What you need to survive? I think we need to have a place to life, have foods, have some clothes and have some tools. The questions is, as it should be home, as we acquire foods, clothes and tools. For this reason you have a rules and they define the culture. Nowadays, if you want to survive in today's society, you need to buy many good or bad things.

Firstly you can acquire things which help to do your activity in the society. Furthermore they are more efficient and environmentally friendly. For example robots that help you, cars that consume less, smart phone that improve the communication with other people.

Secondly you can buy new clothes because they are old fashioned, you acquire a smart phone because it is not better than friends or the battery do not work. Or you buy a car that it do a lot of things you never use. But the most awful concept in the today society is the programmed obsolescence, as a result you can buy something which will only works for a limited time.

In conclusion you have two possibility. The first option is to buy the minimum amount of things therefore you have to more freedom. The second option is to buy a lot of things therefore you have a lot of power.