That rampant consumerism puts a great many people to work each year... Retailers claim a good part of their profits come from the holiday season... I think people would be far more ill if they joined the already overloaded ranks of the unemployed.
Well I am not aware if you saw the 'Air Jordan' riots last week. I am sure that a lot of people made a lot of money... But I am not talking about seasonal demands. We all know that those who watch a lot of television are exposed to a lot of marketing, and there is social pressure to buy things for no logical reason. This is what marketing is about... I have a friend who is studying marketing, and my mothers father was an advertising executive.... I know about marketing.... And this is why I have detached from watching television and movies...
As I explained to my friend... I have what I need. I have enough clothes for work, and home, and for Shabbat, and I don't need to keep up with fashions. So people may think I'm a nerd, I don't wear my clothes to impress other people {an image which the tv and movies always enforce}. I don't have to worry about 'coveting' what other people have because I am happy with what I have.
I spent money this last week buying consumer electronics { a field I work in by the way }. I bought a new 10" Android tablet for a friend... But my point is that the media is capable of influencing a lot of people. As 'Mr Rose' here pointed out it is like the matrix. Those who subscribe to rampant consumerism will tire of what they have and they will always crave the latest item. I know someone who has a very capable iPhone 3 but they are already jonesing for the iPhone 4.... Why? Because they need to 'keep up with the Joness'.
I have a nice car because it is the car I loved when I was a kid. I don't want any other car and thus no amount of marketing is going to make me want to get another car. Why should the marketers always plant the idea that we are lacking when we already have everything we need?
We don't need disposable products in order to keep people working. Sometimes it seems like they are making things with pre-planned obsolesence because they want us to keep coming back for the newer items. Indeed I like the new Android tablets and the price has fallen which is why I gave this one as a gift. My android cost almost twice what I paid for last Friday.
I have detached from the 'Matrix' of the media and only get my news and media from the internet. Sure there are biased media sites and I avoid most of them {I have NEVER read Huffington Post, etc.}. This is what I am talking about...