Consumerism
Consumerism:
As humans we tend consume. To live is to consume. And guess what that makes us? Consumers This lifestyle of consuming can easily start to become excessive though when it extends above what is needed. Excessive consumerism leads to the fanciest technology, faster cars, trendier clothes and cooler gaming. It promises happiness and fulfilment… and I’m sorry to break it to you, but it doesn’t deliver it. Instead excessive consumerism results in a desire for more. How do we always manage to get sucked into all of this? Many times it can be just plain old greed. But more often I Think it is because we all crave a sense of worth and belonging. Having stuff just like everyone else, can give us a temporary sense of self pleasure. At the heart of consumerism is the media. The media is a very powerful thing. It features in our lives and is literally everywhere we go. It therefore is a large influence on what we think and do. When we are constantly bombarded with images of wealth and material possessions our attitudes change to one of “if everyone has it, we should to.” And bingo. There you have the driving force of consumerism. Advertising through the media also creates a level of expectations to meet and because these are so artificially high we get unhappy if we can’t afford the material items we think we should have. Then as we become unhappy with our life, we try to get more money, so we can buy more money on ‘things’. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s just sad that in today’s society material possessions are becoming more valued than human values such as respect, honour and integrity. How can we fight this vicious cycle? We should take a step back and realize that excessive consumption is not delivering on its promise to provide happiness and fulfilment. Consumption is necessary, but excessive consumption is not. Our life can be far better lived, if we intentionally reject that. Quick story: In 2001, some towns in India were stricken by plagues of
As humans we tend consume. To live is to consume. And guess what that makes us? Consumers This lifestyle of consuming can easily start to become excessive though when it extends above what is needed. Excessive consumerism leads to the fanciest technology, faster cars, trendier clothes and cooler gaming. It promises happiness and fulfilment… and I’m sorry to break it to you, but it doesn’t deliver it. Instead excessive consumerism results in a desire for more. How do we always manage to get sucked into all of this? Many times it can be just plain old greed. But more often I Think it is because we all crave a sense of worth and belonging. Having stuff just like everyone else, can give us a temporary sense of self pleasure. At the heart of consumerism is the media. The media is a very powerful thing. It features in our lives and is literally everywhere we go. It therefore is a large influence on what we think and do. When we are constantly bombarded with images of wealth and material possessions our attitudes change to one of “if everyone has it, we should to.” And bingo. There you have the driving force of consumerism. Advertising through the media also creates a level of expectations to meet and because these are so artificially high we get unhappy if we can’t afford the material items we think we should have. Then as we become unhappy with our life, we try to get more money, so we can buy more money on ‘things’. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s just sad that in today’s society material possessions are becoming more valued than human values such as respect, honour and integrity. How can we fight this vicious cycle? We should take a step back and realize that excessive consumption is not delivering on its promise to provide happiness and fulfilment. Consumption is necessary, but excessive consumption is not. Our life can be far better lived, if we intentionally reject that. Quick story: In 2001, some towns in India were stricken by plagues of