Thoughts on Materialism
by Luis Diy
You are not defined by what phone you have or what brand you wear.
The exponentially increasing population of people who relive the 80s mantra 'shop till you drop' and believe that life is about brands made me ask myself a question. Will we be able to live a healthy and happy life without these expensive and unnecessary materials? Or do these inanimate objects have so much value that modern life is now impossible without possessing high-end gadgets or the newest fashion collection?
For some people, the answer to this is no.
Most often, the act of being materialistic is attributable to advertisement. The image they project is what they want us to think we need. Often, if we do not quench our wants, our needs, to be, to fit in, then our self-esteem spirals downward, ultimately leading us to buy the advertised product anyway.
If all your closest friends have the newest phones, while you still have the same phone from five years ago, won't you feel left out?
This compels us to buy the newest releases, to become too focused on spending, therefore contributing to the rapid growth of the materialistic and consumeristic society. Instead of us being the consumers, we become the consumed, giving in to the temporary glamour of whims, the glamour which fades away as fast as these trends appear.
How else could we acquire these 'needs' without money? Of course, it might seem unfair for us, the spenders, that these trends, fast to disappear, burden us with a cost that may leave us with a lasting dent on our wallets. Sure, maybe it's not our money we're constantly squandering; it could be our parents', yet we go on, oblivious and selfish, filling our seemingly infinite closets.
Most often, the act of being materialistic is attributable to advertisement. The image they project is what they want us to think we need. Often, if we do not quench our wants, our needs, to be, to fit in, then our self-esteem spirals downward, ultimately leading us to buy the advertised product anyway.
If all your closest friends have the newest phones, while you still have the same phone from five years ago, won't you feel left out?
This compels us to buy the newest releases, to become too focused on spending, therefore contributing to the rapid growth of the materialistic and consumeristic society. Instead of us being the consumers, we become the consumed, giving in to the temporary glamour of whims, the glamour which fades away as fast as these trends appear.
How else could we acquire these 'needs' without money? Of course, it might seem unfair for us, the spenders, that these trends, fast to disappear, burden us with a cost that may leave us with a lasting dent on our wallets. Sure, maybe it's not our money we're constantly squandering; it could be our parents', yet we go on, oblivious and selfish, filling our seemingly infinite closets.
We should learn to be content with what we have; we should learn to appreciate our blessings, for many others may not have even a fraction of what we do, for these blessings may disappear in the blink of an eye.
Yet, with these superfluous wants, the materialistic human is content.
Do we truly need these? Must we burden ourselves with unnecessary objects which, in the long run, give us nothing in return? Asking ourselves these simple questions again and again may help us alleviate our consumeristic and materialistic habits.
We should learn to be content with what we have; we should learn to appreciate our blessings, for many others may not have even a fraction of what we do, for these blessings may disappear in the blink of an eye.
We are not all consumed, however. Not everyone in the society is encompassed by the lure and the false promises. Hidden far away from the paper grandeur of materialism, one can find people, people who, unlike most of us now are, have been unfazed by the hypnosis of consumer goods. Simple lives they lead, not wanting, not fussing over unnecessary wealth.
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