Home is where the stuff is

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It's hard to put a price on our most cherished personal belongings. At least there's a calculator for the shipping.In a telling sign of our financial times, homeowners across the country are heading to online outlets like eBay and craigslist to unload a household of clutter. Sales through such sites have increased twofold in only a year as those feeling the credit crunch seek to sell personal valuables and most anything else.Some sellers are unloading heirlooms while others are simply eliminating clutter. And while stories of these unfortunate sellers focus on the belongings -- a lifetime of purchases reduced to cardboard and packing peanuts -- the true tragedy goes unnoticed. Someone, after all, must be buying this stuff.At a time when gas exceeds $4 a gallon, when sub-prime shockwaves echo across the economy and the U.S. dollar hides from other currencies on the international playground, people are still on eBay, looking for your mother's china.While economists wring their hands over our nation's addiction to oil, it seems that little attention is paid to America's genuine compulsion to collect stuff. Stuff in every room, on every shelf, and in every drawer. Stuff to replace the stuff we've stuffed in the basement and attic. Stuff designed specifically to house and display our stuff. We are a nation always willing to make room in our budgets, and in our homes, for stuff.In light of the sub-prime-mortgage situation, it all makes a strange kind of sense. With no upfront payment and little interest for the first few years, thousands of new homeowners found themselves living the American dream in a home of their own. But the American dream needed a television. And a DVD player. And a few DVDs, and an entertainment stand, and, well, you get the idea.This is America, and in America a house is not simply a home. It's the place where you keep all of your stuff.My own home is no exception. As my living quarters evolved from dormitory to apartment to a full-on house, the amount of stuff I accumulated increased as well. It's as if the amount of stuff I want is directly proportional to the number of square feet that I pay for each month. And I'm certainly not alone.In fact, the desire to fill an increasingly large domicile with an increasing amount of stuff could very well be its own economic principle. Unfortunately, as the mortgage rate increases, the desire for stuff remains the same.The government's economic stimulus plan isn't exactly helping the situation, either. With a choice involving groceries, savings and moderately priced imported electronics, where is a $600 bonus most likely to go? Let's just say that China's economy ought to notice a bit of stimulus.As the past few months have shown, our country must come to terms with an addiction to consumption in general. What better place to start than in our own homes, and with the very clutter of consumption that surrounds us every day? By stepping away from the mouse and restraining yourself from just one unnecessary purchase, you can take the first step to putting an entire nation on the right track.Or, it could upset the accepted cycle of consumption, stopping the entire economic engine in its tracks and destroying any remaining worth the dollar still has. But either way, do you really need some poor lady's dishes?(Ben Grabow writes for the young, the urban and the easily amused. E-mail him at thinlyread(at)gmail.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)