Sunday, October 4, 2015

Exploration Five: Nick Reed

The article that I decided to review was titled "Luxury is Just Another Weakness". The point of this article on Mr. Money Mustache's blog is that luxury is a drug. It is to be dabbled in, but in no way shape or form one should consume and fixates one life around the concept of having "fancy" items or a multitude of stuff that equates to a high value. The want for luxuries is what makes us human, but Mr. Money Mustache points out that seeking to maximize the luxuries you have in your life is borderline insane.

This article does a couple of things very well. First, the writer, MMM, establishes a connection with the audience by stating that even he is guilty of indulging in luxurious items. Then, he states that his luxuries are ones that he has for a specific reason of writing and keeping up with various tasks on his blog. More simply, his luxuries are for the benefit of himself and are important for work. Now, one could argue that a luxurious car would be important for their work because they have to travel a bunch, but MMM does a great job of calling to the attention of the next great thing in the article; luxuries are to be used in moderation. The fact of the matter is that when someone drives a luxurious car or live a luxurious lifestyle, then someone could become accustom to this luxurious way of living and it will be hard for this person to find living easy. As we all know, luxuries are expensive and when someone will spend most of their free money on luxuries, then that's when they'll find that they'll have no money. 

Something that the article does not do is effect those who exist in the minority, or those who can afford these luxuries and have money to spare. He leaves these people out of the audience because he probably knows that the rich won't be on a blog that is talking about money advice. Although this may be true, MMM pokes fun at the lifestyle of the rich and is kind of contradictory to the rest of blog's message of being economically sound and rich in many ways.

The article that I'm talking about can be found here: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/29/luxury-is-just-another-weakness/

One Website that I visit regularly is Youtube, but one of the channels is particularly interesting and I watch and enjoy it's content regularly. The channel is ran by and called Zach Anner. The channel features a man with cerebral palsy, is in his thirties, and is a comedy focused problem. But the channel is much more than what appears superficially. The channel is all about overcoming your challenges and living a life that's worth living. Zach specifies in many of his videos that we only get one life and some have more of a head start than others, but life is all about making the best of every situation and leaving your own personal history behind that others will admire. Zach has made many guest appearances on shows like Oprah and in New York Magazine. Zach also is about to release a book title If at Birth You Don't Succeed where he provides an inside look at his life and his optimistic look on life in general

You can learn more about Zach's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZachAnner
and can learn more about and pre-order his book here: http://zachanner.com/
This is a picture of the man himself: Zach Anner

2 comments:

  1. I agree with the fact that luxuries should be purchased in moderation, there are too many people that have a huge income but do not realize that they still cant buy everything they want. For example, many pro athletes lose all of their money after they stop playing professionally. They are used to the luxurious lifestyle and don't know how to live without it.

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  2. I think that it is true that if you are rich enough expensive material things start to lose value to you. Indulging in guilty pleasures once in awhile is good but making it a habit is where we begin to see a problem. That goes along with the saying that too much of a good thing is bad.

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