Minimalists are Hoarders but with Better Hygiene
Few things feel better than disgust. It's the rocket fuel of reality TV, propelling us to smirk and gape at the human wreckage on display: the obese, the addicted, the mentally ill, the hoarders, and that woman who won't eat anything except cheesy potatoes. It's a carnival sideshow for the masses, a freak parade for the age of digital voyeurism.
On the flip side of our schizophrenic culture, we've got the righteous do-gooders encouraging and clapping for these dime museum exhibitions. They preach about "body positivity," lionize recovering addicts, and assure us that the Linda Blair cosplayer screaming at passersby in downtown Austin is simply "neuro-diverse."
The Hoarding Epidemic
But even in this cesspool of cultural decay, there's a line that few dare to cross. Nobody's rushing to defend the hoarders. Those dung-laced piles of old clothes, scrunched boxes, and dollar store knick-knacks scream "First World/White Trash Problem" louder than a MAGA rally in a trailer park. It's a sight that sparks universal disgust.
Condorcet, that starry-eyed prophet of progress, once predicted that civilization would produce 37,000,000 poets like Homer and 37,000,000 philosophers like Newton when the common man's resources were plentiful and his work time limited. Instead, we got 16 seasons of A&E's Hoarders.
The Spectrum of Accumulation
Hoarding is a spectrum disorder, ranging from the mildly cluttered to the poor souls who use boxes for furniture. It's mostly an American affliction, born from the unholy union of excess wealth and left-hemispheric dominance. Before we became a-historically wealthy through the weapons of foreign intrigue and the reserve currency, nobody hoarded. They just got by, setting aside excess in good times and spending it in bad times. It was a simple, honest way of life that's as alien to today’s Americans as walking is to a fish.
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Eric Scheske
