years ago my friend went to a fashion show, where a famous designer said this at a panel discussion:
what do we mean when we say “luxury” sunglasses? are they glasses that cost as much as a car? what about cheap, $2 glasses we can leave (lose) anywhere, without a care in the world? isn’t that true luxury?
now that we’re in month 18 of Kung Flu, with no end in sight, i want to revisit this riff on “luxury” through the lens of “convenience.”
what is convenience?
convenience is the ability to accomplish effortful things, effortlessly. instead of cooking, delivery. instead of driving to the movie theater, stream. instead of building deep relationships, swipe right.
convenience is a dream that technology makes come true. until it doesn’t.
convenience, the tyrant
the day is March 15, 2020. powerful governments orchestrate to strip the rights of their citizens. pending one’s location that Sunday afternoon, it was possible to be arrested for simply being outside.
in another time, say 15 years ago, none of this would be feasible. we’d die of starvation, boredom, homesickness, or lack of filled prescriptions long before a vaccine arrived to save us. but thanks to Convenience Infrastructure, we’ve built the means to oppress ourselves.
convenience vs ownership
to be clear, convience is derived from services, not products. a product that “saves you time in the kitchen,” for example, is a service with compatible hardware.
but nowadays it’s common to rent the product that provides the service. from cars to mp3s, most of us don’t own the means of production anymore. which means we’re 2 abstractions away from the thing we really want, and this is a vulnerable position.
pain and freedom
the amount of pain you’re willing to endure is often directly, inversely correlated to the amount of freedom bestowed upon you. a classic example is the Boston Tea Party.
yet it appears that even after 18 months, most of us would rather deplenish our freedom 1 basis point at a time than be yelled at by a mask nazi. why?
i want to put this worm in your brain. with any luck it will spread as quickly as the Delta variant. and when we’re all infected, we’ll have no choice but to stop worshipping at the feet of convenience.
becuase true luxury is glasses you can throw away. and true convenience is the ability to say no.
Kung Flu? Really? I’m not sure if you’re aware but that’s considered quite racist.
After reading the post, I’m more confident you intended to be racist. You can correct me if I’m wrong.
you’re an idiot. have a nice day Zack.
This is true but only provided we aren’t clear on how much we TRULY DEPEND on the convenience.
Upon Bezos’ retirement from Amazon, someone made the astute point that he didn’t just build a company, he “eliminated the weekend errand.” How true. How profound.
I would indeed be a slave to that convenience if I was otherwise dumbfounded about how to get by if my deliveries were delayed (which has happened.) But I don’t, because I see the convenience for what it is: a SUPPLEMENTAL benefit and not a necessity.
I, for one, LOVE LOVE LOVE that my “weekend errands” no longer exist. I find no nobility– and much needless, inane suffering– in retaining them. Knowing I don’t need to battle the hoardes to get a new spaghetti strainer or some nonsense is indeed freedom– PROVIDED I know that if I need it for tonight’s dinner party, I am comfortable running to the store to snatch it up. A great example here is, as you note, prescriptions. I use Amazon Pharmacy for chronic stuff, and the local CVS for acute stuff. Everyone wins!
Conversely, I suppose to extend the argument I could take weekend courses in compounding pharmaceuticals but I think we all agree, while certainly more “painful,” it’s also a gigantic waste of time.
So in closing, I agree provisionally. It’s true the world of helpless, addicted, swipe monkeys who couldn’t figure out how to light a fire with a flint if it meant saving their lives is a confounding one… for them. But if you are smart about your conveniences, we can have the services serve us and not the other way around.