I don&#x27;t think anyone is suggesting that a home filling up with things `just happens&#x27; --- most people will readily admit that they have bought or received those things, and that those things are there because of their own action (acquisition or receipt) or inaction (unwillingness&#x2F;inability to dispose of items).<p>I also take issue with the implicit suggestion in your comment that most people genuinely think that consumerism will add value to their lives;  I see that attitude a lot in `minimalist&#x27; blogs and discussions, and I realise that they&#x27;re selling a narrative and a lifestyle, but it&#x27;s very condescending.<p>People end up buying things to try and facilitate change or to bring happiness often because they don&#x27;t know of any other method, or because other avenues have failed them, or they don&#x27;t have access to them in the first place.  When asked, most people will admit that a new gadget or purse or pair of shoes or a second helping of cake will bring them some kind of joy, perhaps fleeting, but will also admit that family and health and following their passions are more worthwhile goals.  It&#x27;s not either&#x2F;or dichotomy that it&#x27;s so often set out to be by `minimalists&#x27;.<p>In my own experience, I know and work with people for whom many of these things are impossible to follow for whatever reason.  Some have abusive families and still deal with the fallout of that.  Many have passions but simply don&#x27;t have the money to follow them as much as they&#x27;d like, or at all.  Some people have chronic health issues which they cannot overcome.  I&#x27;m certainly not going to harangue them or judge them for buying another DVD, or another book, or another pair of cheap trainers because they can&#x27;t follow more `worthwhile&#x27; paths.<p>Inversely, I&#x27;ve come across a lot of `minimalists&#x27; --- mostly online, but some in real life --- who fetishise their <i>lack</i> of possessions the same way many collectors fetishise their collections.  Minimalism-as-less-stuff is just as informed by consumerism as maximalism-as-happiness is;  it&#x27;s simply the opposite side of the same coin.