Do you need to "Keep up with the Joneses"?

Despite the negative connotations we put on keeping up with the Joneses, it can give people enjoyment. I assure you as a fan of vehicles propelled by an internal combustion engine (I think the uninitiated call them "cars") I will admit that part of the enjoyment of owning a beautiful (in the eyes of a certain bunch of beholders) car is the adulation and brag factor (be it rarity, speed etc).

The issue I assume you are trying to get to is when people buy *ONLY* based on matching what others have, and NOT truly finding fulfilment in owning that item or doing that activity.

The other factor is the society we live in (outside of this little PC cyber-community!). I argue the capitalist "western" society we live in, is driven by business and most importantly marketing. The job of the "modern" marketer IMHO is to make people desire and want things they do not need. Marketing is there to convince people that owning <item> or doing <activity> will make the buyer happy (it probably will) and fulfilled (maybe not).

This social reality means that there is a true challenge and force on those trying to live in it - posts above point out the peer pressure that school kids might face for instance. It is certainly no small matter in some cases (and I am talking youth suicides etc), particularly in social demographics where conformity is paramount (go have a look at Japanese schools).

The additional challenge is identifying "what is *truly* important for us".
Many of us think we know what it is. However, I suspect that what many of us think "is important to us", is only what we think it should be (again based on our society and community).

For instance, if I said owning a Ferrari 488 is very important to me on this forum, I am sure many would question how "correct" this is (again, apologies for the non-car people see:
https://www.carsales.com.au/bnc/details/Ferrari-488-GTB-2017/SHRM-AD-5749988/?Cr=4
basically a very expensive, very fast car that is not very practical for shopping at bunnings or renovating a house with). So then, I would sit back and say "well it must be wrong to want one of these because my community thinks it is wrong". I try to conform "what is important to me" to the expectations of the people around me, even though I may find owning the car extremely fulfilling.

I think this is where wealth (at any level) becomes very important. It lets us test out what is truly important for us. While many of us have heard "Money can't buy happiness" or "Money isn't everything", and many of us claim to ascribe to it, I suspect deep down we want to at least "try it out and make sure". If you had the opportunity to blow a billion dollars just to prove money doesn't make you happy, would you stick to your guns or say "Ok, let me experience it, and I'll let you know!"

I believe finding what is important to us - particularly living in a "western" capitalist society - takes either a major life event (major health scare, family tragedy, etc) OR money to experience activities or the ownership of "things" so we can truly internalise whether something is important to us or not. I also believe there is a very different "threshold point" in our wealth when we realise "money isn't everything". For some, it may be when they have $500k of net worth, for other it may take tens of millions before they come to that point "when they have had enough". It differs from individual to individual, and we can occasionally see the clash of opinions on threads where the topic of "when is enough, enough" comes up.

The Y-man