I like you, but only because you own a 3 Series

Alright, so there's a lot of cool things going on around the world including DRM being dropped by EMI, cool episode of Lost being aired (but that's a given), I just went to a decent auto show, and so forth. But I thought I'd talk about something else today (well, considering this isn't a news feed, this may not be much of a surprise).

Let's talk about Materialism vs. Enjoying Materials. 'Cause something I can't stand is the misjudgment of people who just enjoy materials but aren't materialistic. I guess the reason I can't stand it is that I think at times I can be judged to be materialistic. Just so we don't have any discrepencies of the bat, let's define what I believe as being materialistic: putting great importance on material items, even more importance that people values (spiritual, moral, family, etc.).

I am the last person to judge someone if they own a certain car, a certain computer, a certain TV, or a certain cell phone. Now, the thing is, I'll think it's cool that they own say a Porsche 911, or a Nokia 8801, but I'll never judge them as a person for owning those possessions, nor will I judge someone for not owning them.

Now on the other hand, I love materials. Like, I love Sony 1080p TVs, I love Samsung's ultra slim slider mobile phones, I love everything Apple's released, I love cars, I like nice clothes, I like nice guitars, I like nice sound systems etc. But I'd never put their importance above people. When I grow up, if I own a 911 Turbo, and my kid asks me to drive it, of course I'll let him/her. I'd never value my car over my kid.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, people shouldn't judge others as being materialistic just because they enjoy material goods or just because someone owns a lot of nice stuff. Somewhere along the line, being successful and being able to enjoy what you want to enjoy became a bad thing. If I've loved the Porsche 911 Turbo all my life, I shouldn't be ashamed in the future if I can afford one. If I worked hard to earn the money to afford one, and I buy one - I shouldn't be labelled as materialistic. I guess some of that hatred comes from jealousy rather than a true judgment of materialism - and that's understandable- if there's someone who sympathizes with jealous people, it's me.

Now, if on the other hand, I only hang out with people who own $50,000+ cars, then yes, you can label me as materialistic. But the day that happens will be the day that I think the 911 sucks. That is, never. Thanks for reading.