Possessions obsessions

So listening to Papa Roach, "Between Angels and Insects".

"There's no money. There's no possessions, only obsession."

I'm struck with the thought that my obsession, yes it is, with video games and more particularly the kind where you accumulate 'stuff' is a sublimation of materialism to assuage the pain of not being able to accumulate real world 'stuff' for so long. I wouldn't call myself deprived but during my childhood we never 'kept up with the Jonses' nor made even a cursory attempt to and I was given a general impression that we were broke. However I went to a school district where 'the Jonses' were effectively idolized. I felt my family's purported lack, whether 'real' or not, and now I think it has perhaps had a lasting impact on my psyche. I feel compelled (yes, that's the right word) to play certain games. Not puzzle games, not shooters. I used to enjoy enforcing mastery on a difficult system (for a long time Gradius II was the best thing in the universe when it was new) but I'm not so good at twitch mechanics anymore. All that's left is really the grind for more ingame 'stuff' which, actually, I end up finding quite boring and not fun

So recognizing this drive, can I control it? Harness it? Expunge it as poison? Games have inherent value, yes, but not the way I tend to consume them.


Coming back and cleaning up the above into something approaching coherence I had the thought that I shouldn't blame my father (that's where the majority of my impression of destitution came from I suspect) as his parents were, my my admittedly faulty estimation, poor. I imagine it takes a solid generation to expunge that from the family's psyche.
I've also read the full lyrics, instead of just listening to them, and am struck by ... well, by the whole thing. I was going to look at a couple of lines but nevermind. Here's the whole thing.

Last word. I'm amused how the close-mindedness of Religion would deprive me of such insight. Rejecting things that don't immediately fall in line with your beliefs is idiocy no matter what terms you couch it in or justifications you give. If scripture is your excuse to reject something without considering its value then you devalue scripture.