Has the act of material consumption come full-circle? As a society we endlessly consume, conditioned to fuel the wheels of capitalism through the means of purchase and commerce, attempting, striving, to purchase and consume our way to happiness and self-fulfillment. But it’s a hollow ambition.
Material consumption now caters for our ever shrinking attention span; the technology sector continuously squeezes us for the next update, to satisfy our desire to consume; but for what reason? The benefits of mainstream technology are essentially irrelevant, they’ve enhanced our ability to communicate, yes, but at the price of a controlling indsutry that homegenises conveyer-belt consumption. Has it helped us develop? Unlikely.
Do you ever question why you continuously purchase? Perhaps this article can serve as a moment of realisation, a spark that suggests the things most important to us are hidden amongst a surface of consumption. Just begin to question whether anything you’ve purchased in the last ten years of your life has truly changed, or enchanced the most important aspects of your existence; like your happiness, well-being or self-realisation. Yes, vital information can be purchased, traded or commerced but in an ideal world, education and information should be free of charge, not utilised to fuel the economy.
Useless consumption is dangerous and only reinforces the status-quo, meaning those without power, or money, or status, remain that way. It’s a tool of oppression. Marx once discussed that the only way a balanced society can exist, is if the means of production are controlled by those who produce, the main body of our civilisation, rather than the fat-cats, the top 1%. We’re essentially enslaved to work and told to consume, our time is the guage for our worth, rather than our skill or output; the profits are then reaped by those that sit atop the pile.
Re-think. Does consumption make you a better, happier person? Or is it just an inherent action that prior to now, seemed the only way forwards. Perhaps it’s not, perhaps another world is possible.