"Immigrants were even worse. Taking pictures in front of other people houses and cars and send them home as one's own was quite common. When I visited my old friends a few years ago the commented that I was the only person "returning from the West" who did not show "the pictures." "
Alas, alas, you're right. When I went to Romania, I often heard praise about how nice it was that I wasn't "putting on airs" -- but the praise was tinged with...disappointment.
"Commodity fetishism is almost ubiquitous. The only way to free oneself from its spell is to experience it to nausea and then reflect on all that one lost (a really long list, indeed) under its spell."
I don't know if it's ubiquitous; but the last part of your statement is very true. I was thinking last night that if material comfort was all it took to make people happy, Americans should be ecstatic; but they're not. How can I tell? Because when people are really and truly happy/joyous they experience this feeling of spontanous generosity: they want to share; they want to give. But this is very far from the case in the U.S.; everyone just wants to accumulate, hoard, and secure. Happy people are not afraid.
Joanna