Lastly updated: 2020-06-20
One trend nowadays I find simultaneously very surprising and inevitable is the trend of Sharing Resources.
In some areas it is becoming more and more common to use/rent things from one maintainer than to buy and own it yourself.
Whether it is using a car only when you need it or simply renting the music you want to hear – a Decline of Personal Estate has emerged from the synergy of multiple effects:
- Ecology-Awareness
- Minimalism
Minimalism
The less you own – The more you can do
To a “capitalistic“ mind this might sound contradictory. After all – in order to do something, first you need to have something.
But the question remains: what do you need? Is it mainly materialistic or something else? Lets divide this into hard and soft parts.
Hard: Quality, money
Soft: Time, mental freedom
Hard – The Physical
From a time where property was rare (post WWII) over a period where it was cultural encouraged to just buy something when you need it and throw it in the trash once you are done (the boom of capitalism), with a new generation a new time emerged which is becoming more and more off-putted by this lavish behavior and wants to do more with less.
One way to achieve this is by investing into quality.
Wer billig kauft – kauft zweimal.
Who buys cheap – buys twice.
This German saying showcases clearly that it might be better to buy something good than somethings inexpensive. While good build quality|design naturally results in higher production costs, it is a common mistake to misjudge price with value.
And the fear of being tricked into a purchase with a terrible price-quality-ratio combined with the teaching of capitalism leads to a purely price-driven value system in which one has to explain oneself for buying something more pricey than a superficially equal-appearing alternative.
This effect is noticeable in everyday objects as well as in food.
Soft – The Mental
But this philosophy has the side effect that with less physical stuff on your plate, your brain can also breath more easily.
Besitz belastet.
Property burdens.
It is reported that less young people do their drivers license [concrete source still missing] which has effects of its own. Certainly, the need of being geographically independent becomes more and more less relevant the more the actual life move to an omni-present internet-reality.
Whether this all will lead to a more sustainable future, where we use resources more effectively for the benefit of everyone, is for the future to tell us.