Is Consumerism an end in itself?

Texts of General Interest (link)

Dr. James Manos (MD)

January 1, 2018

Is consumerism an end in itself?

Nowadays, consumerism affects modern humans, making some call our species ‘Homo consumus’ instead of ‘Homo sapiens,’ replacing wisdom with consumption. The question of whether the ardent desire to possess things makes people less aware of essential personal qualities is a controversial one. However, I am inclined to the opinion that materialism makes people less keen to adopt moral values, including empathy and courtesy.

Undoubtedly, consumerism monopolizes people's lives who struggle and even work overtime to buy and possess material goods. Many of these goods are gadgets such as cell phones, laptops, flat smart televisions, and others that supposedly make people who own them happy. Although they may be considered cheap, some of these gadgets, such as the latest iPhone, may be costly. 

This race of materialism continues throughout life, and it is frustrating that it may become even an obsession. In any case, it usually occurs at the expense of moral values, especially the ones related to our relationship with others. These include sympathy, empathy, politeness, subtleness, and concern for others. The last has been replaced by utilitarianism, which belongs to the spectrum of individualism. Instead of being concerned about others, we often feel them as rivals of our everlasting race of materialism. 

Furthermore, materialism deprives them of virtues that are of crucial importance to society, and this inhuman behavior is against our nature as Aristotle used to say that a human is a social animal. Speaking for myself, in my life, I had met plenty of people whose only concern was to just get something from me or offer only when this was mutual, rather than providing me something regardless of my counteroffer. 

Consumerism is a chimera, a monster that destroys human relationships as everyone strives for the American dream: to work enough to possess a car, a cozy house, and a dog. But it is not certain that these will make us feel pleased, as consumerism deleteriously affects our relationship with others. Simply put, competition for obtaining material goods makes people less keen to socialize with others, as their secularism prevents them from engaging in close relationships. 

To sum up, consumerism has severe repercussions on human relations, and their rivalry can explain this for possessing tangible rather than moral values. In other words, materialism deprives us of virtues, including showing concern and empathy to others, which are significant for creating bonds with our neighbors, as our only concern is to endlessly obtain new goods that will supposedly make us jovial individuals.

Thanks for reading!