know-what-I'm-sayin?
Yup. My grandparents used to use a phrase: "land poor." They used it to describe farmers who had purchased far more land than they could farm. The mortgage payment on the land, most of which was unused, was so high that they could barely eat. It's the same concept. People buy lots of jewelry, cars, and other "bling" items, and live in a hovel eating spam and crackers. Rather than actually improving their living conditions, they improve the
perception of their living conditions. If you do this enough, you'll fool yourself.
I disagree with the source of the problem. I think black culture learned it from white culture. Either that, or it's just something people tend to do, with the most notable results occuring in poorer groups. Having lived in, and extensively visited a few areas that really do qualify as impoverished, I have observed this phenomenon in all races and in classes where I would not have expected to find it. Being poor in something seems to me to be part of an overall poverty mentality. I have seen people who live in a hovel of a trailer in the middle of nowhere with tens of thousands of dollars invested in barely used tools, guns, cars, etc., but not a dime spent on the leaky roof. I have actually heard people say "If I had an X, then I would be in better shape," when X has absolutely nothing to do with the person's trade, profession, or style of living. Even worse, I have heard people say the same thing about an item that really would improve their lives, finally acquiring it, only to "need" the next thing without utilizing the last.
In contrast, I have seen some people who I might have thought were "object poor" who were actively engaged in improving their lives. Their lives were more difficult because of their lust for things, but they were making headway. These people were the exception. I have yet to hear someone of my age group or my parents' say "Well, I have all of X I need, so it's time to put it to good use making my life better." My grandparents say it all the time, and they buy a new car every decade in cash.
I think we, as a group, are becoming more aware of this problem because its invasion of white, middle-class culture is expanding so rapidly and becoming such a burden. (I'm basing this on what I believe is an accurate assumption: that most of us are considered middle class) We are becoming more financially unbalanced as our willingness to carry debt increases. It doesn't have to be farmland or dental jewelry, it can easily be a $250,000 house, two new cars, and a country club membership. Instead of evaluating a purchase, understanding credit, and developing a plan to deal with our debts in short order, we only concern ourselves with whether the monthly payment exceeds our paycheck. The glorification, and therefore the pursuit, of the "bling" culture is just a part of it.
