Lol. Responding to my own post like 2 years later. Time to /self

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418129)

If you develop a legit hobby, whatever it is, you'll want to do it in a variety of ways, and even the tried and true worn-out paths will become less interesting. If you love hiking, the trails in your backyard will quit making you happy and you'll want to hike the Annapurna Circuit. If you get into triathlon, you'll soon become a bit of a gearhead and will start to spend thousands of dollars on bike accessories.

The people I know who are the least materialistic (i.e. still have an iPhone 4S and don't have cable, rarely spend on new clothes, have an old car that they will drive until it dies) will spend heaps of money pursuing experiences that they enjoy.

And then they'll poast about those experiences on Facebook.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27417918)

And most people who love something will want to keep doing it over and over again in novel ways. And hobbies can cost money.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27417983)

you're just betraying your tiny, tiny experience. the fact that the "least materialist" people you know still have a 4S, a car, Facebook etc. is unreal lol. basically the people you know who aren't materialistic are just thoughtcatalog posters looking to eat pray love their way to higher status. everyone you know is playing a status game, just like you, and you think materialism and anti-materialism are two different strategies in that game.

but real anti-materialism is also anti-status games. that's completely beyond your ken, though.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27417996)

but a lot of people out there just genuinely don't care about things, don't like having them, etc., and don't have something else that takes up the space that "things" provide for other people. many people just wouldn't know what to do with a bunch of money if they had it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418021)

I'm limiting my discussion to educated professionals with white collar jobs, and the vast majority of educated professionals that I know have Facebook, a smartphone, and a car (unless they live in NYC or another car-unfriendly city). I can say this about grad students living in Kansas City who are married to yoga instructors. Normal folks.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418101)

And then they'll poast about those experiences on Facebook."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418106)

My point re: materialism was that people who don't have that much stuff still spend money, they just spend it on experiences other than on material things.

I can count on one hand the people I know who don't have at least two of a smartphone, a car, and a Facebook account. And they're all in New York (or other places where you don't really need a car), so the metric is kinda wonky.

The vast majority of people I know have at least two of those three, regardless of income level or materialism (hell, my maid even has a smartphone and a facebook account).

So my idea of someone who has disposable income but isn't materialist is someone who has an old smartphone and maybe (if they live outside of NYC) an older, used car, and doesn't care what they buy. The point I was making was that this person still enjoys to spend money and time on hobbies and probably isn't immune to the Facebook Olympics.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418404)

Even people I know who call themselves "minimalist" have the work Blackberry and some Facebook account that they seldom use.

Describe someone you know who is "truly non-materialistic".

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418447)

- no facebook, flip phone, old car

- facebook, older smartphone, no car

- no facebook, flip phone, decent car

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418458)

Though I know absolutely no one with a flip phone except for drug dealers. I can't even remember the last time I saw a flip phone except for on early episodes of Gossip Girl.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418464)

People who live outside of NYC need a car to get from point A to point B. You can't Citibike your way around Los Angeles.

I know there are some people who really get off on the minimalist lifestyle and own nothing but a basic flip phone and a few shirts, and live with 4 other minimalists in a parlour level brownstone in Bushwick while they drink matcha and fancy themselves the next Junot Diaz or Basquiat.

But if we're talking about mainstream normals with friends and jerbs, then I don't think it's that materialistic to have an old smartphone and a used car.

EDIT: I am obviously not talking about people at the poverty level. I'm talking about people who have the means to be "materialist" to a certain level, but choose not to be.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2350100&forum_id=2#27418018)