Whomever has the most stuff at the end of life..Wins!

Cults, more than most, have a thing for symbolism. They are looking to something outside of them that can give them happiness, and so they glom onto what worked for someone else and hold that as their own. That's why they hold on so tightly to their leaders... When the feelings within ourselves become overwhelming, the easiest thing to do is shut them down and project them onto other things, rather than "feel."

Brilliant, thank you.. Fortunately, I’ve no family that fits that description, beyond a handful of ‘corn fed cousins’ clinging to ‘their heritage’ in the midwest, family member’s so ..f’ed up my mother no longer speaks to ‘her sister.’

Though, I’m definitely surrounded by ‘it’ here in old Appalachia.. It’s like their brains have limiters or governors ..that keep them from reving above a very low RPM. As if to fit in amid their limited society, nobody may shine, beyond a material way. Their positions become them, especially their Trucks

What I find tragic is how quick and thoroughly they’ll disown a family member having strayed.. You know, the one currently in prison, or worse, California.

I have an easy time meeting ‘them,’ but an impossible time remaining connected. There’s a ..f-in religious test question tossed into every fifth sentence, something to verify that ‘you’re of the body.’ And if failing that test, you’re no longer to be taken seriously or trusted. You’re the enemy.

A ‘time’ I occasionally recall is the point in Bush Jr’s presidency when it was too obviously crumbling for even them to ignore. A ‘magical time’ in which some of them actually admitted their mistake.. I feel we’re nearing that with trump - in record time! Will they admit they were wrong, or we were right …or jump directly to their go-to proclamation that ‘all politicians are evil’ and ‘that’s why they’re no longer going to vote’...?

I very much appreciate your post, if for no other reason than it makes me feel even less sorry I had no immediate family to spend time with ‘over here’

I have noticed that a lot of the more affluent areas with the upscale homes are also more conservative. Don't get me started on the absolute greed of the 'prosperity gospel' of the religious. They obviously have skipped the 7 deadly sins of the religious dogma. Here's a scary but predictable link: [democracyguardian.com]

Interesting observation of the people in your family. I think a lot of us have been doing the same thing you did. By looking at our own families and close friends we can see just how we have all been conditioned to be so into our "things" by our society. We equate happiness and status with what we accumulate during our lifetimes. Not the relationships but the "things". In looking at my things that I have collected over the years I see that much of it is just stuff without much worth to anyone but me. I have begun purging my stuff to lighten my load, and pass on things to others who can use them or need them.

I'm into genealogy and old photos. Like old things too. But the older I've gotten the more I realize that things are just things. Trump is definitely someone with good ol' days syndrome. He's trying to go back to pre-WW2 with his isolationism. Not realizing that everyone breathes the same air, drinks the same water. We're learning that everyone on Earth is a relative whether close or not. We're all in this thing together. It's sad that people don't see that we're all people and shouldn't be excluded.

Old saying. "The only things that are important are the things you can escape a shipwreck with."