Cannabis and your degree of materialism: A Poll

[Forthesevenlakes]

The idea for this came from another thread, and its to investigate whether or not a certain type of person might be drawn to both cannabis use and conserving/repairing/mending old things rather than purchasing new ones. Perhaps another could explain it better than I, but the jist is this:

Many people today are brought up believing that part of who you are is what you own and how much you own. Materialism is portrayed as a positive thing, and its seen as better (oftentimes) to buy something new, when fixing something old would serve the same purpose.

In a society like this, repairing and conserving old things, whether it be items of clothing, cars, kitchen appliances, musical instruments, etc., could be seen as an almost counter-culture activity. What this poll aims to look at is if there is any correlation betwen the propensity to conserve the old and cannabis use, since both are somewhat non-normative activities. Where do you stand? Is there any correlation in your eyes?

[radagast]

swim doesnt have many posessions he doesnt want many
Generally swim would fix old things himself whilst smoking but doesnt get many things working again except his car.
but he never buys any thing new at all. car boot sales are his forte

[jesusfreak666er]

swim understands the concept of the thread but its kinda open ended on the poll, it really depends what is being repaired...a car or a portable cd player?

[Forthesevenlakes]

lets say an item worth less than a couple hundred dollars. but specifically items that COULD be repaired by swiy.

[Nature Boy]

SWIM isn't very materialistic, or maybe he just doesn't bother spending money on many material possessions.

[Akewstick]

SWIM deffinately is not very materialistic, having said this, if he was, he would still have taken the 3rd option, because he simply never has the money to be so carefree with buying new possessions.

[MrG]

SWIM has to fess up and admit that stuff only has to get too dirty to clean and he buys a new one!

No, not cars. But household stuff.

Maybe coz as a child he "used to live in the middle of a road in a shoebox and his rainbows were black and white"

Now he can afford stuff.

[snapper]

SWIM would rather spend money on weed than new stuff when the old stuff works. SWIM thinks that the first two will remain unanswered on this forum, however, which will skew the statistics. SWIM does not like to waste things, and recycles stuff on this principle rather than because SWIM is cheap. SWIM is also cheap, but that's besides the point...

[IHrtHalucingens]

SWIM will repair anything to his ability, or at least try. Why spend money on something you dont have to? As long as it works for the reason you originally bought it then its all good, cosmetics dont matter to me. SWIM smokes only occasionally since hes on drug tests.

[Alicia]

Money - essentials
Money - Dinky things
Money - clothing

If its broken, can it be fixed if so then done. if not then it can replaced this like items like tv's, digital cameras , not clothing.. unless im trying to appear grunge . :P

[Trebor]

I repair something whenever possible, unless a replacement is less then five euro in which case I'll sateal it form my parents, or o to a charity shop. They're great, a mate of mine got a three piece sofa set for a fiver. (leather)

[Akewstick]

Money - essentials
Money - Dinky things
Money - clothing

If its broken, can it be fixed if so then done. if not then it can replaced this like items like tv's, digital cameras , not clothing.. unless im trying to appear grunge . :P

This is SWIM's approach. If he has spare cash, he dosen't waste it, he goes on living as cheap as he always does, and gets more wasted with it. Where he differs from Alicia is that clothes are always repaired rather than replaced for SWIM, SWIM always appears grunge whether he wants to or not. Safety pins or needles, thread and scraps of fabric never come to more than 50 pence, whereas jeans ar always more than £20. It is never worth buying new clothing for SWIM, unless it gets to the stage (and believe me, it has) where he can't take more than 10 steps without a large chunk of trouser disintegrating and floating to the pavement, exposing bare ass.

[Alicia]

Originally Posted by Akewstick

This is SWIM's approach. If he has spare cash, he dosen't waste it, he goes on living as cheap as he always does, and gets more wasted with it. Where he differs from Alicia is that clothes are always repaired rather than replaced for SWIM, SWIM always appears grunge whether he wants to or not. Safety pins or needles, thread and scraps of fabric never come to more than 50 pence, whereas jeans ar always more than £20. It is never worth buying new clothing for SWIM, unless it gets to the stage (and believe me, it has) where he can't take more than 10 steps without a large chunk of trouser disintegrating and floating to the pavement, exposing bare ass.

Lol ,,, reminds me off boyo. in someways always loves his stuff more so then how he appears not terrible or in shit state but just not bothered. but the nagging is paying off. Soon I will have him in a suit..mwahhhahahaha.. erm anyway.. not that it matters but still Swia always loves the casual sort of look specially with hippies, grunge even goth.. dont know about that emo shit thou seems to emotional.

[snow child]

Worn out is just the way you look at some thing. So lets say swim brakes a mirror is it still broken if swim use's all the piecie's to make some thing new.? or do you still get the bad luck.or say swim has an old camper behide he's house. It's no use to him it take's up room in he's yard, but would it not keep swim warm if swim got put out. So hang on to juck that's this swimmers idea. becuse if you use it or need it will chagne your luck.

[snow child]

oh yeah swim loves his weed.

[Trebor]

Funny though that most people who repair things may be like that even without weed. That they're just naturally practical. Swim remmebers when he was about five trying t fix radios, toys, various things. He was changing spark plugs at 9 and could take pistons apart by 13. God Swim misses cars.

[Trebor]

Originally Posted by Trebor

Funny though that most people who repair things may be like that even without weed. That they're just naturally practical. Swim remmebers when he was about five trying t fix radios, toys, various things. He was changing spark plugs at 9 and could take pistons apart by 13. God Swim misses cars.

Odd that I'm qouting my self but after I made that post I went and changed most of the filters and spark plugs in my car and agve it a minor service. And Swim was there smoking away. WHat a night.


And Hippy, pc building is easy and cheap. It's jusyt a matter of knowing what goes where. Swim's pc is hand built but his laptop sadly, had to be bought. I hope tob learn to build laptops to save money in the future.

[Micklemouse]

God Swim misses cars.

They're still around mate! As for the thread, A Certain Mouse will repair most things within his limited capacity - clothing, furniture, even the odd bit of electrical kit. He does however like spending when he can, but always with an eye for a bargain, & rarely things that aren't necessary or useful (he counts literature,music & film as both necessary & useful btw!) - there is definitely an element of the hunter-gatherer in this; the thrill of the hunt, having the prey in his sight, then the sheer joy of having it in his hands & thinking "Mine! And a bargain too!". Charity shops are amongst his favourite places.

He is a recycler & a skipper too, especially in the last few weeks of June when the students go home. It's amazing the amount of stuff some of these spoilt little rich kids chuck/leave behind when mater & pater arrive- beanbags, furniture, stereo's, books, c.d.'s, clothes,slr camera's, tellies, small pachyderms...).

He wouldn't class himself as a materialist per se. He's lost everything before now, & has worked hard for the things he now has. He does however appreciate quality, & sometimes quality is worth paying for. The most expensive things in his possession are his c.d. player & his computer (self-built). One of his most valued possessions is his amp - a vintage piece, nearly as old as him, loud as you like, beautiful sound, & has outlasted & outblated nest-mates amps costing hundreds. It cost him a tenner from a mate.

[Akewstick]

SWIM just realised: He's not materialistic so that he can spend more on weed, when he gets money, he carries on being uninterested in material objects, and gets more weed. Does this count?

[old hippie 56]

Why buy new if a person can rebuild, swim has built two computers, saved a bundle.

[Bajeda]

Cannabis is viewed differently in different societies, and as such, is used by different populations within societies. It may have a counter-culture connotation to it, but that results from its illegality and association with certain cultural and political movements. In South Africa, Jamaica, and parts of India cannabis is known as a stimulant used to help increase efficiency. This is definitely counter to the more Western (particularly US) view of cannabis as something that makes you lazy. It also has religious overtones in areas such as India where it is a sacred herb. I don't think there is anything about the drug itself that would make you less materialistic, it just depends on the social context. Given how social contexts can be viewed on macro or micro levels I'm not surprised at the results of the poll.

[GForce]

SWIM voted for smoke and buy new. Honestly, I think you'd find more of a relationship between wealth and materialism than cannabis use and materialism. Cannabis is used by so many different types of people that I think their level of materialism would be more associated with their social status or basically their wealth. Rich people smoke weed, poor people smoke weed. I went to a High School where probably 95% of people's parents were upper class wealthy and probably 80% of the kids smoked pot. Those kids probably buy new, regardless of the fact that they smoke. Then there is the complete opposite, inner-city kids who smoke pot who probably try to fix what they have. It just comes down to money. If you have it, you buy new things when you need them. If you don't, you can't buy new things when they break so you fix them.

I will admit, however, that most stoners have a knack for engineering to some degree. Anyone who can fashion a bong or a pipe out of household objects can probably fix something provided it doesn't require a complex procedure to do so. Everyone stoner knows how to pull a MacGyver when necessary.

[Sarkeizin]

SWIM not only smokes cannibis but whilst using develops an acute attention to detail and while SWIM is in this state he sets to work repairing stuff.

SWIM has taught himself to sew really well. SWIM has repaired many, MANY articles of clothing or other cloth items for himself and his friends.

SWIM also believes that his friends would also opt to repair an item rather then discard it and purchase a new one.