Has anyone ever secretly hoped that their house would burn down so that they could be freed of the weight/burden of everything... and see how they feel about the person that is left standing with just their clothes?
YES! Kinda glad I'm not the only one.

How would our communities change if people focussed more on the kind of people they were instead of furnishing lives so that everyone can defined by their possessions.
I think it would be a relief! But also very confronting. I think I've spent much of my life terrified of finding out who I am and it's only in the past few years that I've started to overcome that. It's taken a lot of time and maturity, as well as life experience, to accept me as me, and not try to hide behind things. Real genuine relationships with open people have helped me with this (ie, when I see them I start to see myself through them), so throwing away the trappings of materialism would only help more.