Buying the Promise

From “Enough Already!” by Peter Walsh, page 2:

Sure –we buy “the stuff,” but we also invest in what I call “the promise”. We buy exercise machines, but we are really investing in the promise of flat abs. We buy clothing, but we are really investing in the promise of being more attractive. We buy all that stuff from late-night infomercials, but we are really investing in the idea that somehow our lives will be better and our homes happier. It just doesn’t work like that… We buy all that stuff because we think it’ll make us happy. We think that if we collect all the right things–the right home, the right clothes, the right electronics, the right cars, the right appliances–we will eventually accumulate the life we imagine for ourselves. In buying what we want, we hope to acquire the life we desire.”

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