"I Love Stuff"
It makes total sense.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Quite possibly one of the only things I retained from high school physics. I couldn’t help but think about Newton’s third law of motion when I discovered a trending audio on Instagram titled, “I love stuff.” A few months ago I wondered how long it would take for there to be a reaction to the "no buy” movement. Not long at all.
The original video and audio is by an interior designer who states she’ll never give up on the delusion that someday she’ll become a minimalist. There are over 20k other Reels using the audio. There’s videos with closets full of clothes, collections of bags, cupboards filled to the brim, impeccably decorated interiors, and young girls showing off their hoards of beauty products.
Initially my reaction to it all was “WTF.” I wonder if any of this even matters. Does anybody really care about buying less stuff or being a more mindful consumer? Because if you spend any amount of time on the internet it’s abundantly clear that “stuff” is still very much winning. The majority of the top fashion and beauty newsletters on Substack are selling stuff. The most popular content on Instagram and TikTok is filled with people selling, promoting, and acquiring stuff. Stuff sells.