Prosperity Paradox

When will Americans stop loving stuff?

Topics

Consumerism

Can you guess what industry is among the fastest-growing in the U.S.? Self-storage. A self-storage industry newsletter reported in March 2018 that self-storage boasts an annual industry revenue of $38 billion. American storage facilities number between 44,000 and 52,000, offering around 2.3 billion square feet of rentable space.

And when we are no longer able to store all our stuff, we simply throw it out. Treehugger.com reports that every American generates 4.4 pounds of trash daily. In fact, we spend more on trash bags than scores of other countries spend on everything!

Richard M. DellOrfano spent ten years on a cross-country pilgrimage following Christ’s instruction to minister without possessions. He is completing his autobiography: Path Perilous, My Search for God and the Miraculous.

From The Narthex

Narcissus Gets Married

The image of a bride exchanging rings with a figure floating inside augmented reality glasses…

A Prince Among the Poor

In 2013, Pope Francis suspended Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, Germany, a diocese which…

Lessons in Lording

In 1970, I arrived in San Marcos, California, on a donated bike -- the end…