lifetime utility

maybe the best way to think about stuff is in terms of what i'm going to call "lifetime utility"

according to wikipedia, utility is defined as a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services

the trick is to not think of utility in the present or near-present, but in terms of the lifetime - either yours or the product's (whichever ends sooner, haha)

before any purchase, i think through three questions

- how much utility am i get of this thing

- how much is it going to cost me now (in terms of $usd, usually)

- how much is it going to cost me later (in terms of hassle associated with worry, maintenance, etc.)

all three questions boil down to one fundamental question:

- do i really need this

obviously, if i'm buying a hot dog, the calculations are not that difficult. but when it comes to, for example, a house (which i'm thinking about buying), the calculations become much more complex. maybe we can make a deal: i promise to really think hard about buying an xbox 360, if you'll think really hard about buying that prada bag, or those pair of diesel jeans.

the joy of less

here's a great article about living simply

a lot of people i've met - whether local or tourist - are surprised when they find out that i've been traveling for a year with just my one backpack. usually, they say something like "wow, that must be really hard."

actually, it's the opposite: traveling has been made far easier by the fact that, for the time being, everything i own can fit into a 75 liter backpack. i never have to worry about what i'm going to wear, because there IS NO choice: i have one pair of jeans. and if i have to move on a moment's notice? no problem: just stuff everything into the pack and go. i've gotten to the point where i can go from bed to checked out of the hostel and on my way in less than ten minutes.

i don't know where people got the idea that stuff makes life better. study after study, example after example, we read and hear that not only does stuff not make us happy, it can actually make our lives worse. and yet there's this continuous push to acquire more, more, more.

i posted a great link a couple of weeks ago. according to this annie leonard, this need for stuff - at least with respect to america - started in the 1950s. and the cycle continues - no, is propagated by corporations - to this day.

recently, there's been a pullback. obviously, the economic crisis has taken the fire out of our consumerist ways; and yet i'm afraid that this is only temporary. as we climb out of this crisis, america will be back to its drive for more stuff. in fact, that's one of the things we're all counting on to get us out of this mess: people regaining confidence, and buying more stuff

i've resigned myself to the fact that this is human nature. after all, this is not an american problem, or a western problem; it's global.

in vietnam, one of the poorer countries in the world, i talked to a guy, a farmer i met out during a bike ride into the fields. i asked him what his dream was. his english wasn't very good, but i understood that what he wanted was education for his kids, and a tv.

more recently, in the places i've visited in brazil, there's an obsession (previously documented) with nike shox. i don't understand why, but everyone either is wearing them, or wants to wear them.

today, i watched american beauty. i love that scene where kevin spacey is trying to get it on with annette benning, but she ruins the moment by saying something about the couch. why does anyone need a $4,000 couch?

well, i don't know where i'm going with this. i guess the nytimes article and watching american beauty today brought this issue to the fore, and i've been thinking about it all day.

as much as i rant and rave about how we're so consumerist, etc., i'm guilty too. maybe not as guilty as most, but i'm guilty of wanting stuff. but i feel like i can justify my desire for stuff since i only care about stuff to the extent that it offers a better/unique experience. for example, i want a motorcycle. yeah, it'd be great to have a fancy ducati or triumph, but really, all i want is a bike that's not busted, and can do 100 mph. that's as fast as i think i'll ever need to go.

i guess you could argue that a $4,000 couch offers a better sitting/lounging experience than a $40 beater off of craigslist, but is it $3,960 better?

the big house

today i got a tour of the blumenau jail.  

i've never been in an active jail before so this was interesting for me.  my guide said that most of these guys were in for drugs.  peeking into one of the cells, it didn't surprise me that a lot of the guys looked young.   in this jail, they give special treatment to guys who have college degrees/educations vis-a-vis those without.  

i met a guy named julio who was quite nice.  my guide left me with him for a few minutes so julio could practice his english.  i asked julio if he'd ever been to the US because his english was quite good (relative to the locals) and he smiled "no, maybe someday."  i learned later that julio killed his ex-girlfriend by shooting her five times and was sentenced to life in prison.

after the jail, we went to the mall where i saw more nike shox and women in absurdly high heels

what a fabulous country

brazil is.  i can't remember the last time i had so much fun, and met so many cool people.  there are more beautiful countries certainly, but when it comes to the people, barbecue, women - brazil is where it's at.  

anywho, i'm now in blumenau.  previous to this, i was in balneario camboriu, a beach town about an hour outside of florianopolis.  floripa gets all of the press, but balneario is where it's at.  i couchsurfed with a brazilian college student, and she took me partying out every night with her friends.  honestly, i can't remember the last time i partied so hard, and had so much fun

well i'm not going to go on an on about how great this place is.  all i'm going to say is that argentina has nothing on brazil.

a couple of things i don't get about this place though.  the people are obsessed with nike shox.  people - guys and girls - wear them as fashion statements.  i mean they wear them out to clubs, bars, etc.  in the US, i don;t think you'd be caught dead in those things, unless you are at the gym or grocery store or something.  maybe it's because shox are expensive here, and owning a pair indicates that you have money.  well, it certainly doesn't mean you have any style in my book.

as well, the women have taken to wearing enormous heels.  and not just the heels - the toe part too.  i see women walking around with what are like bricks strapped to their shoes.  i know i've been traveling for a while, and i'm not in the loop (never have been, actually) about style.  maybe this is what women are wearing in the US too.  god i hope not

the meat here is incredible, and cheap.  the brazilians really take bbq seriously.  most houses i'm told have a dedicated bbq pit.  they're big into slow roasting.  well they're doing something right.  

food is pretty cheap here.  and rent, i hear.  but everything else is expensive eg shoes, clothes, electronics, cars.  apparently brazil taxes anything that's imported quite heavily.  for example, in the US you'd pay $10k usd for a shitmobile.  that same car in brazil would run you at least 50k reals, which is $25k usd