By Barbara Kingsolver

The problem is that most of the worlds stuff belongs to people who dont need it. Young people start off with 1）scarcity while old peoples houses get stuffed with books theyve already read， and cookware and sports equipment theyll never use again， and this one-way “stuff” street piles up at one end. The solution is easy. Age “50”， I think is the 2）statistical mid-point of adult life， so it should also be the peak of material possession. After that we should be required to own less each year than we did the year before. Heres[sic] some strategies for de-accumulation. When you move， pack up your stuff， number the boxes and leave the odd-numbered ones on the 3）curb. If you want to leave your kids an 4）inheritance， start early. They wont complain. On your birthday， call people younger than you and invite them to walk around your house and take things. If you feel attached to something， fine， hide it. Otherwise let it go. Life makes more sense with the goal of exiting exactly as we entered， with nothing at all.

問題是世界上大部分的物質(zhì)都屬于那些不需要它的人們。年輕人一開始就處于物質(zhì)匱乏的狀態(tài)，而老年人的房子里卻塞滿了已經(jīng)看過的書籍、他們不會再用的各種廚具和運動器械，這種單向的物質(zhì)鏈會把物質(zhì)在一頭堆積起來。解決的方法很簡單。50歲，我想這個年齡正處于人生的中點，也是物質(zhì)擁有量的頂峰時期。在此之后我們應(yīng)該每年都比上一年擁有更少的物質(zhì)。這里是一些減少物質(zhì)堆積的策略。當(dāng)你搬家時，整理好你的東西，給用于整理的箱子編號，把奇數(shù)編號的箱子丟在路邊。如果你想給你的孩子們留遺產(chǎn)，可以早點這樣做，他們不會抱怨的。在你生日那天，打電話給比你年輕的人，然后邀請他們到你的房子走走，拿走一些東西。如果你對某物依依不舍，沒問題，把它藏起來。否則就把它讓給別人?！吧粠恚酪膊粠ァ?，這樣的人生會更有意義。