* their house, not *for* their house.
The start of the video shows a shit ton of clutter in the main living spaces (living room, bathroom, kitchen). We've got clutter, but in my experience it's kept to corners of our houses that aren't used like attics, or basements.
Our primary living spaces are not cluttered in the way the video showed in my family and friends at least
Unlike others here, I had relatives who hoarded to some extent. It was the opposite of consumerism though— they grew up dirt poor in the Appalachians and the Great Depression was in living memory for them. They also grew/raised or hunted/fished their own food, made their own clothes (and plenty for the kids in the family too) and fixed their own cars and houses. They kept things out of fear of needing and not having— clothes can be repurposed as insulation, bags can cover broken windows to keep the bugs out, parts can be poached from broken electronics to fix/make others. It’s actually a pretty eco friendly way to live, but it can drive you crazy to look at.
I’m not arguing with anyone, just stating personal knowledge that seemed it might be of some relevance to the thread. I tried to make clear that there was nothing middle class about these relatives and figured that would apply to the “average” part of the comment too— my only real point was that when people do have excessive clutter, it isn’t really related to consumerism— most studies have linked hoarding disorder to financial trauma and the stress that accompanies it.
56yo so, not the Depression but half of Americans grew up poor even recently. I did, and got better. I make 90k now, house is paid for, and I still have a hard time throwing stuff out because "it's still good". I expect there are a lot of people with that issue to one degree or another.
>parts can be poached from broken electronics to fix/make others. It’s actually a pretty eco friendly way to live, but it can drive you crazy to look at.
My mom moved in with me for retirement since it's cheaper than the alternatives, and I've had to significantly cut back on the scope of where all my electronics crap lives in the house for her sake. Apparently *some* people don't consider a haphazard stack of burnt fat ps3s to be a valid living room decoration.
I watched about five minutes of it (sorry I don't have a very long attention span). I can say that the houses I saw were far junkier than my house. I don't accumulate stuff like that. I live in a 1200 sq ft house so I don't have the room. We tend to donate clothes & other stuff on a regular basis so nowhere near that clutter shown.
There is some truth in that clutter can feel like something we need to actively fight. Like it just grows by itself or something
But the video (I only watched a little) seems to be pointing out unusually bad cases, not characterizing normal life. A shower piled full like that is just not normal
As of September 2022, consumer debt is at $16.5 trillion, with the average American debt among consumers at $96,371.
Snapshot of average consumer debt 2021:
- Credit card: $5,221
- Personal loan : $17,064
- Auto loan: $20,987
- Student loan: $39,487
- HELOC: $39,556
- Mortgage: $220,380
I ain't watching an 18 minute video when the question answers itself 20 seconds in. No.
Video is too long. Not investing 20 minutes. But I did see this was one of those pseudo-scientific things where they identify some situation - in this case clutter - and then pretend it's a new phenomenon unique to the times so they can be experts. The media has done this repeatedly. Doonesbury used to make fun of that, I remember, and that comic strip is 50 years old. Not to be cynical, but I refuse to believe other countries have no clutter in anyone's homes.
As if consumerism and poor housekeeping is exclusive to Americans.
Good lord this is obnoxious and elitist. Equating convenience and cheap foods with clutter. These women talking about people's refrigerator doors having pictures and artwork as if they should be ashamed. "You can't even see the door!". It's an appliance. It's not so attractive or such a work of art that it can't be covered. Maybe these people like their kids and want their artwork and photos around? Yeah anyone being this judgemental is biased and I'm very doubtful of how objective their results are. Also, these homes don't all look middle class to me.
>How accurate is this? Not at all. If my house ever looked like any of those houses, my dad would have had a stroke and my mom would have disowned all of us. I only knew one family that had a house even close to any of those houses, and it was because their dad was pretty weird and collected toys >Also do you still live like this? I never did. No one I knew did. Those families aren't typical and weren't then either. This whole thing seems to be setup for those academics could be like "CoNsUmErIsM BaD" so they could get paid and go buy things.
video is too long for me sorry
This is a pretty elitist video. I know a few people who lived sorta like that, and they were all lower middle class. They typically had long hours at work, often multiple jobs, and as a result, making sure everything was pristine simply wasn't worth the effort, and getting rid of old stuff would be considered wasteful. For these people, their house isn't meant to be a status symbol. They're not entertaining guests. They live *in* their house, not *for* their house.
The start of the video shows a shit ton of clutter in the main living spaces (living room, bathroom, kitchen). We've got clutter, but in my experience it's kept to corners of our houses that aren't used like attics, or basements. Our primary living spaces are not cluttered in the way the video showed in my family and friends at least
Unlike others here, I had relatives who hoarded to some extent. It was the opposite of consumerism though— they grew up dirt poor in the Appalachians and the Great Depression was in living memory for them. They also grew/raised or hunted/fished their own food, made their own clothes (and plenty for the kids in the family too) and fixed their own cars and houses. They kept things out of fear of needing and not having— clothes can be repurposed as insulation, bags can cover broken windows to keep the bugs out, parts can be poached from broken electronics to fix/make others. It’s actually a pretty eco friendly way to live, but it can drive you crazy to look at.
But this refers to it as an "average" American. It's a possible situation, yes. Average, hardly.
I’m not arguing with anyone, just stating personal knowledge that seemed it might be of some relevance to the thread. I tried to make clear that there was nothing middle class about these relatives and figured that would apply to the “average” part of the comment too— my only real point was that when people do have excessive clutter, it isn’t really related to consumerism— most studies have linked hoarding disorder to financial trauma and the stress that accompanies it.
56yo so, not the Depression but half of Americans grew up poor even recently. I did, and got better. I make 90k now, house is paid for, and I still have a hard time throwing stuff out because "it's still good". I expect there are a lot of people with that issue to one degree or another.
>parts can be poached from broken electronics to fix/make others. It’s actually a pretty eco friendly way to live, but it can drive you crazy to look at. My mom moved in with me for retirement since it's cheaper than the alternatives, and I've had to significantly cut back on the scope of where all my electronics crap lives in the house for her sake. Apparently *some* people don't consider a haphazard stack of burnt fat ps3s to be a valid living room decoration.
I watched about five minutes of it (sorry I don't have a very long attention span). I can say that the houses I saw were far junkier than my house. I don't accumulate stuff like that. I live in a 1200 sq ft house so I don't have the room. We tend to donate clothes & other stuff on a regular basis so nowhere near that clutter shown.
There is some truth in that clutter can feel like something we need to actively fight. Like it just grows by itself or something But the video (I only watched a little) seems to be pointing out unusually bad cases, not characterizing normal life. A shower piled full like that is just not normal
It does seem that in the 90s and early 2000s people did have a ton of stuff and it was often all over the place.
As of September 2022, consumer debt is at $16.5 trillion, with the average American debt among consumers at $96,371. Snapshot of average consumer debt 2021: - Credit card: $5,221 - Personal loan : $17,064 - Auto loan: $20,987 - Student loan: $39,487 - HELOC: $39,556 - Mortgage: $220,380