Letters: A nation of hoarders

Re “The mess is us,” Opinion, Sept. 22

I have read that as many as 2% of Americans are compulsive hoarders. This seems a lowball figure when one observes most residential streets, where people do not seem to use their garages for cars anymore because they need to store so much stuff.

If we have so many possessions that we can’t find room for them in our houses and must use the space meant for our autos, then we have too many unneeded objects. Some even have too many cars for their driveway, so they must use the street.

We seem to be a nation of hoarders. A person’s well-being should be measured not by how many possessions he has but rather by how well he can do without excess.

Indeed, as Howard Mansfield wrote in his Op-Ed piece, clutter is “the cholesterol of the home.”

Milt Rouse

Dana Point

ALSO:

Letters: Reagan on the debt ceiling

Letters: In LAUSD, iPads become toys

Letters: Who’s served by L.A.’s leaders?