Consumerism. What is about these products that have us all brainwashed into buying something we don’t really need, but we really have to own? Some come with flashing lights, pin stripes and dressed up in nice packaging. Sold as “new and improved” but really are the same old tired products and believe it or not, some are more useless than others. We don’t seem to see that as we whip out our credit card to fill our boots our egos and lighten our pocket book. Consumerism by definition is a social economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in an ever greater amount. We have become kings of consumption and lemmings to commercialism. What we have become is a people consuming beyond excess of our basic needs. We have peaked as far as new and inventive products are concerned. Sure there have been upgrades in devices and many of them quite useful and many are done methodically to separate you from your hard earned cash. I should say that again. Most are done to separate you from your cash. What we have done as a species, is turn down a much darker road. The road to Capitalism, where the all mighty dollar is put above personal well being, and corporations know this. Hell they are betting on it. One thing we don’t see is the billions of dollars filling someone one else’s boots and pumping their egos while we rack up debt in a disturbing trend that has seen Canadians leverage 495 billion dollars, that’s BILLION with a “B” in debt. Debt not associated to mortgages. We are saving less too. Approximately 4.2% compared to our American counterparts saving at a rate of 5.8%. Due to them not relying on an overly inflated housing market. Something we have yet to deal with.
Don’t get me wrong. Consumerism has its place but it also has some serious side effects. LIke the ones pharmaceutical companies push on us through paid advertisements. Some of these side effects might include:
- A market where producers aimed at selling, create and encourage the consumer needs and desires, but never completely or permanently fulfills them. Thus creating a wash and repeat consumeristic process while simultaneously encouraging you to spend beyond your means.
- A capitalistic market that produces sub par products encouraging you to constantly replace the previous one.
- Consumeristic societies also consume products at a much higher rate, thus having more impact on the environment creating a much larger issue in the unforeseen future.
- Creating a society where money/goods are the greater good. Rather than influencing the less fortunate or helping others.
Consumerism is not a dying trend, in fact it’s growing at an exponential rate. A rate
our debt to income ratio is struggling to keep up with. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for consumerism. It has been around since ancient rome, ancient egypt, even in babylonian times. In no uncertain terms it has logged hundreds of years and if I dare say it, beat the sands of time. Like all things, consumerism has also become long in the tooth and eventually plays out as it has in previous civilizations. It was thought, at one time attending college was so the student could become a leader, an authority in his or her chosen field. Unfortunately since the 1990s times have changed. School now is mostly attended to allow students to create more money for the purchase of an ever growing need for more stuff. Shifting society away from a learning interest to one of mass consumerism. Unfortunately, this mentality has seen our values swing away from community, spirituality and integrity to one that leans towards something more undesirable, competition. Not the healthy kind but one of a one up man-ship mentality. Materialism, who has more stuff, and an ever growing disconnect towards our fellow man. As our civilization grows, so do the growing pains. We are learning to live and use a technology in a world where walls and distances are no more, at least when it comes to shopping or communicating long distance. But I fear, what we are losing is our neighbors, our communities and ourselves. All for something that really isn’t worth the price we paid.
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