On Owning Things

I’ve assembled a pretty nice collection of music files. Mostly coming from different places, either from soulseek or from ripping them off Deezer or Quboz. I know that I’m probably the only person in my general vicinity that does this. Every person I know uses Spotify or Apple Music for listening to music. Some of the reviews I’ve read recently for a 5G home internet service said that “Spotify Lossless” streaming is one of their top data consuming processes for their internet use. Alongside that and gaming, apparently these are the things that require the most internet usage at home. I found it pretty absurd that owning music for yourself is practically nonexistent these days. Of course there are vinyl and CD fans that still utilize physical media to listen to music, but that is mostly minor compared to the convenience of streaming something from your phone. I’ve mostly noticed this phenomenon with iPhone users too, though android users aren’t too far behind.

We’ve outsourced countless basic things over to the internet instead of utilizing what’s immediately available to us. Listening to music, watching movies and TV shows, getting therapy, doctor’s visits, etc.. All of these services have become things that we expect to be carried out over the internet, or are at least attempted to be served over the internet. People believe there is much to be gained when acquiescing to these new technological demands. Their purported benefits are worth their weight in gold. Rarely do people consider what they might be losing in the process of outsourcing basic functions we used to acknowledge were burdensome but necessary. Convenience is king in our generation. Make life as smooth as possible because otherwise we end up getting bogged down in the muck of our information overload and excess. You have to bear the indignity of being charged more year over year for your subscription and having random service outages for the sake of your regular convenient usage. How great is that?

Owning your own items or at least acknowledging the importance of ownership is usually frowned upon now. I understand the philosophy of minimalism and its benefits and drawbacks. There’s nothing wrong with simplifying your possessions so you’re also not bogged down in physical excess and toil. The problem comes from giving up self-reliance of any sort of degree and handing over all your tastes and eccentricities to a technology that doesn’t know the difference between dignity and indignity. Technologies that ignore the blend of humanity with art and culture and that which can exploit your energy and your soul to make big bucks for someone else should be frowned upon. You can go on and on about the 20th century and its various exploitative technologies, and to a degree there would be plenty of truths in there. But the reality is that we’re here in the now, and the now is being oppressed and suffocated by the internet and its consequences. Ownership means responsibility, and responsibility is a predicate for living a decent life.

On the importance of owning things