 Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. Today's video, I'm going to be talking about materialism, and influencers, content creators, YouTubers, whatever you wanna call people on the internet that make content. So if that interests you, then just keep on watching. If you guys are new here, make sure you're subscribed, and also follow me on Instagram. Turn on your post notifications, all that jazz. Thank you to those of you who do have your notifications on. It means the absolute world to me. And let's just get on into my rambles. So I wanna first start off with this concept of halls, try-on halls, unboxings, all of this stuff. Because I will tell you, from a firsthand account with making content online, stuff really helps bring content, like create content, because you have stuff that takes up time. You have the sounds, like let's say ASMR. You have so much stuff to fill time with in your video when it comes to certain things. Clothing, so much has to do with clothing on the internet and shopping at Target and everything like that. I mean, let's just say a good percentage of people's channels is having to do with consumption. And it's really interesting. I will admit that when I have stuff to show or unbox, I'm like, yes, I have content and that's horrible. Like I'm the type of person that likes to save a lot of money so I can like dump a lot of money, you know, on the new iPhone or a Gucci bag. But then again, I'm like, oh my gosh, I can do an unboxing on this Gucci bag. Maybe write it off on my taxes. There's like a fine line when it comes to materialism and content creation. And I just wanted to talk about it with you guys. There's been a lot of talk about people buying things, doing a haul with the tags on it, try on hauls and stuff, and then taking it back to the store, such as like Target to return it and get credit. And I think that's really kind of a shitty thing to do because it's not being honest, but I understand why it's because they need content and stuff to share. Also, if they have affiliate links or anything to go with that item that they can link in the description box, it's really easy for people to do that. And then they make money off of that item, but they've like returned the item. So I find that to be like really interesting and definitely kind of shady on the part of, you know, the person you're watching. But that goes back to the mindset of like, you can't take what you see online at face value because it's only a fraction of reality. Yes, there's some reality, but it's not all reality. If you get what I mean, take like a Lou Lemon Hall. Like that's great and everything, but it's just crazy that people use materialistic things to share with their audience, but it's not really genuine. Don't worry, mine's like genuine, but again, I admit that it's like easy to buy things and like talk about them. It's like really easy content. I mean, when I don't have a package or something that I'm like, oh, I can share that on my channel. I'm like, what am I gonna film today? Like what am I gonna talk about? And I have a lot of thoughts and everything. So it's not too difficult for me, but it is like a cop out. Like when I know something's coming or I know that I have this to talk about so when I don't, it's a little like, eh, it's hard to come up with something, but I always have something to talk about. I also wanted to talk about writing off taxes, writing off material possessions for tax purposes. Now I know that people can write off certain things because of videos like, you know, some family vloggers like write off a percentage of their house for taxes because it's their set. I think there should be some new like laws because I mean, I only write off like the really big things that I do dedicated videos for and then I can like prove like, hey, I made a whole video about the Chloe Ting resistance bands. Like I bought those to review, to use. I mean, I use them for personal use, but I mainly bought them for the video. I bought the hula hoop for a video for exercise. So those are, I perceive to be right offable items, but I think a lot of YouTubers take advantage of, you know, showing things in videos so they can write them off on their taxes. Like what about a grocery haul in like a video? That's not the entire video. Well, maybe it is. Are they writing that off on their taxes? Like that's a little ridiculous. The average family like can't do that, but then again, they're not putting their life online and have a business. I don't know. It's just really weird. And I think that there should be like some regulations on like what you can and cannot write off on your taxes when it comes to material possessions. Like what if someone wrote off their car as a business expense, which is legitimate in some instances. So I don't know that it's just really confusing. And I just see that stuff and spending money can benefit YouTubers because of the tax benefits. So that's another thing that I wanted to bring up. I wanted to start this conversation about materialism because I've seen a few other people talk about it and I just wanted to bring it to my community and just like be honest that it's so easy in like a relief when you have like a product to talk about. But I also like doing product reviews. I genuinely do, especially when they're like not sponsored or whatever, because then I can tell you like, I get into the real nitty gritty details because like that's what I would wanna know if I was a consumer buying something. So I don't know. Like I have think materialism is like horrible because people are just buying things for videos. But the other side, it's like, oh, if that product, like if I see that product and like I want that product, like I want an in-depth review, you know, like of a bag of a makeup product, of a hair product. There's just, I don't know. I just wanted to chat with you guys about this because it's been on my mind for a while and I just feel like it's such a big thing online. Whether it's Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, people are just consuming so much and buying so much. And it's like, oh my gosh, people, relax. I also wanted to touch on the fact that YouTubers always say, you know what? If you work so hard, you can get this Lamborghini. If you work so hard, you will be able to achieve like everything that I've achieved. You know what? They're lying to you. Like, okay, just take a firefighter for example. Like they can work so hard at their job but that job in no way is going to pay more than the like set salary. Like I am just saying, maybe it's different for a business but if the business is a shitty idea and like people don't like it or it's not really necessary and it's overly priced and like no matter how hard you work or like spend your days at that job, it doesn't mean you're gonna get any further. You know, hell, like I've been doing YouTube for I don't know how long, since 2015. And it's not like I've amassed a million subscribers. I know I haven't niched down, but that's fine. But like YouTubers are lying to you. If you're a police officer and you are the best police officer there is, you're not gonna be like affording a Lamborghini like these people. So don't listen to them. Like obviously work hard and achieve your dreams or whatever, but just know, oh, if you work so hard at your job or this, that like you can get this, no you can't. I don't like teachers. Okay, you can be the best teacher that there is out there. Students can love you. But does that mean your salary is gonna get raised? No, I feel like some of these YouTubers and content creators, because they can afford this lavish lifestyle, afford a $3 million house, afford so many like luxuries that they're like, well, if I can do it, you can do it. Not really. You struck an algorithm at the right time. You knew the right people. You were consistent with your content. There's a lot of other factors that did take hard work, but that doesn't mean that someone else can achieve that. And that's just like life isn't fair and that's just how it is. Some people have more and some people have less. There will always be someone that has more than you and there's always gonna be someone that has less than you, so whether you work hard or not. So obviously I'm not saying not to work hard and like do your best, but I'm just saying, don't listen to these YouTubers that are giving false narratives of like, if I can do it, you can do it because blah, blah, blah. Like that's just not true. That doesn't mean to give up. Like I still haven't given up somehow, but I genuinely enjoy doing this. So it's not like I, you know, I would love a nice house, but like when I, you know, I'm older in a different chapter in my life, I would love a nice house, but it's not everything. And I mean, it'd be cool if I could do YouTube full time. But again, I'm lucky that I even get two cents from this website and I'm very, very grateful for that. So I think that's enough rambling for one video. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Make sure to give it a thumbs up. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and I'll see you guys in my next video. Bye.