Battling It Out: Minimalistic Gypsy vs. Materialistic American

I don’t want to like nice things.  I have grown to eschew words like “materialism” and “consumerism”, almost as if they were nasty four letter words that might result in scouring your mouth with lye based suds.  Harlan was raised on a farm where money was spent on necessities, not luxuries.  I was raised by a bargain-hunting mom who put more emphasis on the thought and meaning behind a purchase than the expense.  We have often touted to each other that we don’t need nice things or money to be happy, and we both hate shopping and have trouble justifying most purchases.  We are those crazy people who can’t buy things without going through the convoluted thought process of “What is this made out of?  Where was it grown/manufactured?  How many people took part in making it and what were their work conditions?  How far did it have to ship?  What will happen to it when we are done with it?”  It’s complete insanity.