At least, parts of it are new. And it’s much, much better than the one I had before.
That got me thinking about a classic happiness problem: Why do we like the things we like?
Thinkers like the philosopher and social critic Theodor Adorno argue it’s because we associate nice things with being “classy” in a very literal sense – because the things we own tell us who we are, and that comes with a social class label.
For several hundred years, people have been pursuing the American dream – and conspicuous consumption has been a part of that. Why? One argument explains it by saying that consumption tells other people – and ourselves as well – what we’re worth.
The modern minimalism movement rebels against that: you don’t need good things to convince yourself that you’re a good person. (Or, rather, if you do then you’ve got bigger problems to deal with than storing your shoe collection.) In this, they’re following after Adorno – but there’s a difference.
People in the 21st century still succumb to the desire to keep up with the Jonses, but it’s easier to get yourself out of that head-space because there are more points of view you can look at our culture from, if you’re willing to seek them out.
I’ve got this new bathroom, and I’m trying to figure out what, from Adorno’s point of view, it’s saying about me.
And I’m not sure that it matters. I explore this question in greater depth in an essay I’ll post soon.
Owning nice things can feel good in a lot of different ways. Are some ways better than others? Let me know what you think.