Materialism and it’s Blinding Power
We have been born into a life based on mass consumerism they (Supporters) say it’s good for the economy and continue to push more and more on us through adverts and the mass media. An example, seeing a celebrity sporting an item whether it be clothing or jewellery will make people that idolise that specific celeb wish to sport the same thing regardless of the price tag. Not knowing that most of these things are given to them for free for this very purpose. Consumerism is the ideology of today and the truth is the beneficial is not the common consumer as the common consumer is often the employee and never the employer who works long hours at a low rate of pay, to buy what the latest ‘Must Have’ item is. Costing over 10 hours of their labour, rendering your hard work into a piece of material which took 1-3 hrs to make in a factory dominated by machines. Retail jobs are a prime example of this consumer cycle. Why do you think people are always wondering where there money goes? it’s because we are not actively spending it, rather we unconsciously buy goods which also provide a false/temporary sense of pleasure, comforting us and reinforcing the fact that ‘buying’ is good for us because it makes us ‘Happy’. If that were the case why is it that we need top ups of this happiness so regularly that it has become a common addiction for those that are oppressed, the most universally that is the Women. Most addictions today come with a warning of some type. For smokers it’s the graphic imagery of smokers who have be physically affected, Alcohol is often sold with the ‘Drink responsibly’ label or warning close by. Yet ‘Shopperholics’ have nothing to warn them about the problems they will encounter if they keep up such a lifestyle, no bankruptcy warning or images of Bailiffs taking your goods away from you when you cannot afford payments. NOTHING. No protection over the thing that puts us in a Recession now Buying Mindlessly. Advertisements play on insecurities and claim the solution is at the Shopping Centre but the truth is, the insecurities still remain present after the thousand pound shopping spree. So we work harder for longer until the next Pay day or dip into the overdraft that our kind banks gave us, only to splash on the saviour to all our problems more material. The only benefit of the consumer market is the person whose name is on the latest designer you’ve bought. If we made our own clothes would they still benefit as much? I’m not saying I do not consume these goods. But I tell you one thing I’d rather put money into the hands of an independently made good than the super chains of today.
Saidi Lawal
