Thomas, I don't know if this is because that was the first essay I ever read of yours but it tackles a problem that resonates deep within my heart... yeah, surely is my favorite essay. Oh, to live in the Era when Planned Obsolescence already thrived... The good thing was that you managed to give one of the warmest and most upbeat solutions in the end, and throughout the whole year reading your stories I never forgot "the way you do anything is the way you do everything", which is not something you wrote/said, but is something that only you presenting in this given context wouldn't sound lame.
It seems to be later and later in the week that I actually get around to thinking through and writing out a comment these days. Having had a quick read through your comment section this week it's absolutely still the best I've seen on Substack so far.
Before Service was a great read too. The art of the short story is a delicate one and yours have been excellent so far. And there's definitely a short story waiting in the dark side of the Limitless pill - I had absolutely not considered that previously.
Given the size of the city and where I live on it's outskirts, I didn't notice as much of a difference in terms of Nature reclaiming - in Ireland if you drive for 10 minutes in any direction you're in the 'country', and it's just you, endless fields, the cows, and a local pub. It's impossible not to feel connected to Nature.
Biggest thing I've noticed is how many people are out actually walking in it- the local woods that used to be quiet except for the weekends are full of walkers, hiking trails were busy all summer, as were beaches. Once you take jetting off to Mallorca out of the equation people started to appreciate the beauty of the country itself.
"This is a point both tediously familiar and yet overlooked all at once. Because objects have a way of taking on metaphorical resonance and these signals have a way of shaping our conduct. If your gadgets, your clothes, your environment and the architecture that surrounds (or indeed oppresses) you as you go about your day all subtlety subcommunicate ‘who cares’ and ‘why bother?’ then how can you expect to cultivate the kind of worldview that is the foundation of building things that last?"
The best argument for buying nicer things that I've seen thus far. It reminds me of a Scruton quote, from Beauty (definite recommended read) "Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter?"
How are we supposed to create beautiful things if beauty is wholly subjective? - or to be more accurate (adjusts tinfoil hat to rakish tilt), it's whatever 'they' tell you it is, and if you disagree you're a bigot, or an '-ist', one of them. It doesn't really matter which one, the words barely carry meaning at this point, its just that it's bad if you are one.
Somehow a society full of shameless narcissists has developed a lack of appreciation for beauty.
Does the aforementioned lack of appreciation lead to nihilism, or is it a lack of beauty to appreciate that leads to it?
I'll finish off with another Scruton quote that came to mind when reading, (that old grouch had a lot of good points) “Take away religion, take away philosophy, take away the higher aims of art, and you deprive ordinary people of the ways in which they can represent their apartness. Human nature, once something to live up to, becomes something to live down to instead. Biological reductionism nurtures this ‘living down’, which is why people so readily fall for it. It makes cynicism respectable and degeneracy chic. It abolishes our kind, and with it our kindness.”
Great piece here on a topic I feel strongly about too - simply fantastic observations throughout. Your ability to link topics and ideas together is a very unique skill, and it's always a pleasure to start the piece and try to guess where the hell it's going to go.
Glad you liked the story Conor. I will be posting another one this Sunday. Not exactly your conventional Valentines Day story but...
I haven’t read any Scruton in a good long while, certainly not since he has passed, but it has clearly embedded itself into my worldview to a greater or lesser degree. His argument that Conservatives should take the handle and lead the argument around conservation and environmentalism is a very, very interesting one.
(I should point out that I am not a Conservative with a Capital C, but I am certainly not a Leftist either. It seems today that to have any concerns with the environment and so on you have to also apparently embody the entire Lefty worldview. This is simply silly. But as you know if there’s one thing I dislike it is a false dichotomy)
As I almost invariably end up saying after one of your replies has sparked an idea in me: perhaps this should be a topic for a future newsletter.
Notice how 3rd world or developing countries have more litter compared to the developed western countries. And believe me, here in some parts of India not many have a clue about this essay on litter + nihilism. It has just become the way of life. And lack of education and laws being a major factor that contributes to their absence of sanitary commonsense. People here want more and more things as the economy grows. Maybe this generation or the coming will have enough time to look around and consider the mountains of litter surrounding us all.
Here is a way to play this: apathy by naivety and illiteracy, leads to more archaic forms of littering in the developing worlds and ghettos, and that civilized littering can only be seen through either lack of access to better products, recycling, OR that the people in question hold malice (psychopathic) or contempt (protesting). For better reference, see Japan and Taiwan's model of recycling, and how certain types of expats are the ones with the most "attitude".
Do not attribute to nihilism or malice what can be adequately explained by dullness or incapability.
I guess it’s a subconscious thing. A more consumerist culture (and from what I gather that’s the direction India is moving in) leads to more things being thrown away leads to to a more nihilistic outlook which is relieved by further consumerism. And round and round the cycle continues.
"There may be a short story idea in here. I should make a note of it."
I can only see it as an exercise in style; your protagonist starts an action (he raises his hand to take a pint of beer for instance) and then there is an uninterrupted 800 pages flow of consciousness (punctuation, line breaks and uppercases forbidden) detailing all the emotions, sensations, implications and possibilities related to that action. And on page 801, (maybe) he grabs the pint. 800 pages to cover a 3-seconds action. Even Flaubert didn’t dare.
Jokes aside, that may be my favorite newsletter to this day (at least it's a tie between this one and Embrace the ordinary). Lots of gold nuggets to be dug.
"If your gadgets, your clothes, your environment and the architecture that surrounds (or indeed oppresses) you as you go about your day all subtlety subcommunicate ‘who cares’ and ‘why bother?’ then how can you expect to cultivate the kind of worldview that is the foundation of building things that last? [....] A further point about the litterbug habit- it is a small yet deeply antisocial act. Every casually tossed food wrapper is a small signal of nihilism."
This is really well said. When you don’t envision a future, you don’t treat the present with respect. And when you feel like you've been robbed of something (as many think), you tend to hurt the world to get back at it. Which is tragic because in doing so you only hurt yourself and your ability to set higher standards. We often think of change the wrong way; we say "I'll work my ass off and do my best once I get a job less menial". But it's the other way around; it's because you spent a year peeling potatoes and learning to do it perfectly that you get a shot at cooking with the chef. As long as we don't treat our present-self and our present environment with respect, there's nothing to build higher standards upon.
Besides the actual litter, we could see the spiritual and existential litter more like compost; after all, compost is made of animal dung, rotten vegetables and organic trash. And yet, it serves as a basis for better things to grow. There's value in accepting our flaws and building upon them instead on doubling down on antisocial acts and self-harming patterns. There's a want before a will, so to speak. And yes, the overton window and our "cultural" authorities make sure that things change fast enough and are wrapped in enough noise so that we can't keep track and don't notice the boiling water. Can we blame them? Planned obsolescence, throwaway culture, ephemeral fads; our whole economy is litter-based. That's why embracing the ordinary, flaneuring and taking the time is so important; because it's only then we'll notice the litter and - hopefully - refuse to partake.
I’m quite enamoured with stories that are tedious exercises in style as well as ones where nothing happens whatsoever but that have a pleasing tone and vibe and leave you feeling like you may have just experienced something, whatever it was.
I guess I’m just a kneejerk contrarian but I feel like stories and films are quite often the polar opposite of this (sou d and fury signifying noting, all plot no character etc) and that we need to course-correct in the opposite direction.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one Sebastien. I consider you and the other regulars to be a very accurate gauge of whether any given essay has hit or missed. Far better than the open rate metrics and whatnot.
I noticed this funny trend in modern movies; they don't know how to properly build a character anymore (or don't want to); they don't know how to use background context, dialogue and narrative techniques to create a credible deep character, so they usually throw "gimmicks" in a bland character template to do the trick; they put a scene where he discusses a geeky topic for 5 minutes, or they give him a mental/physical impairment, a verbal tic, etc. But it's never "contextualized" or integrated to the greater story. It's always an odd thing that doesn't really make sense nor is justified by the story. I often wondered why they'd do that. Now I'm sure it's the reason.
I guess you have to use it or lose it and that sort of characterisation work has been out of vogue for a couple of generations now.
Film to me seems such a good medium for quickly establishing character through gestures, visuals, mise en scene and all of that kind of stuff but few seem to bother. Plus you can direct people to act exactly how you want them to on camera. But it’s just either exposition, ‘I have a hobby’ dialogue or they remains a cypher.
I’ve pretty much stopped watching anything made after 2000 unless a friend specifically recommends it. I’d rather watch a not-great but solid Lumet or Mamet or Barry Levinson film from the 80’s or 90’s at this point. You get tired of CGI and bad dialogue and cartoonish ultraviolence.
Bad dialogue is the most obvious example for me - when you go back and watch older movies (pre-1980s even) the quality of the dialogue tends to be incredible.
It's impossible not to feel that a more modern audience would either get bored or find it incredibly difficult to follow - I occasionally find myself having to look up words (shamelessly), and it makes me wonder how many words have been forever lost from use due to the progressive simplification of the common English lexicon? (Not much use knowing a word if no one knows what it means when you use it.)
That’s a whole topic in and of itself there. And maybe one I should cover. The narrowing of the language whereby all of the old, arcane, specific and poetic words still technically exist (at least in the dictionary) but they have completely fallen out of usage.
I have something of a penchant for dropping in an obscure word if it is actually a part of my vocabulary and I don’t have to look it up. Perhaps i should double down on this tendency...
Absolutely, and one that deserves attention - there's so many wonderful words out there. You could probably get very deep into the philosophical background of the limits of your language in expressing yourself, but whether you would want to is another question.
Personally, I just enjoy "flowery" language. What can I say, I'm a sucker for beautiful prose.
Another great read and an interesting connection I've never put together before but it resonates.
It's hard to overstate how much your life improves once you embrace buying quality with the intention of owning the product for years or decades. Suddenly the search for the item that is just right becomes fulfilling in itself. The craftsman you meet can easily become friends. Take a pair of hand-made leather shoes to an old, independent cobbler and you'll see what I mean.
I think the problem becomes that a life time of being encouraged to buy vast quantities of cheap tat means that many now have neither the start up capital (as it were) or the appetite to buy quality goods.
Hard to justify buying £350 shoes when you can find some that ostensibly look the same for £50. Yes the expensive ones may well last over 7 times as long, and thus are actually the better option financially as well as aesthetically, but this argument is counterintuitive to many who are living payday to payday.
It often comes down to deferred gratification. An average joe has to "hold" his desires in order to save up and buy these 400€ shoes; but most of the time, it's not that he "needs" the shoes, he just needs to buy something, right now, to aleviate his mind. The relief is on the dopamine-induced spending on something new. If he had waited one week, he'd probably wouldn't want these shoes anymore, something else would have come up.
This, and also the fact that no one recognizes or cares about quality anymore. Plus, most people think in terms of trends, so he'd probably answer you "But why would I keep a pair of shoes 7 years when I can renew my wardrobe every 6 months and stay up to date ? Bro we're not in the 50s anymore!"
Should go without saying, but this message isn't about shoes.
I think the second paragraph has more to do with it than the first.
Buying quality products from an independent is often a similar to the big brand name. The independent charges for his skill and experience, the big brand for their marketing strategy
Fast fashion keeps you on the treadmill like nothing else.
I’m not above that ‘need’ to spend money but I’ve decided that books are my poison. I can spend ages looking at second hand books, buy a stack- literally as many as I can carry in a tower- and maybe spend £40 total. It’s the best way that I’ve found to mitigate and channel the materialist urge.
In terms of clothes I am seriously debating saving as much cash as I can and then getting some custom 3 piece suits for my 35th birthday and just have that be my thing. The complete opposite of the current paradigm as a small act of rebellion and aesthetic protest.
Keeping on the sartorial theme, a run of the mill work shirt that I see most people wearing typically costs between $80-150AUD where I live. I can choose to buy those rags or I can spend quite literally to same but get made to measure shirts in fabrics I’ve chosen with little details I’ve chosen (cuff type, collar, etc)
Guess which one you appreciate more.
I guess my point is that quality isn’t always more expensive. It’s just as you say people are encourage to buy cheap tat, instead of lasting quality and learning to look for markers of quality and craftsmanship.
Oh yeah, if price point is even roughly comparable you have to go for the bespoke or at least the local/independent out of principle. I was trying to give people the benefit of the doubt because I’ve been poor enough where I’ve had to buy Primark rags out of necessity. But as you say for many this is not the case really. It’s just a strange advertising and mimesis fuelled learned behaviour to go for the poorly made fast-fashion option.
Strange how you don’t hear ethical and environmental arguments against cheap, disposable, slave labour made clothing anymore. I’m a pretty big environmentalist and conservationist in principle but I find myself loathing most other people who claim to be such because they seem to be puritanical tyrants who want to simply control people and stop fun under the guise of helping Gaia heal or whatever.
You’re too kind, Tom. From my experience often it’s simple a case of ignorance and taking the easy road. Marketing makes sure you know about the big easy disposable options. The gems usually take some work to find without a solid word of mouth referral.
All that seems to follow a pattern. It’s the biggest issue ever until people fatigue and a new narrative catches on. Ah well...
You could be right. But I was that guy, that was what I learned from the world around me as a boy. Not to do with fashion per se, but just my general mindset and orientation to the world.
Where you are from and the school you go to does shape you. I had to spend my twenties undoing all of the bad learning from my teens. And I don’t consider myself to be stupid. So perhaps I always have a younger version of someone like me in mind- well-meaning, capable but woefully misinformed.
I would say this is why I give a lot of people the benefit of the doubt, perhaps to a fault.
Officially my strangest summer job was in the deserts of Wyoming and Colorado, looking for the scraps of Indian civilization. Arrowheads (jackpot), stone chips, and the ash from fires, still visible even after thousands of years. I still think about those remnants from time to time.
I'm glad I don't do it any more, but I learned a lot and am better for it. Hours in the truck riding to and from site equaled hours of reading every day. Minimum 8 miles walking daily was pretty cool too. But I'll say that when you're digging a 1 meter by 1 meter hole a centimeter of depth at a time, miles from the nearest human? Well, you'll have a lot of existential questions.
Thomas, I don't know if this is because that was the first essay I ever read of yours but it tackles a problem that resonates deep within my heart... yeah, surely is my favorite essay. Oh, to live in the Era when Planned Obsolescence already thrived... The good thing was that you managed to give one of the warmest and most upbeat solutions in the end, and throughout the whole year reading your stories I never forgot "the way you do anything is the way you do everything", which is not something you wrote/said, but is something that only you presenting in this given context wouldn't sound lame.
Always nice to revisit. Cheers.
It seems to be later and later in the week that I actually get around to thinking through and writing out a comment these days. Having had a quick read through your comment section this week it's absolutely still the best I've seen on Substack so far.
Before Service was a great read too. The art of the short story is a delicate one and yours have been excellent so far. And there's definitely a short story waiting in the dark side of the Limitless pill - I had absolutely not considered that previously.
Given the size of the city and where I live on it's outskirts, I didn't notice as much of a difference in terms of Nature reclaiming - in Ireland if you drive for 10 minutes in any direction you're in the 'country', and it's just you, endless fields, the cows, and a local pub. It's impossible not to feel connected to Nature.
Biggest thing I've noticed is how many people are out actually walking in it- the local woods that used to be quiet except for the weekends are full of walkers, hiking trails were busy all summer, as were beaches. Once you take jetting off to Mallorca out of the equation people started to appreciate the beauty of the country itself.
"This is a point both tediously familiar and yet overlooked all at once. Because objects have a way of taking on metaphorical resonance and these signals have a way of shaping our conduct. If your gadgets, your clothes, your environment and the architecture that surrounds (or indeed oppresses) you as you go about your day all subtlety subcommunicate ‘who cares’ and ‘why bother?’ then how can you expect to cultivate the kind of worldview that is the foundation of building things that last?"
The best argument for buying nicer things that I've seen thus far. It reminds me of a Scruton quote, from Beauty (definite recommended read) "Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter?"
How are we supposed to create beautiful things if beauty is wholly subjective? - or to be more accurate (adjusts tinfoil hat to rakish tilt), it's whatever 'they' tell you it is, and if you disagree you're a bigot, or an '-ist', one of them. It doesn't really matter which one, the words barely carry meaning at this point, its just that it's bad if you are one.
Somehow a society full of shameless narcissists has developed a lack of appreciation for beauty.
Does the aforementioned lack of appreciation lead to nihilism, or is it a lack of beauty to appreciate that leads to it?
I'll finish off with another Scruton quote that came to mind when reading, (that old grouch had a lot of good points) “Take away religion, take away philosophy, take away the higher aims of art, and you deprive ordinary people of the ways in which they can represent their apartness. Human nature, once something to live up to, becomes something to live down to instead. Biological reductionism nurtures this ‘living down’, which is why people so readily fall for it. It makes cynicism respectable and degeneracy chic. It abolishes our kind, and with it our kindness.”
Great piece here on a topic I feel strongly about too - simply fantastic observations throughout. Your ability to link topics and ideas together is a very unique skill, and it's always a pleasure to start the piece and try to guess where the hell it's going to go.
All the best,
Conor
Glad you liked the story Conor. I will be posting another one this Sunday. Not exactly your conventional Valentines Day story but...
I haven’t read any Scruton in a good long while, certainly not since he has passed, but it has clearly embedded itself into my worldview to a greater or lesser degree. His argument that Conservatives should take the handle and lead the argument around conservation and environmentalism is a very, very interesting one.
(I should point out that I am not a Conservative with a Capital C, but I am certainly not a Leftist either. It seems today that to have any concerns with the environment and so on you have to also apparently embody the entire Lefty worldview. This is simply silly. But as you know if there’s one thing I dislike it is a false dichotomy)
As I almost invariably end up saying after one of your replies has sparked an idea in me: perhaps this should be a topic for a future newsletter.
Thanks as always Conor.
Notice how 3rd world or developing countries have more litter compared to the developed western countries. And believe me, here in some parts of India not many have a clue about this essay on litter + nihilism. It has just become the way of life. And lack of education and laws being a major factor that contributes to their absence of sanitary commonsense. People here want more and more things as the economy grows. Maybe this generation or the coming will have enough time to look around and consider the mountains of litter surrounding us all.
Here is a way to play this: apathy by naivety and illiteracy, leads to more archaic forms of littering in the developing worlds and ghettos, and that civilized littering can only be seen through either lack of access to better products, recycling, OR that the people in question hold malice (psychopathic) or contempt (protesting). For better reference, see Japan and Taiwan's model of recycling, and how certain types of expats are the ones with the most "attitude".
Do not attribute to nihilism or malice what can be adequately explained by dullness or incapability.
I guess it’s a subconscious thing. A more consumerist culture (and from what I gather that’s the direction India is moving in) leads to more things being thrown away leads to to a more nihilistic outlook which is relieved by further consumerism. And round and round the cycle continues.
That’s my intuition on it anyway.
"There may be a short story idea in here. I should make a note of it."
I can only see it as an exercise in style; your protagonist starts an action (he raises his hand to take a pint of beer for instance) and then there is an uninterrupted 800 pages flow of consciousness (punctuation, line breaks and uppercases forbidden) detailing all the emotions, sensations, implications and possibilities related to that action. And on page 801, (maybe) he grabs the pint. 800 pages to cover a 3-seconds action. Even Flaubert didn’t dare.
Jokes aside, that may be my favorite newsletter to this day (at least it's a tie between this one and Embrace the ordinary). Lots of gold nuggets to be dug.
"If your gadgets, your clothes, your environment and the architecture that surrounds (or indeed oppresses) you as you go about your day all subtlety subcommunicate ‘who cares’ and ‘why bother?’ then how can you expect to cultivate the kind of worldview that is the foundation of building things that last? [....] A further point about the litterbug habit- it is a small yet deeply antisocial act. Every casually tossed food wrapper is a small signal of nihilism."
This is really well said. When you don’t envision a future, you don’t treat the present with respect. And when you feel like you've been robbed of something (as many think), you tend to hurt the world to get back at it. Which is tragic because in doing so you only hurt yourself and your ability to set higher standards. We often think of change the wrong way; we say "I'll work my ass off and do my best once I get a job less menial". But it's the other way around; it's because you spent a year peeling potatoes and learning to do it perfectly that you get a shot at cooking with the chef. As long as we don't treat our present-self and our present environment with respect, there's nothing to build higher standards upon.
Besides the actual litter, we could see the spiritual and existential litter more like compost; after all, compost is made of animal dung, rotten vegetables and organic trash. And yet, it serves as a basis for better things to grow. There's value in accepting our flaws and building upon them instead on doubling down on antisocial acts and self-harming patterns. There's a want before a will, so to speak. And yes, the overton window and our "cultural" authorities make sure that things change fast enough and are wrapped in enough noise so that we can't keep track and don't notice the boiling water. Can we blame them? Planned obsolescence, throwaway culture, ephemeral fads; our whole economy is litter-based. That's why embracing the ordinary, flaneuring and taking the time is so important; because it's only then we'll notice the litter and - hopefully - refuse to partake.
Great newsletter Thomas, pleasure to read you.
I’m quite enamoured with stories that are tedious exercises in style as well as ones where nothing happens whatsoever but that have a pleasing tone and vibe and leave you feeling like you may have just experienced something, whatever it was.
I guess I’m just a kneejerk contrarian but I feel like stories and films are quite often the polar opposite of this (sou d and fury signifying noting, all plot no character etc) and that we need to course-correct in the opposite direction.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one Sebastien. I consider you and the other regulars to be a very accurate gauge of whether any given essay has hit or missed. Far better than the open rate metrics and whatnot.
Cheers.
I noticed this funny trend in modern movies; they don't know how to properly build a character anymore (or don't want to); they don't know how to use background context, dialogue and narrative techniques to create a credible deep character, so they usually throw "gimmicks" in a bland character template to do the trick; they put a scene where he discusses a geeky topic for 5 minutes, or they give him a mental/physical impairment, a verbal tic, etc. But it's never "contextualized" or integrated to the greater story. It's always an odd thing that doesn't really make sense nor is justified by the story. I often wondered why they'd do that. Now I'm sure it's the reason.
I guess you have to use it or lose it and that sort of characterisation work has been out of vogue for a couple of generations now.
Film to me seems such a good medium for quickly establishing character through gestures, visuals, mise en scene and all of that kind of stuff but few seem to bother. Plus you can direct people to act exactly how you want them to on camera. But it’s just either exposition, ‘I have a hobby’ dialogue or they remains a cypher.
I’ve pretty much stopped watching anything made after 2000 unless a friend specifically recommends it. I’d rather watch a not-great but solid Lumet or Mamet or Barry Levinson film from the 80’s or 90’s at this point. You get tired of CGI and bad dialogue and cartoonish ultraviolence.
Bad dialogue is the most obvious example for me - when you go back and watch older movies (pre-1980s even) the quality of the dialogue tends to be incredible.
It's impossible not to feel that a more modern audience would either get bored or find it incredibly difficult to follow - I occasionally find myself having to look up words (shamelessly), and it makes me wonder how many words have been forever lost from use due to the progressive simplification of the common English lexicon? (Not much use knowing a word if no one knows what it means when you use it.)
That’s a whole topic in and of itself there. And maybe one I should cover. The narrowing of the language whereby all of the old, arcane, specific and poetic words still technically exist (at least in the dictionary) but they have completely fallen out of usage.
I have something of a penchant for dropping in an obscure word if it is actually a part of my vocabulary and I don’t have to look it up. Perhaps i should double down on this tendency...
Absolutely, and one that deserves attention - there's so many wonderful words out there. You could probably get very deep into the philosophical background of the limits of your language in expressing yourself, but whether you would want to is another question.
Personally, I just enjoy "flowery" language. What can I say, I'm a sucker for beautiful prose.
Another great read and an interesting connection I've never put together before but it resonates.
It's hard to overstate how much your life improves once you embrace buying quality with the intention of owning the product for years or decades. Suddenly the search for the item that is just right becomes fulfilling in itself. The craftsman you meet can easily become friends. Take a pair of hand-made leather shoes to an old, independent cobbler and you'll see what I mean.
I think the problem becomes that a life time of being encouraged to buy vast quantities of cheap tat means that many now have neither the start up capital (as it were) or the appetite to buy quality goods.
Hard to justify buying £350 shoes when you can find some that ostensibly look the same for £50. Yes the expensive ones may well last over 7 times as long, and thus are actually the better option financially as well as aesthetically, but this argument is counterintuitive to many who are living payday to payday.
It often comes down to deferred gratification. An average joe has to "hold" his desires in order to save up and buy these 400€ shoes; but most of the time, it's not that he "needs" the shoes, he just needs to buy something, right now, to aleviate his mind. The relief is on the dopamine-induced spending on something new. If he had waited one week, he'd probably wouldn't want these shoes anymore, something else would have come up.
This, and also the fact that no one recognizes or cares about quality anymore. Plus, most people think in terms of trends, so he'd probably answer you "But why would I keep a pair of shoes 7 years when I can renew my wardrobe every 6 months and stay up to date ? Bro we're not in the 50s anymore!"
Should go without saying, but this message isn't about shoes.
I think the second paragraph has more to do with it than the first.
Buying quality products from an independent is often a similar to the big brand name. The independent charges for his skill and experience, the big brand for their marketing strategy
Fast fashion keeps you on the treadmill like nothing else.
I’m not above that ‘need’ to spend money but I’ve decided that books are my poison. I can spend ages looking at second hand books, buy a stack- literally as many as I can carry in a tower- and maybe spend £40 total. It’s the best way that I’ve found to mitigate and channel the materialist urge.
In terms of clothes I am seriously debating saving as much cash as I can and then getting some custom 3 piece suits for my 35th birthday and just have that be my thing. The complete opposite of the current paradigm as a small act of rebellion and aesthetic protest.
Do it and don’t skimp on the shoes...
RETVRN TO TAILORING
It’s about consciously raising your standards no?
Keeping on the sartorial theme, a run of the mill work shirt that I see most people wearing typically costs between $80-150AUD where I live. I can choose to buy those rags or I can spend quite literally to same but get made to measure shirts in fabrics I’ve chosen with little details I’ve chosen (cuff type, collar, etc)
Guess which one you appreciate more.
I guess my point is that quality isn’t always more expensive. It’s just as you say people are encourage to buy cheap tat, instead of lasting quality and learning to look for markers of quality and craftsmanship.
Oh yeah, if price point is even roughly comparable you have to go for the bespoke or at least the local/independent out of principle. I was trying to give people the benefit of the doubt because I’ve been poor enough where I’ve had to buy Primark rags out of necessity. But as you say for many this is not the case really. It’s just a strange advertising and mimesis fuelled learned behaviour to go for the poorly made fast-fashion option.
Strange how you don’t hear ethical and environmental arguments against cheap, disposable, slave labour made clothing anymore. I’m a pretty big environmentalist and conservationist in principle but I find myself loathing most other people who claim to be such because they seem to be puritanical tyrants who want to simply control people and stop fun under the guise of helping Gaia heal or whatever.
But that’s a topic for another time...
You’re too kind, Tom. From my experience often it’s simple a case of ignorance and taking the easy road. Marketing makes sure you know about the big easy disposable options. The gems usually take some work to find without a solid word of mouth referral.
All that seems to follow a pattern. It’s the biggest issue ever until people fatigue and a new narrative catches on. Ah well...
You could be right. But I was that guy, that was what I learned from the world around me as a boy. Not to do with fashion per se, but just my general mindset and orientation to the world.
Where you are from and the school you go to does shape you. I had to spend my twenties undoing all of the bad learning from my teens. And I don’t consider myself to be stupid. So perhaps I always have a younger version of someone like me in mind- well-meaning, capable but woefully misinformed.
I would say this is why I give a lot of people the benefit of the doubt, perhaps to a fault.
Officially my strangest summer job was in the deserts of Wyoming and Colorado, looking for the scraps of Indian civilization. Arrowheads (jackpot), stone chips, and the ash from fires, still visible even after thousands of years. I still think about those remnants from time to time.
That’s fascinating Trevor. Sounds like a great summer gig, depending on the weather and how hard they made you work.
I'm glad I don't do it any more, but I learned a lot and am better for it. Hours in the truck riding to and from site equaled hours of reading every day. Minimum 8 miles walking daily was pretty cool too. But I'll say that when you're digging a 1 meter by 1 meter hole a centimeter of depth at a time, miles from the nearest human? Well, you'll have a lot of existential questions.
Haha, man, I can imagine.