'....we will not be helped by either a theory of stuff, or an attitude to stuff, that simply tries to oppose ourselves to it; as though the more we think of things as alien, the more we keep ourselves sacrosanct and pure. The idea that stuff somehow drains away our humanity.
This model of the noble, unmaterialistic savage is entirely unhelpful. All it achieves is the assumption of lost purity. It makes us feel alienated and polluted simply for being who we are.'
Judging theories on the basis of whether or not they are 'helpful' raises a whole lot more questions, but there is certainly food for thought here.