If so, what circumstance is it that does not involve stuff? If not, what does that say about the necessity of stuff in our lives? And, if stuff is necessary for pretty much everything that goes on in our lives, what does that say about the way we should think about stuff?

Audie Cornish: . . . There are those who have already lost their homes to foreclosure and those who are still hanging on. First the former, as part of the settlement, people who lost their homes through foreclosure can get up to $2,000 each. But is there going to be any attempt to determine whether those people were improperly foreclosed on?

Chris Arnold: Right, that’s a question I think a lot of people have. You know, are these people who were doing everything right and by no fault of their own lost their house? Or is this somebody who bought a house they could never afford and lied all over their mortgage application?

The short answer is everybody gets it. . . .

Interpretation? If you are a person who was suckered into an unjust mortgage and lost your home, your credit, your savings, your dignity, perhaps more – people have lost their families and jobs and hope for the future – well then the bank that now owns your home with the financial assistance of the government (a.k.a. you the tax payer) is going to give you a one-time apology fee of $2,000. Justice served!

Aside: How long will it take these banks to earn back their $2,000 in penalty ATM, credit card, and checking account fees? Not long.

But the $2,000 injustice fee only applies to homeowners who were foreclosed on. There are millions of Americans who were sold snake oil mortgages whose houses are now underwater. How does this landmark deal help them?

CORNISH: So help me understand here. How many people will actually get real help through principal reductions?

ARNOLD: That’s actually very interesting. . . . The vast majority of loans out there are controlled by the government basically at this point: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, FHA, et cetera. And those organizations are not taking part in this so-called principal reduction approach. (Emphasis mine)

Interpretation? Banks agree to handout a $2,000 injustice fee to a minority of the homeowners who were foreclosed on and in return the banks get government-sanctioned immunity from justice. Then banks work up a deal to adjust the principal of a very small minority of existing mortgages that are under water. The “vast majority” of unjust mortgages that were sold to homeowners are now owned by the government (a.k.a you the tax payer) because the government bailed out the big banks. Those mortgages are not part of this deal. In other words, the government that allegedly is seeking justice in this “landmark” case doesn’t want to take it on the chin, writing down principal on all the mortgages on its own books. Justice served . . . so long as the government doesn’t have to participate.

Look, you all know that I have serious problems with our consumer-crazy economy. I have assigned plenty of blame for our problems to reckless consumers like you and me. And if you have been reading my blog or following my tweets for any amount of time, you know that I am not a conspiracy-theory, gold-buying, ammo-hoarding kind of reactionary. But the lies and injustice at the scale of this “landmark robo-signing settlement” put me near despair.

Actually the information display is what motivated this short reflection. You have probably noticed (or perhaps you have not noticed) how much our day-to-day lives involve looking at and interacting with information displayed on various kinds of technology. We look at computers at home and at work. We look at smart phones everywhere we go because our smart phones go with us everywhere. And many of us have displays in our vehicles that not only include navigation maps but also audio controls, hands free phone controls, climate controls, and, in cars like the Prius, trip information like real-time and aggregate fuel efficiency. On cars with an information display, most of the display operations can be accessed from the steering wheel.

Except one operation: Display Off. This is the case in my inlaws’ Prius and also in our own Honda Odyssey. I should point out that there is a button on the steering wheel of both the Prius and Odyssey that activates voice controls, and it is possible to attempt to shout at the car, “Display off!” Unfortunately, this often elicits a reply like, “Turning climate control to max.” If I am not in the mood to argue with a robotic lady who has a slightly British accent, I have to take a hand off the steering wheel, click a button that brings up the display controls, and then click an on-screen button labeled Display Off.

Why haven’t automotive user experience designers made available at the driver’s fingertips one of the two fundamental display operations, that is, Display Off? (Just in case you’re wondering, the other fundamental display operation is Display On.) Do UX folk believe modern-day drivers want their displays always on? Are they right?

If so, how odd is that? What other anything that you and I interact with would we want always on? Can you imagine driving in a car with your child’s voice was always on? Right. Of course, there is a display for that, which in many cars is always on and cannot be turned off from the steering wheel or from the back seat.

Living simply creates the physical, emotional, and spiritual space to think and act rightly. We are in relationship with all things. Simplicity is an aid that helps us properly orient our lives toward all things, including those things which can only be complex.

This happens regularly. Because I am known as the 100 Thing Challenge guy who thinks American-style consumerism is ruining our lives, friends and family and even strangers I meet feel compelled to apologize for any involvement they have with consumption. It comes with the territory, I suppose. Yet, I would like to take a moment to say why I think stuff is important. Really important.

Everything people do involves stuff. Everything. This is a theme I am focusing on throughout the year. I have a few speaking engagements lined up and I am working on a new book. Everything I say this year is going to include the importance of stuff. Let me summarize here.

Try to think of any activity you do that does not involve stuff? What you are doing right now involves stuff, probably a computer. Are you in a house or a coffee shop or a library? How did you get there, perhaps a bus or car or bike? Were you clothed when you traveled to wherever you are?

I think you get my point. Some theoreticians might say that the most important activities do not require stuff. Thinking. Having a conversation. Making love. Perhaps sometimes no stuff is necessary, though I have never known any person who was magically transported naked, far into the wilderness, by themselves or with another person to think, chat, or share DNA.

The reason that stuff is so important is because it is always there. We know nothing and experience nothing and relate to no one without stuff.

It’s important.

Just yesterday I heard someone say that at an event. It was an event discussing the technologies behind social media and the best way for organizations to use those technologies. On a practical level, it was an excellent presentation. It was very well done and covered the relevant material with strategic insight. Yet, several times the expert who was presenting said, “It is going to happen. Kind of scary, but it is going to happen.”

Facebook delving ever deeper into your personal life and everyday behavior? “It is going to happen. Kind of scary, but it is going to happen.” Google returning customized search (and display ads) based on your . . . your . . . well, pretty much your anything you ever do? “It is going to happen. Kind of scary, but it is going to happen.”

I do not want to quibble with the “kind of scary” part. That seems obvious. I certainly cannot deny the “it is going to happen” part. Facebook, Google, and all the rest will make sure it happens. That is for sure. It is the inevitability part that gets to me. The part where you and I let it happen to us, even go out of our way to make it happen to us.

Over the last few weeks I have read a number of books, Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together is one that stands out as a necessary read for the beginning of the twenty first century. Also, I watched Plug & Pray, a film that documents Joseph Weizenbaum’s suspicion of technology. It is hard to ignore the conclusion that we are manifesting our scary inevitable technological future by allowing it to happen to us.

No thoughtful critic of technology wants no technology. It seems, however, that the evangelists of technology want no thoughtful critique of their Gospel. Good news, no questions asked. Odd that technology evangelists claim to be rational. Odd that so many of us agree.

Books

David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World. (Oxford Univ. Press, 2006). Simply amazing. This is a book I will return to over and over. I cannot recommend it enough. At times a difficult read, not because it is overly academic in tone. Davis is thoroughly academic, that is for sure. The heft of the book is largely a result of abundant notes. Yet, Davis writes clearly and any adult should be able to read this book. The hard parts come when reading about the inhumanity of slavery. As hard as it is to confront, everyone in the West should.

Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. (Basic Books, 2011). Prepare to freak out a little if you read this book. Unless, of course, you’re one of the people Turkle interviews who are comfortable with the idea of marrying a robot. Alarmism aside, Turkle makes the point that we are in desperate need of a cultural conversation about the future of technology. You should read this book and participate in the discussion.

Frederick Buechner, Godric. Reread it again. It’s turning into a yearly read. So good.

Kate DiCamillo. Please write another book soon.

Movies

Midnight In Paris. We rented it just a few weeks ago. I’d be willing to own it. Who cares if I am not smart enough to recognize every character. Wow, what a fun and well done movie. Makes me want to visit Paris and makes me more content at home.

The Help. No, I didn’t read the book. But I thought the movie was great.

X-Men: First Class. As an adjunct professor of modern world history, I had no idea that morally conflicted mutants averted World War III at the Bay of Pigs. Fascinating historical film that was loads of fun to watch.

Music

I must confess that I do not listen to that much music. I love music, but I don’t listen that much. Even so…

Alison Krauss & Union Station, Paper Airplane is amazing. I’m sure angels blush at the thought that they have angelic voices when they listen to Alison Krauss sing. Ron Block is a pretty cool dude, too.

Josh Garrels, Love & War & The Sea In Between. I played catch up, discovering Josh Garrels this year, long after many of my friends were going on and on about his incredible music and lyrics. I’m glad I caught up. So rich. I could listen over and over and over.

2012

So what books, movies, or music are you looking forward to taking in this year? Please share, and I’ll comment in a few days about my most anticipated 2012 stories and songs.

Anyone Else

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SOME THINGS

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You

Here is what the little diagram means. Between you and anyone else, there are things. You never, ever know any other person directly. There always are things between you and other people. Those things can have the quality of nurturing your relationships with other people, or those things can hinder your relationships with other people.

If you have never thought about your relationships like this before, you may want to take a moment to consider this. We often hear people talk about “authenticity” and how they do not let “things” get in the way of their relationships. People that talk like that are being ignorant, no matter how convincing they sound. At the very least, language is between you and everyone else. In reality, there are always many other things between you and someone else. Clothing. Built environment, such as a house or restaurant or coffee shop or church building. Technology. Music. Art. Work. Games. And more.

There are generally two thoughts on how to improve our relationships to other people. One is that we should strip away as many of the things between us as we can. Then we will be left as closely as possible with a direct relationship: nothing between us. The other thought is like it, but not quite. The second view is that we should strip away those things that hinder our relationships and nurture those things that enhance our relationships.

The appeal of the second view is that it recognizes human vocation. It gives us all something to do. We can create and build and nurture things until we have made something useful or beautiful or best of all, both useful and beautiful. Something that will draw me a little closer to you and you a little closer to me. Something that will help us recognize God’s love and grace, instead of something that will make us doubt there could be a loving, gracious God. Something that will cause us to marvel at the creativity of another person and at the same time make us feel more creative.

This is where American-style consumerism has gone so wrong. It is all about creating things – stuffing stuff between you and everyone else. But the excesses of consumerism do not nurture relationships. Regularly the excesses of consumerism do just the opposite and hinder our relationships.

In 2012, consider what things are between you and anyone else. Consider what might be getting in the way of your relationships. Remove those things. Consider what might be nurturing your relationships. Tend to those things. And consider what you can create that will fit well between others and be a blessing to them.