Overconsumption and consumerism are out of control ☀
Me:
Cause of death: an incredibly dysfunctional society where overconsumption and consumerism are out of control while education and adulthood are neglected.
Marco, I like you, but every other post you make is about something you just bought or you are considering buying. So this is hard to take, coming from you.
You have a point, but I don’t feel it’s in the same league:
- I only buy things I can afford. The only debt I’ve ever taken on was financing for a car, which I paid off after 18 months.
- I never buy anything at retail if I can reasonably get it online.
- I know better than to assume that anything at retail is ever a “good deal”.
- I’ve never killed anyone trying to get into a Wal-Mart at 5 AM.
Fair enough. I didn’t mean to imply that you were irresponsible or homicidal. I think it’s good that you avoid debt. Here’s to not trampling people!
I must chime in. Dalasverdugo’s point is right on the money Marco, because u have made ‘over-consumption’ the basis for your argument, not shopping online vs shopping in store, or the IQ of a particular consumer. Anyone can and most do over-consume, whether they can afford it or not is another issue. I’m willing to bet that most compulsive sprees are being conducted by the debt-free upper classes. Obsessive tendencies towards materialism is at the root of this mostly western pandemic. And we all should take an honest inventory of our actions, especially in the light of Obama’s upcoming reign, and the sacrifices he will be demanding of us.
Eh, I think Marco has not neglected his (a) education and (b) adulthood. Judging from his posts and career success to date, I’d assess him to be way above the curve, juxtaposed against fellow twentysomethings. In my own twentysomething days, I may have nabbed the education, but maturity over overconsumption would wait until thirtysomething years.
But I do understand the replies by dalasverdugo and kateoplis. A while back, I challenged a popular and respected science fiction author on his assertion that the 1980s were a golden age of programming, where the machines were sold with development tinkering built-in (so students could do all those BASIC exercises), as opposed to the Windows machines of today that come with no compiler or no Basic interpreter as back in those thrilling, nostailgic times of yesteryear he waned for as well as attributing young American reluctance to enter computer science and computer engineering career paths.
You see, his view was anchored in a golden computing age mythos, that unlike the present age, all who wished to experiment in programming computers were able to. But those purchases were the province of the affluent (at least until the late 1980s), and economically disadvantaged Americans were unable to afford such financial outlays. Computers cost more than your automobile. Very few were blessed to own a machine they could play with. I can remember wishing for a computer, but knowing full well it was something that would never happen until I completed college and secured a full time professional job. What little money my hands came upon was earmarked for food (and I lived on $10 a week in food money), gasoline to get to the second job, and beer (though $2 could last you all night).
Meanwhile, I observed roommates and friends, fortunate enough to have rich parents, blow stacks of money on speakers, records, trips, toys, etc.…. I never realized how poor I was until I lent a dormitory friend (who was in need of a trip to the laundry room) a pair of socks and a day later he unmercifully ridiculed me — for they were a tad worn and hole laden. I looked in my drawer and noticed that most of my socks were just like that.
I never brooded over it, I just reconciled that one day I would have a decent job and would be able to afford those things.
Now, to the comment stream about consumerism and overconsumption — there is a lot of admonition, chastising those who “refuse to live within their means”. Some of it comes from the affluent who call out those who borrow for what they easily purchase on a whim, even if it as frequent as a UPS delivery nearly every day. Some of it is from those sated in self-deprivation, criticizing those weaker wills for their flawed spendthrift ways. And while no way do I completely absolve those for their imprudent financial acts, the matter is a bit more nuanced.
- Unprecedented bombardment of psychological riffs to buy, charge and consume. Advertising and marketing professionals have so honed their craft, making it a cognitive assault that seeps into skulls, igniting desire for things not necessary for survival. Even the most hardened must concede that such ploys are effective, otherwise why would so many millions be spent on broadcasting polished message appeals?
- Rising inequality. Since the late 1970s, incomes at the top grew exponentially, but the majority of working Americans, wages stagnated. People really are driven to “keep up with the Joneses” and it sets up an arms race where “the top 1 percent are armed to the teeth and everybody else is scavenging for ammunition”. I struggle to explain and paraphrase, but economist Robert Frank does an excellent job of detailing.
Finally, rewinding all the way to the start of this thread, the Wal-mart trampling tragedy — here, all I can add is I do not understand the psyche of Wal-mart shopper. No, I take not a “boycott Wal-mart” stance, but it astounds me how gaga shoppers get over saving a little money. That they have no moral qualms over Wal-Mart management ethics:
- Exploited offshore labor. Yeah, the response is “well everybody does it”, but Wal-mart created the model and when it exercises its market power, all else in the chain must fall in line too.
- Corporate socialism benefactors. The same rural denizens decrying “socialism” are oblivious to the tide of government largess flowing to chain store retailers. Subsidized land, tax immunity, tax deductions, discounted bonds, and outright monetary gifts fill their chests, sounding a death knell for local based competitors, who would be hard pressed to compete even without all the goodies granted to Wal-Mart (or Cabela’s).
- Cheap, disposable, inferior goods. I’d say 95% of the stuff bought at Wal-mart is destined for the landfill in less than five years. But it’s emblematic of the throw away society we live in now.
