Consumerism, life has no meaning

Question

OK today I have spent the day in Liverpool city centre (mostly window) shopping. These thoughts have been brewing for a while: Why do we spend our lives shopping? whether it's the latest fashions or re-decoating the house, is buying all there is or is there more to life?

Personally I am feeling the planet needs to rewind and re-think. Yes peeps have started to recycle more, we have farmers markets and organic foods, but the supermarkets still reign supreme. The poor stay poor and the rich get richer. This is not the life I want my children to experience.

What do you think? How can we make the way of the world better?

Answer 1

Now that's some thought-provoking reflection you did today ... kudos for you for at least pausing and considering that there just has to be "more to all this" besides consumerism.  In short, I agree.

First off, in my view, we can't make the way of the world better -sadly so.  However, we can make the way of ourself ... you, me, our family and friends, better and, as such, these small, seemingly insignificant, personal changes may take hold and by the time your children are adults the world is indeed measurably better.

But, if we think there are politicans and others in positions of leadership thinking and reflecting like you are (and I am), and that their interests is in less consumerism and a better world, then that mistake will continue to cost us -all 6.7 billion of us- any hope to see significant change.

It seems reasonable to assert that the very small group of people in power (those that control the lion's share of the world's wealth) have little to no interest in engendering any type of change that may undermine their power or cause a shift in the balance of their wealth.  

Their primary concern is to sustain -and increase- their power and wealth.  And certainly one way to ensure that is to convince the "unexamined" people across the globe -especially in western societies- that consumerism is the ticket to the good life ... when in fact, consumerism -generally- is the ticket to debt, and debt from the small folk keep the rich and powerful ... well, rich and powerful.

So, for starters you and I and a handful of others can begin by simply saying "no to consumerism" especially that level of consumption that is driven by our greed and not our need.

At a minimum, less consumption means less waste ... and less waste is a huge step forward for improving the world.

Answer 2

Buy more.

Answer 3

Uh, you're the one that spent all day window shopping.

Why do I have to re-wind and re-think?

Answer 4

Life is not meaningful if we don't consume to live either. And what a boring life if all are rich or all are poor. Balancing everything is one way i think to make the world better. If supermarkets continue to reign, then more employment must be given to poor ones too. :)

Answer 5

that's capitalism for ya ^_^

Answer 6

watch trainspotting. your question totally reminded me of that, even if it's only kinda relevant.

if we didnt' consume, what would be our purpose?

Answer 7

I think you are on to something. Consumerism is ultimately meaningless. The reason why people spend their lives working so much to have a lot of money to spend on stuff that they really don't need and will forget about soon enough is because of the intense social pressure to do so. Our society is awash in advertising. And while we have gotten so used to it we don't notice the effects it has on our actions, billions wouldn't be spent by corporations every year on advertising and marketing if they weren't effective. Advertising aside, peers provide an enormous pressure to consume. Things like keeping up with fashions, spending a lot on nights out, buying new gadgets and so on are driven a lot by pressure from one's peers to conform. Plus of course, consumerism is reinforced unconsciously all the time by the mass media. Things like fashion and electronic gadgets constantly play big roles in television shows and movies, again sending messages that these are key parts of life.

I don't know if we can make the world better as a whole, but we can separate ourselves from consumerism and the unhealthy mindset it produces. In my own life I have found that a few things have helped me to avoid consumerism.

-no TV. I haven't had a TV for years. When I watch TV after having been without it for a while, it really stands out how over the top and artifical everything is. I seriously cannot even watch CNN because it seems too sensationalist. And watching Fox News would probably kill me.

-Spending time outside the 1st world. Our lives here are so enveloped by the mass media most of us seem to forget that there is a big world outwise the developed world, and it is not, for the most part, miserable. I spent some time in India (among other places) and this really helped me to distance myself from the myopia that the mass media industry induces.

-Education. Fields like psychology, philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies all question the assumptions that consumer culture relies on. Studying these (and other) fields can be rewarding and can help a person to look at accepted norms more critically.

I have no experience parenting, so I can't give you much advice about your children, but I think if you expose them to other cultures, particularly developing world cultures, which are typically ignored, dismissed, or subverted by consumer culture, limit their TV time, and encourage them to learn about the world, you will be off to a good start.