Prosperity Paradox

When will Americans stop loving stuff?

Topics

Consumerism
By Richard DellOrfano | September 25th 2018 1:09 PM

Can you guess what industry is among the fastest-growing in the U.S.? Self-storage. A self-storage industry newsletter reported in March 2018 that self-storage boasts an annual industry revenue of $38 billion. American storage facilities number between 44,000 and 52,000, offering around 2.3 billion square feet of rentable space.

And when we are no longer able to store all our stuff, we simply throw it out. Treehugger.com reports that every American generates 4.4 pounds of trash daily. In fact, we spend more on trash bags than scores of other countries spend on everything!

Richard M. DellOrfano spent ten years on a cross-country pilgrimage following Christ’s instruction to minister without possessions. He is completing his autobiography: Path Perilous, My Search for God and the Miraculous.

Categories

Art & Music Atheism Bible Bishops and Cardinals Community Consumerism Earth Economics Ecumenism Education Faith Family History Immigration Information Technology and AI Justice Latin Life Issues Literature Liturgy Marriage Medicine mixed marriage Morals Pastoral Care Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Priests Saints Science Sex-Abuse Scandal Spirituality Synod The Papacy Theology Virtue

Authors

From The Narthex

Why Aren't We Celebrating January 1?

Thanks to the Catholic Bishops of the United States’ Complementary Norms, January 1, 2024 --…

Compensation

During my city engineering career, I mentored a young fellow worker. When he was a…

Random Ruminations #33

Another Example of Inverted Pneumatology I’ve criticized a distorted theology of the Holy Spirit I’ve…