As a society, we're definitely moving towards more lavish lifestyles than in the past, largely thanks to advancements in technology. At the same time, it feels like we're quote unquote splurging at an increasing rate.
Both “Less is more” and “More is more” are the catchphrases of a consumer society faced with unimagined plenty. Following World War II, “Less is more” suggested unease with mass abundance: restraint became an emblem of refinement. Two decades of uninterrupted prosperity later, “More is more” poked fun at its abstemious parent. It is also a fitting description of the way we live now. Even if you think yourself a reluctant shopper, consider all of the resources used to create our material world: the steel to build our homes (especially the Miesian ones), the natural gas to fire our furnaces, the aluminum in our smartphones and tablets. In the world’s richest countries, consumption has ballooned by over a third in the past few decades to the point that in 2010, each person in the thirty-four richest nations consumed over 220 pounds of stuff every day.
Do you think that people are living more extravagantly, not necessarily because of technological advance but through buying more? I can think of several examples in my own life where I've noticed people buying things just because they were nice to have, not because they were required or necessary by any extent. Then again, I assume that at least one person would figuratively/literally die without Sunday Ticket.
