Are people really materialistic around NoVA?

[Workin_Hard]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

To those of you on here with the "Snarky McSnarkyPants" personas towards me may I remind you that MOTIVATION determines materialism? If you aren't acquiring expensive items simply to "show off" or "impress others", then you are NOT materialistic. I made that crystal clear. You may be a victim of consumerism, but you are not necessarily materialistic simply because you drive a nice car or live in a nice home. If you're making such purchases merely to "one-up" each other, then you ARE materialistic, and I don't quite understand why everyone on this sub-forum seeks to shoot the messenger for stating the obvious. Sounds like quite a few of you folks could stand to be kicked down a few pegs off of your ivory towers and come down to reality. For God's sake one of you actually had the nerve to say that "nobody" would consider someone making a nearly $200,000 salary to be affluent. If you're making a $180,000 salary, driving a BMW, and living in a McMansion, then yes, you ARE affluent. Why is that such a complicated concept? I know some of you higher-earners on this forum struggle to make yourselves sound like "typical middle-class Joes", but don't put down those of us who make less than half the local median income in the process.

Snarky McSnarkyPants???

Sign me.... Average Joe

[seiketsu]

People who look down their noses at those who have nice things are every bit as obnoxious as people who look down their noses at those who don't have nice things. Two sides of the same "I'm better than you" coin.

I've posted in the past about how I struggle buying nice things when there are so many who do without the basics. I am learning how to enjoy the fruits of my labor without excessive guilt. I give what I can, but even if I donated my entire salary and took a vow of poverty, I wouldn't be able to end world suffering. So I might as well have a nice purse. (Psssst....a Coach bag costs about $100 at the Leesburg outlet...it's mass produced in China...it's not a designer bag. True designer bags are hand-crafted, can run thousands of dollars, and few people outside of Hollywood actually carry them.)

I'm just your average, middle-income worker bee who dealt with the sticker shock of moving to DC on an entry-level salary. After almost a decade of living below my means (e.g., NOT buying a new car, Mazda or otherwise), I finally feel comfortable. I still live within means, which means I don't spend on stuff that doesn't matter to me so I can spend big on stuff I really want. Yes, I even bought a BMW (bought, with money I saved, not leased, not dealing with debt up to my eyeballs). Does that make me materialistic? Perhaps. But I earned it. Do I stop at every red light, survey the cars around me, and bask in my superiority? No that's silly. I may never in my life get around to owning a new car (oh yeah, that BMW was previously loved and cost less than a new Toyota), nor do I have all the latest flashy gadgets (my cell phone is the most basic pre-paid, and I don't even own a television). But I'm on vacation in Asia and flew business class to get here.

Everyone's situation is different. To echo what others have said for the past 22 pages, we could all do with being less judgmental.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by normie

Makes sense to me. I don't see any insult in your conclusion, since it's made in the context of where you've lived so far (as most conclusions are). You've only lived two places so far in your life, and one of them was a more economically depressed area.

So... that gives you a different conclusion than some others might have. Big whoop. We're all right (to a degree) and wrong (to a degree) because we all base our conclusions on our life experiences.

Oh now you call my hometown economically depressed just b/c it's mostly blue-collar? This may sound stupid to you but just because a place like HR is blue collar don't mean it's depressed. You don't have to have a desk job to pay the bills. and if you ask me seems people here in NoVA are much more depressed than folk in HR.

[arielmina]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

Oh now you call my hometown economically depressed just b/c it's mostly blue-collar? This may sound stupid to you but just because a place like HR is blue collar don't mean it's depressed. You don't have to have a desk job to pay the bills. and if you ask me seems people here in NoVA are much more depressed than folk in HR.

Well with just a bit of quick research online we find that the unemployment rate for February 2010 in the Hampton Roads area was 7.9% and "Northern Virginia" is 5.8%. I don't think it takes a genius to conclude the Hampton Roads is "more economically depressed".

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by arielmina

Well with just a bit of quick research online we find that the unemployment rate for February 2010 in the Hampton Roads area was 7.9% and "Northern Virginia" is 5.8%. I don't think it takes a genius to conclude the Hampton Roads is "more economically depressed".

Perhaps "economically depressed" wasn't the best descriptor although I see where normie was getting at. Especially given that Hampton Roads' unemployment rate is better than the national average (~10%?), one could say instead that the HR region is "(not quite as) economically prosperous" as NOVA... but still not too shabby.

[ChocolateCity2001]

I don't get the resentment of people who earn good money and can afford nice items or can buy cars and houses. If you are able to, then no one should condemn you and make you feel guilty for living a good life. If I was making the money that a lot of people are making in this area, then hell yeah I would want to buy nice cars and buy a big house. No one is going to make me feel guilty for making a good living for myself, and I would add that those who try to make you feel guilty are usually the ones who wish it was THEM making that money, or buying fancy things, but can't.

[Nemesis16]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

To those of you on here with the "Snarky McSnarkyPants" personas towards me may I remind you that MOTIVATION determines materialism? If you aren't acquiring expensive items simply to "show off" or "impress others", then you are NOT materialistic. I made that crystal clear. You may be a victim of consumerism, but you are not necessarily materialistic simply because you drive a nice car or live in a nice home. If you're making such purchases merely to "one-up" each other, then you ARE materialistic, and I don't quite understand why everyone on this sub-forum seeks to shoot the messenger for stating the obvious. Sounds like quite a few of you folks could stand to be kicked down a few pegs off of your ivory towers and come down to reality. For God's sake one of you actually had the nerve to say that "nobody" would consider someone making a nearly $200,000 salary to be affluent. If you're making a $180,000 salary, driving a BMW, and living in a McMansion, then yes, you ARE affluent. Why is that such a complicated concept? I know some of you higher-earners on this forum struggle to make yourselves sound like "typical middle-class Joes", but don't put down those of us who make less than half the local median income in the process.

In my opinion, consumerism and materialism fall hand and hand. You actually think Jimmy Choos or Burberry Trench coats warrant the price tags? The answer is no. Mass marketing promotes us to live up to social standards of what is deemed cool or not cool. It is what it is.