Own Without Being Owned

Would think that we should look back at maybe the, for example, the quote from when he was talking he was talking about wealth and talking about possessions, material possessions, and he said the the things that I own don't own me. So it's not a it's not a thing about defining yourself by what you have, defining yourself by your material possessions, or defining yourself by your wealth, or the rejection of that. It's just these are things that I have, and it's inconsequential. What the brands are doing is not only redefining who we who we are, redefining our own identities, but they're also redefining for us the use of the items that we're buying, the the the practical reason why these products exist in the first place. They're making you overlook why you have a jacket, why what what's the purpose of shoes?

What's the purpose of, you know, whatever the case may be, toothpaste or cologne or what what have you. You're you're now not thinking you're you're you're you're buying the product not because of what the product is practically supposed to do for you, but you're buying the product because of the identity that it validates because you own it. And if you start if you return to a a practical definition of what these products or what these items are supposed to what's their what's their function supposed to be, then you can move yourself away from placing any importance or investing any importance in what the brand is. So for example, I don't know just I'm I'm not particularly up on brands myself, to be honest, but say Gucci bag or something. Well, let's look practically at the actual quality of the thing.

Does it serve the function? Does it serve the purpose? And does it serve the purpose so well that it's worth this amount of money? Or could I get something that was made, you know, in in in Vietnam or China or in Mexico or what have you by someone who is actually, you know, coming from a line of craftsmen who is very good at making these things, and I can get it for a fraction of the price, but it's gonna last me twenty years. So if you start thinking practically about what's the actual purpose of this product and defining it that way, then then you'll make your choices according to a much more reasonable, more rational basis for your judgment about what you buy and what you don't buy rather than buying on the basis of how how this product validates my own self identity, which is just so incredibly dysfunctional and so incredibly unhealthy, and it means you're just a hollow person.

And then you can that will also save you from going to the other extreme where now I'm defining myself as being someone who just absolutely on principle will not buy brands. No. I don't mind buying a brand. If it also fits the criteria of being a superior product and and the the quality level is actually worth it, then, yeah, I'll I'll spend the money. And it has nothing to do with it being a brand.

It has to do with the quality and that it's gonna serve its purpose better than something else.