Anyways...
Why are we defined not by our character but by our posessions? Our acquisitions.
Why can't I just be me? Why do I have to be Mxolisi, the guy who wears specs? Why? Granted it's probably because people see the material stuff before knowing the real person behind those specs.
But it extends even further. Let's say, for argument's sake, *Sbu Mpato buy a red GTI (considering how many of those already are in circulation) and you also happen to have a chipped front tooth. Somehting that has been your unique identifier for as long as you can remember. Have a couple of people know you're now a proud owner of a red VW Golf GTI then all of a sudden the chipped tooth takes the back seat.
You are no longer the guy with the chipped tooth, you're now Sbu The Red GTI Guy. It becomes who you are. It's no longer what you happen to own, apart from your great personality and the jokes you normally tell to get the ladies grinning. You're now the Red GTI Guy. Even after you change the car a few years later, trust me... you're still Sbu The Red GTI Guy.
Even if you get mugged and get robbed of all your clothes (you were just taking a stroll to a nearby neighbourhood on a fine summer night - they came out of nowhere). It's still "The Red GTI Guy" got robbed and was running naked across the hood. Seldom will you hear people say "Did you hear Sbu got attacked?" or "There was a naked guy running past here the other day". You have to be defined by what you have/had.
This is the way soceity is, and there's a pretty much not gonna change anytime soon.
Apart from being defined by material things. You also get defined by the bad thing that you did a good 6 years ago. Or even last night.
Nobody cares that you saved an old lady about to get hit by a truck while crossing the road. What they care about is the fact that you happened to scrap your best friend's new Lambo a few days after having bought it.
Sad really.
Why is that though...?
C'est la vie
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