So if the only way to "beat the elites" was to defund them (i.e., "not buy stuff,") are they about

[villager]

...to bring about their own demise with the Depression they have wrought?

[LSparkle]

1. I stopped "aggressively consuming" about 5 years ago

It'll make it easier to endure what's to come. I feel sorry for many of my friends who have been using their homes for ATMS for just about as long and are about to hit the wall.

[Ian David]

2. It's much cheaper just to bust into homes that have a Bush/Cheney sign on the lawn.

"Boosh Shay-Nee" is Tibetan for "Free Stuff Inside."

[villager]

4. I likewise haven't been "aggressively consuming" -- buying "American style

for some years... indeed, it was an issue in my former marriage, since the Ex tended to like "stuff" a little more than me (tho' interestingly, she's starting to come around on this score...)

Mostly, the debts I have are the "old ones" from my married days -- haven't taken on too much "extra" debt since then...

Still hard to pay off the bloodsuckers, though...

[LSparkle]

5. Thanks to some help from my family, I'm out of debt at last

and don't intend to go back into it. Because my credit is shot, I have to live within my means (and have for the past few years), which is possible but not always as much fun as blowing thousands of dollars on new appliances, clothes, etc.

[villager]

6. what's amazing, really, is how much *stuff* is around, even when you "scale back"

and start perusing yard sales, thrift shops, etc.,to acquire whatever "necessities," clothes, etc. you might need....

[Mike03]

3. Non-consumption is a better way to live

But the so-called elites will always buy and they will always profit from those who buy--if not from U.S. consumers than by selling off U.S. assets to foreign countries or exports.