The Things We Carry
I share the author's concern about kipple, although I came to the same conclusion from a different starting point.
It's very difficult to jump off the train of kipple. On one hand, it's hard to make unwanted items useful again. Barely anyone will accept old electronics for free, tiny items like gifts and poscards are destined to be burned like the flowers in the article.
On the other hand, there's an expectation that everyone will keep getting new things. Family will notice the same sweater as last Christmas. Coworkers will organize Secret Santa where 90% of gifts serve to satisfy curiosity and nothing more, doomed to be thrown into a bottom of a drawer. Sellers will try to push for replacements instead of fixes once items start showing signs of wear.
For me, the journey didn't start from flowers, but from living in many places for a short time. Every kilogram off the back makes moving (and, conincidentally, life) easier. This minimalism blends well with the idea of overproducing, and now I know the word - kipple - that describes what I'm trying to fend off.
The link is broken. I keep getting redirected to http://www.hillarypredko.com/kipple/1-the-things-we-carry/wp....
Do note that there are 5 parts to the story. (I almost closed the tab after finishing part 1)
I just went through a break up of my own and I'm having a tremendously hard time in every sense of the phrase. Part of me wants to hang onto some of the photos and momento's to help me learn and remember the good times, but it feels so painful as well. But getting rid of it all feels dishonest that implies a revisionist history about how I felt about my s/o.
Such beautiful, thoughtful writing. Thanks for sharing.
Site seems down (HN effect, I guess), but this article is related: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/10/shanzhai-futurism.html
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Kipple is Sturgeon's Law applied to household objects.
redirecting to install.php
either malicious, infected or just broken.
βThe things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.β
β Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Kipple, climate change, humans irreversibly changing the planet - it all sounds bad, until you realize that the earth has undergone numerous major shifts in the history of life, each of which created new conditions that ultimately led to humanity.
The Great Oxygenation Event is the story of bacteria that mindlessly converted resources into waste until they were drowning in it, killing off the vast majority of life - except the tiny portion that was adapted to thrive on that waste. And from then on the oxygen-breathers flourished.
This and other events make me pretty confident that some life form will find a way to make use of whatever garbage-laden hellscape we produce. In fact I'm pretty sure even humans will be able to adapt, and who knows, maybe the new conditions will usher in new wonders!