Henry David Thoreau believed that in order to live well, we need to reduce the amount of material goods we have. Otherwise, these things begin to dominate us. Take a position on this and explain.
I mostly disagree with Thoreau. The problem is that we get too attached to our possessions, not that we have too many (I won't exclude myself from this). People seem to forget that things are replaceable and they place sentimental value upon the lowliest of objects. If we can move past this notion, we can own as much stuff as we want and not have our lives be consumed by it. However, some people do seem to be incapable of ridding themselves of their things (just watch Hoarders), and these people prove Thoreau to not be completely incorrect.
Given those exceptions, I think that Thoreau just had a problem with materialism. He could have easily picked another target for this statement. He could have chosen religion, or money, or people, as I think these are all things that can consume a person's life if they don't manage them properly, but he probably just didn't like the way people became attached to possessions. I bet he was a communist.
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