Huang Shiqi, Class 12, Senior 1, Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School Instructed by Shi Hui, Tang Ying In my opinion, buying and accumulating more and more stuff won’t make us happy. On the contrary, it wastes our money and makes our life more chaotic. I have the following reasons. First of all, it is a waste of money. Nowadays, with the continuous development of technology and the economy, people tend to shop more frequently. You must have already heard of the shoppers’ carnival weeks ago that is called the “Double Eleven Online Shopping Festival.” In just over 90 seconds after the event began, the transaction volume rapidly reached 10 billion yuan! It’s hard to imagine. People are crazy about price reductions. However, after the transient pleasure of placing an order, many people will regret spending too much money and always say they want to “chop off their hands.” However, they are just tempted again by the discounts next time. In this point of view, buying more things will only bring more pains but not happiness. Secondly, accumulating too many things could badly affect your life. Do you like squirrels? This cute little animal is famous for its love of hoarding food. Hoarding, named after the animal’s behavior, is a psychological disease. A person may be a hoarder if he keeps hoarding things and even buys a lot of goods he does not need, keeping them at home just to get some satisfaction. In June 2014, a U.S. town suddenly became the focus of the news. The cause was a seemingly ordinary house fire, but in the process of the rescue, firefighters were unable to enter the house because countless rubbish blocked all the doors and windows of the burning home, which led to the owner dying in the flames. What’s more, 30 percent of the residents in that small town have filled their homes with garbage, making it difficult to get in and out. Therefore the firefighters called it “a tomb of rubbish.” How pathetic! Although hoarding can be cured, few people are willing to go through with the treatment, because they think they are totally normal. In fact, everyone hoards things more or less, and these things are quietly changing your life and making it more chaotic. In conclusion, buying and accumulating more and more stuff won’t make us happy. It can only bring the feeling that life is gradually out of your control. Therefore, be a rational consumer and become more balanced. | 