In defense of stuff

Go crazy, buy your kid 37 dolls

The true holiday spirit. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

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Consumption gets a bad rap, but it was still unusual to hear the president of the United States concede that not only was his signature economic policy going to increase prices, but that was perhaps a good thing because it would reduce overconsumption: “All I’m saying is that a young lady, a 10-year-old girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls.”

Putting aside the disturbing choice to refer to 9-year-olds as young ladies, I’ve been mulling Trump’s anti-overconsumption take as I do my own holiday shopping. Because it’s not just Trump. The idea that Americans’ consumption habits are disgusting or over-the-top is the conventional wisdom that has spurred a thousand takes.

And while I think wastefulness is bad, comments about overconsumption have always rubbed me the wrong way. First, because most consumption is great and all better worlds feature dramatically more consumption than we have right now, not less. And second, because elite complaints about overconsumption are usually about mocking what other people spend their money on.

Don’t let anti-consumerism fool you, consumption is the root of (nearly) all good things