Interesting Confluence

<a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-01-25T211639Z_01_N25460726_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-HOME.xml&src=rss&rpc=22" >U.S. home to set world price record at $155 mln</a><br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=qw1169791923347S524" >'Beware the affluenza virus'</a><br />n<br />n<br />nThe confluence of these two stories struck me as interesting. An Article about rampant consumerism being harmful and a home being planned that is going to cost $155 million. If there is anything that embodies rampant consumerism it has to be this house.<br />n<br />nWhy would you need a house that is worth that kind of money? Does it somehow make you happier to have such an extravagant dwelling or is it just a way to stick it at the lowly peasants who can't afford such? What kind of score do you get for owning such an extravagant home or do you get any points? Does such a pricey house drive up home prices in Montana for us peasants? Is such conspicuous consumption in keeping with a Montana lifestyle or is the Yellowstone Club, a gated community where the house is to be built, a country of its own and has no relation to Montana and it's lifestyle?<br />n<br />nI can't for the life of me figure out what one person would need with a house that costs such a large amount of money. I can't see how it would make you happy and healthy. The article on rampant consumerism really brings it into focus if you think about it.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>Bigger houses, more cars, larger televisions, younger faces – these goals are frenetically pursued by middle-class workaholics afflicted by "affluenza".<br />n<br />n"Studies in lots of different nations show that if you place high value on those things, you are more likely to suffer depression, anxiety, addictions and personality disorders," he said.</blockquote><br />n<br />nDon't get me wrong here, a $155 million dollar home is not being marketed to the middle class, but the drives that lead to it are the same. I've thought about how I can expand my ranch or change my production for more profits on my ranch more than once. Get bigger, go to grass fed beef and market it myself, do a dude ranch concept, or other things. The drive, to bring more money and profit into the business. What stops me? Every time I think about something different like that I can't help thinking how these things would take away from the more important things in my life. My family. The drive for money is all fine and dandy, but family and personal relationships are just as important, if not more important, and need fostered to. You can try to buy love but it doesn't work out real well. To invest in personal relationships takes time, not money, so any pursuit for money costs you investment in time to your family. That's a sad fact.<br />n<br />nSpeaking of peasants, this just goes to show you how Montana is being sold off to the rich and famous and those of us natives that are left are expected to be peasants to them. It is a trend that has been going on for a while and is only getting worse. A better business economy in the state would help this trend some, not enough so that the common worker could buy a $155 million dollar home, by helping to provide higher wage jobs in the state so the residents wouldn't be seen as peasants. I'm not sure our Legislature wants this though. By continuing to call businesses the problem in the state the selling off of our state continues. <br />n<br />n<strong>It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life. Christopher Lasch</strong>