There is an interesting Adbusters article that alludes to the apparent link between excess stuff and unhappiness: These days, thanks to the recession, people are starting to tighten their belts, and finally separating wants from needs. And the question is, are people just as happy (or happier) without all the toys? And if so, is this the dawning of a post-material age?

The success/happiness paradox idea isn’t new; Jay-Z puts it so eloquently in his song, Success :

I use to give a shit, now I don’t give a shit more
Truth be told I had more fun when I was piss poor
I’m pissed off, and this success song is about
…
All this stress, all I got is this big house
Couple of cars, I don’t bring half of them shits out

If Jay-Z doesn’t convince you, there are, perhaps more scientific, studies that make the same point.

But the recession is just one factor that may be causing us to change our ways. And it’s a temporary one at that. What about the deeper trends?

The Internet and Social Media have allowed us to become more aware than ever about our consumption habits. For example, The Story of Stuff, a video that has been viewed millions of times, lets us know that only 1% of our stuff gets kept more than six months, after which time it ends up as toxic waste in our environment.

Some even go so far as to start an anti-consumerism movement called “Buy Nothing Day” (the Facebook group has over 4,000 members). It’s an international day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. While the “Zombie Walk” (see picture below) may be a little extreme, it probably is indicative of  a general unhappiness, or at least uneasiness, felt by most people with the way we consume.

We don’t want to be slaves to consumption, but we are consumers. That’s not going to change. Consumption fills our needs. And those needs go beyond the basic needs of food and shelter. The act of buying gives us power. The power of choice. The power to make statements about who we are and what we value. In some ways it’s voting for what we feel is important. For example, it’s no coincidence that with the growing awareness of climate change have come countless products and services branded “eco,” “green,” or “clean” — mostly designed to make us feel better about the impact of our purchasing decisions.

So it’s the intangible value we’re after: a sense of importance, of achievement, and of belonging. Meaning. But that begs the question, do our products have to be physical? On Facebook, people post ever-increasing feats of adventure: backpacking India, climbing Machu Picchu or jumping out of a plane over the Alps. This is experiential consumption, not material.

Is how we derive our sense of self-worth changing? Are people starting to care more about what they’ve done, than what they have?