There are a lot of lonely people in the world. They make excellent consumers.
I noted in an earlier posting about a person I met who was in the medical profession and making over $100,000 a year. They were about my age, but had nothing saved for retirement, no house, no nothing. But they had designer clothes, a new car every three years, and bought all the latest trendy crap.
And they lived alone.
I know a lot of folks who are "loners" - who never marry or even have a partner or "significant other" or whatever, for their entire lives. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. But it struck me that one common denominator that all of these folks had was that they spent nearly every dollar they had on status crap like smart phones and fancy cars, designer clothes and designer coffees - and $150 haircuts.
It is interesting, but such folks find their sense of worth in their possessions and purchases. And they are the first to point out to me how lame and out-of-date my clothes, hair (which I cut myself) and cell phone is - as if these were important things in life. Perhaps it scares them that someone could find happiness in things other than the material.
But I think it is something else - and something hard to describe. Their sense of self-worth is not from a relationship with another, but in their material goods. And they can congratulate themselves for being "better" than others by having the latest stylish stuff. Those poor married folks! Driving a five-year old car and wearing frumpy clothes. What are they thinking?
If you are single and the kind of person who will remain single your whole life, there is nothing wrong with that lifestyle. But watch out, there is a "singles trap" - drowning the deafening silence in life with consumerism.
