[neilv]

Yes, almost from the start, it sounded to me like something cooked up by marketing experts, either:

* to sell "experiences" to people because those marketers had services to sell;

* to sell "experiences" to people because the target demographic couldn't afford possessions; or

* more a psyop campaign, to placate demographics for whom the memes are that they'll never own a home, never be able to retire, etc.

Or all three.

Sure, there was the random carefree person who just liked to surf every day, and somehow ends got met, but for the rest of us, we were sold on expectations of homeownership, vehicles, consumer products. We can see that society is set up to expect people to have those things, and we can see how people's experience is generally better when they can afford those possessions.