Ceci n'est pas un blog
Posts tagged consumerism
Is this your religion?
Jan 11th
What is the dominant worldview — or religion — of people in the West? Arthur Jones identifies the "Western Religion" as being materialism, with the related beliefs that "physical nature is all there is" and that "enjoying material possessions is all that matters". It is the story of science, technology, economic growth and consumerism, as follows:
- How do we gain true knowledge? Through science – by asking the elite scientific experts to share their wisdom.
- Why do we want that knowledge? So we can develop the technology to control the world (even including human behaviour).
- Why do we want to control the world? So we can have constant economic growth.
- Why do we want constant economic growth? So we can all live in a consumer paradise.
More here, and in various talks on the WYSOCS recordings page.
I think he's onto something, though I suspect many in the West would live as if the second statement is true ("enjoying material possessions is all that matters") while not being so sure about the first ("physical nature is all there is").
What is consumerism?
Aug 17th
Thinking aloud, I wonder if we could characterise consumerism as being a view of the world in which the sensory aspect is the only aspect that matters. (In that sense consumerism would be reductionist, not in denying that the other aspects are real, but in denying that they are ultimately significant.)
So we could ask a consumerist some questions:
- How are you, Mr Consumerist? I'm feeling great/dreadful.
- Why do you want a new iPhone? My current phone makes me feel boring, and a new iPhone will make me feel good about life.
- That's not very rational, is it? So what?
- Why did you buy those expensive trainers? It makes me feel good to be seen in them.
- Why are you going somewhere exotic on holiday? I want the experience of something new.
- Why did you give money for the famine in Africa? It makes me feel bad seeing that on the TV.
- Why is it important to have law and order? It makes me feel safe.
- What exists in the cosmos, apart from yourself? Lots of things that have the potential to make me feel amazed, fascinated, satisfied, happy, amused, exuberant, loved and significant — and, sadly, lots of negative sensations too.
- Look, a tree! Yes, something that gives me the feeling of wonder, the sensation of seeing something I consider to be beautiful, the fascination of studying it, the thrill of climbing it, the satisfaction of reaching the top, the taste of its fruit, and the warmth of it burning in the fireplace.
- Tell me about God, if you believe in him? I believe in him, and he makes me feel loved, forgiven and good about myself.
- The Sun is one of around 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is itself one of around 100 billion galaxies in the known Universe. Let me tell you how that makes me feel.
- What is important to you in life? I want to experience life: the feelings of affection and significance that come through family and friends, the feeling of satisfaction at doing an interesting job where I can make a real difference, the feeling of having a moral code and sticking to it, and the endless experiences that are available to me through technology, communications and travel.
A quick search online suggests that I'm perhaps not alone in this line of thinking. For example, Andrew Basden writes in A Presentation of Herman Dooyeweerd's Aspects of Temporal Reality:
Absolutization (undue elevation) of any aspect brings harm because it breaks inter-aspect coherence. Absolutization of aspects in theoretical thought leads to other aspects being either ignored (example: positivism) or explained away in terms of the favoured one (example: evolutionism). Absolutization of aspects in society’s mindset (example: consumerism) destroys other aspects of society, such as justice or generosity (p.24, my emphasis).
A rant about riots
Aug 10th
At times like this it is difficult to resist the temptation to make unsubstantiated generalisations and rant uncontrollably about what you think is wrong with our society.
So I won't.
Lots of people have done lots of very bad things. It's their own fault and they are responsible for their actions.
But they didn't commit these crimes in a vacuum. Our society is screwed up, and that's something all of us are responsible for.
In the audio clip below, "Camila Batmanghelidjh, who founded the charity Kids Company, calls on society to understand why inner-city teenagers riot."
Two questions. Leave your answers below. (1) What is the problem? (2) What do we do about it?
Here's my first guess.
(1) The main problem is the disconnectedness of our society, with consumerism and individualism valued much more highly than meaningful relationships within local communities. This runs through all levels of society. There is no real connection between me, the place I live in, the people I buy things from or the people who employ me. All that matters is whether I'm a "have" or "have not". Can I as an individual live out my consumerist lifestyle? If I'm a "have" (job, money, possessions, opportunities), then that's fine. But if not, and if there's an opportunity to take from "them" and change from being a "have not" to being a "have", then why not take that opportunity? In other words, there are communities of "have nots" who feel no connection with the "haves" (such as owners of retail businesses), and that is one of the factors contributing to the recent rioting and looting.
(2) A big part of the solution is for each of us to let go of consumerism and individualism, and to think about what all of our actions do to strengthen the relational connectedness of our society. This includes what we do with our money. How does the way I use my money strengthen my local community? Are the banks and shops I use helping to create jobs for those who live in the deprived areas of our cities? Or are they bothered only about getting a low price and a good return on their investments, with no regard for the effect on fragile local communities, which amounts to keeping the poor as poor as possible and making the very rich even richer in the process? (Actually, am I bothered only about getting as much as I can for as little money as I can get away with too?) It's just one part of the solution, but I'm convinced that what we (relatively ordinary people) do with our money can make a real difference to whether our society is characterised by unfettered greed and consumerism (from the greedy bankers down to the opportunistic looters, with most of us somewhere in between) or by something better. For example, if most of the businesses we dealt with had social and ethical principles like those of the Co-operative Group, then wouldn't that make a difference?
Sure, there are other things to be done to deal with the symptoms — state investment in deprived areas, better policing, giving to charity, etc. — but I don't think these go deep enough to challenge the attitudes that permeate our society.
What do you think?
I live in York and I'm a research fellow in 
Loading ...
