Monday, January 06, 2014

Born to shop...

With Christmas past, household consumption reached its yearly peak in many countries. Whilst this celebration still brings up a homely picture of tranquility, the truth is that Christmas is characterized more by frenzied shopping, stress and overspending than by peace and quality time. As in so many other areas of our lives, we have been sold on the idea that satisfaction, even happiness, comes through purchase.

Two generations back, my Norwegian grandmother was overjoyed as a child when receiving one modest gift and tasting an imported orange for Christmas. Today, in a time dominated by long-distance trade and excess consumption, nobody gets even mildly excited by tasting a foreign fruit or receiving a small gift. Instead, adults dive into a cornucopia of food, typically followed by dieting, whilst children expect numerous expensive gifts, with electronic toys, games, gadgets and designer clothes topping the list.

This comparison in time is not about romanticizing the past or putting down the present, but a small example of how consumption has come to replace the things that give meaning; for example, creating with our own hands, sharing and interacting with others. In the process, we have been robbed of the ability to take pleasure from small wonders.

Most of us know that we are living a time of excessive consumption, eloquently defined as “consumer culture” – a rather fancy title for something that has more in common with an affliction of abuse and dependency, such as bulimia or alcoholism, than it has to do with culture. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Black Friday: A shameful orgy of materialism for a morally bankrupt nation...
  2. Black Friday is a hoax and a rip-off...
  3. Enslaved by our stuff...
  4. The dirty secret of Black Friday "discounts"
  5. There's a staggering conspiracy behind the rise of consumer culture...
  6. The Lightbulb Conspiracy... (Must watch)
  7. 10 corporations control almost everything you buy...

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