“The folly of Consumerism sends us on a wild goose chase for happiness
through materialism.”
Bryant H. Mc Gill
The Merrian Webster Dictionary
states consumerism “ the belief that it is good for
people to spend a lot of money on goods and services: the actions of people who
spend a lot of money on goods and services.”
Our
society today however unlike yester years when life was much simpler, is now
subjected to Advertising companies and big Corporations tell us that if we don’t have certain material things we are
not good enough and inevitably the masses fall to the bottom of the pyramid.
These growing forces make it very difficult
for the “average joe” to keep up or feel like they fit in. In my country of
Trinidad and Tobago in particular we find that during the carnival season,
persons will take out elaborate loans to play in costumes that exceeds the
average income, all to feel like they
fit in or to impress their friends and family. Yes even in the Caribbean, mass
consumerism is imported through our televisions, radio stations and social media sites. We are taught that America is greater and
better and buy into the whole concept of a land flowing with milk and honey,
until reality hits when we do get there.
Consumerism tells us that we need better
cars, better homes, better clothes and even a better body to fit in. We buy
into the illusion that having more makes us superior and better than another
person and we work tediously to achieve this feat.
Has
Consumerism aided in the demise of our society? Have we become more egocentric
and selfish because of it? These are the questions we need to ask. There are
countries all over the world where persons live in dire poverty and basic needs
like food and shelter don’t come by
easily; Yet we shuffle about in our normal lives worrying over needing more
money to buy things to impress people who don’t even care about us.
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