Excellent description of consumerism and freedom.

[Eric222]

From:  https://np.reddit.com/r/declutter/comments/26xcum/coveting_possessions_is_unhealthy_heres_how_i/chzuqev

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The amount of freedom you have is directly proportional to the time between your desire for something and the moment you reach out to grasp it.
For most people, this time is short. The see something they want and immediately they reach for it. Consider the immortal words from Fight Club: "The things you own end up owning you." If you are owned, then you are a slave. Slaves are not free.
If the thing you see arouses such a desire in you that you immediately move to own it, then you are not free. The thing own you, and you exist to serve it.
All these concepts like store, property, ownership, etc. are illusions designed to convince you that buying is something other than you giving someone your money, which is a physical manifestation of your time. (It literally represents the time that you worked in the past, or if on credit, the time you will have to work in the future to pay the debt.)
If you see something in a store that you like, you know exactly where it is. It's in the store, safe and secure. You can go see it anytime you want. If you bought it, nothing would change but it's position.
Now, you imagine that buying it changes your identity. You see the thing and your mind constructs a meaning for that thing (helpfully aided by advertising which is sooo impartial and on your side). This $12 moleskine notebook means I'm a creative( you think), unlike that $1 Staple notebook, which functions in exactly the same way.
You desire something because they made you desire it. I'm convinced that the forces of marketing and advertising are so effective and have been so thoroughly perfected, that it is almost impossible to resist for anyone. For any person, there is some product out there that these tricks work on. For you it's sneakers, someone else is t-shirts, etc.
What we have to do is cultivate that control. You want this, but don't reach for it. Walk away and ask yourself "why do I want that? What is it about that thing that makes me want it and not other things?" Replace the insitinctive motion to your wallet with an instinctive question. Why this?
And it's true that you may never find it again, because it will be replaced by something else that you will immediately desire and have to have. And when that happens, the other thing will seem dulled and faded. There is always something new. Desire is never satisfied. It's a an endless cycle.
Freedom is an act of resistance. The only force that operates on our lives now with any power is consumerism. The messages of consumerism will define our world and our identities if we don't intervene on our own behalf. Your money is valuable because it represents your time, and your time is your life. Don't trade your life for some new crap.
Look at the thing and admire the thought and creativity that went into it. And with your hands firmly in your pockets, turn and walk away.

[NumberJohnny5]

The amount of freedom you have is directly proportional to the time between your desire for something and the moment you reach out to grasp it.

I could write a piece that starts with that sentence and goes in a completely different direction.

The amount of freedom you have is directly proportional to the time between your desire for something and the moment you reach out to grasp it. The more freedom you have, the less time you must wait between wanting something and being able to set a plan into motion to achieve it. The less freedom you have, the more time you must wait. Too often the amount of time you must wait is longer than your lifetime.

Want to start a new career? Freedom means the ability to quit your current job if an opportunity presents itself to work in your new field, even if it means a huge pay cut. If you decide you want to take up acting you can start working toward that dream today. Being a slave to consumerism and a job to pay the resulting bills means your dream stays on the back burner, most likely forever.

Letting things own you takes away your freedom to choose to be present with an ailing parent, to keep your promise to be there for your child's softball game, to move across the country (or the world) to be with the love of your life.

Freedom means being able to not only have children, but to have the choice to raise them yourself.

While freedom does not mean you can have everything you want, it does give you the power to pursue anything your heart desires.

[Sid Hoffman]

I could write a piece that starts with that sentence and goes in a completely different direction.

That's a nice way of saying it.  I'd word it as "Everything in that piece is wrong."

The amount of freedom you have is directly proportional to the time between your desire for something and the moment you reach out to grasp it. ... If the thing you see arouses such a desire in you that you immediately move to own it, then you are not free. The thing own you, and you exist to serve it.

I would argue it's wrong from the start.  Freedom is your ability to exercise free will that doesn't impede on the free will of others.  It's about your actions, not your purchases.  If I desire to go for a run this morning in a T-shirt and shorts and not have to stop for my 5 times a day prayers, I will do so because I have freedom.  If I lived under Sharia law, I would not be able to dress that way in public nor would I be able to ignore Islamic prayer times, because I would lack freedom.  It's like the original post was written by a teenager who doesn't even know what true freedom is.

All these concepts like store, property, ownership, etc. are illusions designed to convince you that buying is something other than you giving someone your money, which is a physical manifestation of your time.

Yeah no.  I went to the store and got milk and a snack.  They were not an illusion - the snack satisfied me and the milk will provide me very real nutrition as I drink it.  I did so using property that I own (my car) which is also not an illusion.  I very much legally own it and anybody who takes it from me will deal with the state government as a result.  They can contemplate if their prison time is an illusion or if they are truly free in prison because they don't see stores or property anymore.  Unless they try to steal another inmate's property - then they may get killed, which is also real, not an illusion.

I'm convinced that the forces of marketing and advertising are so effective and have been so thoroughly perfected, that it is almost impossible to resist for anyone.

More BS garbage.  Everybody resists things all the time, otherwise the bankruptcy rate would be 100%.  A quick search says there are fewer than 1 million non-medical bankruptcies per year in America; a nation of 320 million.  That's a lot of people resisting the temptation to buy dumb stuff every day.  Further, I happen to know the average time of ownership of new (meaning never-titled) cars has increased a whopping 50% in the last 15 years or so.  I can't find the exact link, but I know it's 50%.  That's a whole lot of people consistently resisting the urge to buy a new car in spite of the fact that new cars are the most marketed material possession there is.

Freedom is an act of resistance. The only force that operates on our lives now with any power is consumerism.

Again, no, freedom is not an act of resistance, it means the freedom to do the things you desire so long as they don't impede on the freedoms that others enjoy.  Again, the author has obviously done zero study of people who have lived or continue to live under genuine oppression.  The statement that the only force operating on anyone's lives is consumerism would certainly come as a surprise to the overwhelming number of people who live by faith - any faith - and not by materialism.  This entire forum is proof that when people get education about their options they frequently choose to reject consumerism and find it quite easy to do so. MMM shows that his lead driving force is the betterment of society, which is honestly what a huge number of people strive for, not just having the latest consumer goods.

The whole thing is juvenile and if it wasn't written by a teenager, it's certainly somebody with the maturity of a teenager and no world perspective at all.