Do we buy what we want or are we told what we want? So I recently finished this book…’The Nineties’ by Chuck Klosterman…and a large part of the book is him arguing that the crux of the 90’s was that

Do we buy what we want or are we told what we want?

So I recently finished this book…’The Nineties’ by Chuck Klosterman…and a large part of the book is him arguing that the crux of the 90’s was that it was the last time when we just accepted things because of what was given to us. So, for example…he goes on about how any show given the time slot directly *after* ‘Seinfeld’ would be a success, no matter how bad it actually was, simply because Seinfeld was the most watched show on television and most people didn’t bother changing the channel after it was over.

There was this one line in the book that hit me kinda hard...“Do consumers demand what they want, or are consumers convinced to want whatever they're offered?”

I’m sure you can see where this is going…

It *immediately* made me think of sneakers…like…no matter how much I would like to *not* be affected by social media and advertising and pop culture and others opinions, it doesn’t make any difference because I am really only pining after what has been offered to me. In order to escape the 'collective desire', the only thing one can really do is disconnect.

I can’t *conceptually* come up with any thought for a sneaker that (doesn't exist) that I actually desire so whatever the brands offer is actually what it is that I desire. Slight changes here and there...that's different...but it's still based on what someone else is doing. It's like this collective sense of 'value' that is actually based on social psychology and marketing and not on actual utility. It's mind-blowing when you really think about it....what do y'all think?

Anyway...reading that really kind of popped a blood vessel in my brain...has me further entrenched in the idea that the only *real* happiness is creating what it is that you want to see in the world. S/O to all my creator homies @sonsofblackmaria @sankofafw @nickengvall @andrewmedal @jayzrdead @sneakerpreservationsociety @shoef__cohen @ogkwoods @freehandprofit @sia_collective @boyworldwide @czawolf @mcsteve @kooth23tn and anyone else I may have missed! Keep creating!