A lot of people feel a deep-seated unsease in their life. We're a couple of generations in to advertising and consumerism taking over the world and when people are presented with a problem, they often can't imagine any way to solve it except to buy a thing.
Modern society has trained people to limit their sense of agency down to only purchasing decisions. Then people are surprised when yanking the "buy" lever over and over doesn't make them happy.
I think you started on right track but reached a very wrong conclusion.
* Deep-seated unease: Yes
* No way to solve it except "buy a thing": No
Living in an Italian town is obviously a romantic escapist fantasy. No more Teams meetings. Instead you just pick up your daily loaf of bread from the baker down the twisty walkway. All your mundane troubles are gone.
The irony is that the Teams meetings will follow you, but with some luck, you can at least do them from antique balcony with an espresso in hand.
Maybe that hints that the sense of unease is coming from the working culture? If your job feels draining and stressful, neither feels like it advances you, nor society, nor has any kind of endgame, it makes sense that it will lead to increasing unhappiness and escapist fantasies.
> Living in an Italian town is obviously a romantic escapist fantasy.
Yes, exactly.
But note that the author presumes that the way to attain that fantasy is "buy a house". This is not an article about figuring out how to move to Italy, it's an article about buying a house in Italy.
There's almost no discussion of, saying moving logistics, visas, commutes, etc. It's not about the act of getting there. It tacitly assumes that the way you accomplish the goal is almost entirely by purchasing a thing.
A lot of people feel a deep-seated unsease in their life. We're a couple of generations in to advertising and consumerism taking over the world and when people are presented with a problem, they often can't imagine any way to solve it except to buy a thing.
Modern society has trained people to limit their sense of agency down to only purchasing decisions. Then people are surprised when yanking the "buy" lever over and over doesn't make them happy.