I wrote in response to a post by

foucaultonacid

but I feel like posting it here as well:

That other old cliche is also true: home is where your heart is. Here in the US a great importance is placed on owning your own home. Everyone, so the common wisdom goes, is yearning to one day marry their sweetheart and buy a house (and a car). Well, none of those are true for me and as I get older I find myself increasingly annoyed so many members of my generation have bought into this myth hook, line and sinker. We ought to know better.

True, I HAVE settled down with my sweetheart (though of course we aren’t allowed to get married) … but I want absolutely nothing to do with either buying a house or buying a car. I don’t want long-term monthly payments hanging around my neck decades from now. And if I find myself needing to move, I don’t want the jibber jabber of subletting or selling or any of that. Clean break.

“But, but but!” the adults say, “think of how much money you’re wasting in the long run by not paying towards a place of your own!” etc. etc.

Fuck that. I’d rather have my freedom. And not “owning” my “own” place has absolutely nothing to do with having a home, or feeling at home in my apartment. All that is just a materialistic myth. I feel very much at home where I am; and even if I had to move next month, with proper care I would feel at home in my new place too. I don’t need to “buy” something to feel like it’s mine.