Consumerism

[ZenitYerkes]

"You aren't beautiful enough, buy this to make that imperfections of yours disappear"
"You are not cool, buy this leather jacket and this scarf, or this deodorant; and all the hot chicks will be at your feet"
"You aren't thin enough, take this dietetic complement to fit in your old trousers"
"You don't look like a decent person, buy a Rolls Royce for Rockefeller's sake"
"Your toothbrush is not enough, buy this mouthwash so you can have white teeth and get rid of all those germs you never heard before but seem to be quite dangerous to your mouth's health"
"You are bored, buy the new XBOX 720"

"You are not happy enough, buy"

Strange how consumerism relates happiness and money. Like if I needed to take a beer to watch a football match, or an iPod so I could bring my music anywhere, or a house at the newest zone to have a decent social status.

Now I can't just have a sandwich, an apple and a glass of water for meal; I need to take a Coke, my favorite chips with the microwave meat of Dr Whatever and more. Nor can I do my work by myself with an encyclopedia, sheets of paper and a pencil; I need the latest Packard Bell computer to make my tasks in a record time. So I can write essays quicker, and have more time for myself, to buy more things; perhaps that videogame I never heard of before I switched on the TV and now need to buy, just to entertain myself.

The offer is huge.

But is it necessary? Does the product fit a need?

Or are we creating the need for the product?

"You need this to be happy, so buy it! Now with a 13% discount!"
Man, how I need that.

[Txum_kali'weya]

no, we don't need it. its just a way for people to get money. they make people want it so they can make money selling it.

[Helicoradian]

Honestly we don't need 90% of the crap that's advertised to us as something that we couldn't do without. In fact it pisses me off because it's made out to be that buying xyz product would in some way make you a happier person, but the cold reality is that most of the time it does the opposite. Just remember: the things you own, end up owning you.

[rasomaso]

Well I think it's more of a human nature to want something more and buy stuff. Sure, you're right about the advertising, there is too much of it (luckily, I don't watch TV ). But this just reminds me of thegearpage. The biggest guitar gear forum, they have a special word for it - GAS - means gear addiction syndrome There are guys with 20 amplifiers already, 35 pedals and 15 guitars, GASing for:


another new type of overdrive that has the most organic sound you will ever hear, it sounds virtually like an extension of your amp, with all the latest and greatest advancements in technology of true bypass and notice the super bright LED! It's 15 times brighter than the previous one!
or
this amplifier that has the most period correct specifications, the most high end stuff like built in attenuator and power scaling with ultimately no tone loss, 14 tubes to get cooking, and blablablah and blah...


and once they get it, do you think it will be enough? No. I was addicted too for a year and all the stuff I got, well there are certain pieces I don't use all that much and they cost a fortune. I'm sober now and moving on I just buy strings and that's all. But if it's one's hobby, they will sure want something better everytime.

Sometimes it's more like collecting stuff that gets rarely used, but I guess it's still better than usual electronics like phones and portable players and whatnot.
My boss is like that. He has to have every piece of the latest tech gadget market. Sometimes I don't even understand why he's buying all the stuff. What truly got me was when he wanted to get "some microphones (800 $) and a recorder (1200 $)" and when I asked why does he want/need it, he said "I wanna record me some birds in the garden, so I can listen to them at home"
I was just like... why the hell doesn't he just go and chill out in the garden? Some people just need the stuff so they can feel latest and greatest up-to-date compatible.


for anyone interested, there is a link to the thread in the guitar forum, collectors they are lol, some of that stuff is worth a fortune: AMP ROOMS!!! Lets see 'em... - The Gear Page

[Human No More]

Not everything is definitely not needed either. Nobody can live with nothing.

[Stanley_9875]

Sure we don't need everything we have, but does some enhance our lives? My car, my DJ equipment, my laptop (well, sort of do need it), my rave gloves, ect. But also stuff we don't need for any reason except ourselves. Consumerism isn't all bad, but some isn't necessary

Very good thread Zenit

[ZenitYerkes]

I don't say we don't need anything at all, nor that consumerism can't bring you something that makes you happy.

But the point I'm making is that it's not practical, and that the happiness it may bring, most of times, is just fleeting. For example, my brother used to play with the Wii and had like 30 games; not it's just accumulating dust on the TV table. Now he wants a PS3.

We don't need what we buy most of the times. Social pressure and abusive advertising makes us buy it anyway.

[tm20]

i was walking in the city today and i decided to take the underground passage which runs under the main street. its a huge shopping arcade and it was shop after shop after shop selling clothes, handbags, shoes etc... and there were so many people. it's unbelievable. they all get excited over something that is probably going to go out of fashion by next year because society likes to keep fashinable and trendy -_- HUGE waste of money and resources in my opnion.