"Trying to reduce environmental pollution without reducing consumerism is like combating drug trafficking without reducing 'the' drug addiction." –Jorge Majfud
What is consumerism? Is consumerism legit? Are they possible dangers that accompany consumerism? I'd be discussing this and many more in this post.
What is consumerism?
There are about five different definitions of consumerism and most of these definitions contrast with each other. For today, I'd be discussing consumerism in relation to high level of consumption.
Consumerism is a cultural model that promotes the acquisition of goods, and especially the purchase of goods, as a vehicle for personal satisfaction and economic stimulation.
Source
This is a topic that would interest those living a simple lifestyle and minimalists too because consumerism kicks against their beliefs. Simple living means living without complexities while minimalism is about reducing the number of things that you own to the minimum. These two sets of people would strongly kick against consumerism because it doesn't sit right with them.
Do you know anyone who likes to follow trends or who purchases items in a bid to help improve their social life? Then you know a consumerist.
Consumerist are people who purchase items to help their social life (social status). They are people who are defined by what they own and not who they truly are. With this breakdown, we could admit that at some point in our lives, we have practised consumerism even if on a very low level.
I'm still attached to wrist watches, but not G-Shock
This reminds me of the time I was obsessed with digital wrist watches, in high school. I got the regular wrist watch and when I saw that everyone was wearing that type, I aimed for a higher brand.
Till I graduated from highschool, no one else had the same wristwatch and as such, my social status was boosted a bit. Whenever "G-Shock girl" was mentioned, they knew it was me.
The fact is that other people wore G-Shock wrist watches but nobody had beat my quota in the "G-Shock wrist watch world"
A very common example of consumerism are the elites in the society. When you step into the house of an elite, it would feel as if you just stepped into a different world because the difference would be clear!
Many elites in the world practise consumerism and more often than not, they outrightly let you know. More like, they rub it on your face.
A scenario could be:
You step into their house and they point to their car, tell you how much it costs and tell you how rare it is. You're offered coffee inside the house and they tell you that the cup you're drinking from is found in only three places in the world and their house being one of them.
I hope we're all on the same page?
Is it legit?
A large number of people see consumerism as illegitimate because they can't wrap their fingers around the reason why people would want to spend a fortune on something so meagre and sometimes useless. Research has it that people living simple lives and minimalists are on the top of the consumerists-criticism-list and that's not a shocker or is it?.
Consumerism plays a role in modern democratic countries that have mixed economies like the US, England, Canada, France, etc . This list of countries keeps increasing each day based on the increase in the level of education and standard of living of the citizens.
Personally, I think consumerism is legit, even though I would choose simple living any day, any time. You can't sit around and detect what people would do with their money. It's their money and they are very free to show it off. If purchasing high priced goods/ purchasing goods in large numbers could boost their satisfaction, then let them be.
To be very practical, no one has the right to stand against your satisfaction nor do you have the right to detect other people's means of satisfaction.
Dangers of consumerism
This is where the twist comes in. Even though I don't kick against consumerism, I would daringly kick against the effects that it has on the environment.
Consumerism lead to depletion of the natural resources and pollution of the environment.
No one needs a soothsayer to tell them that with the high demand of certain products comes aggressive harnessing of natural resources. Most of these products purchased by "consumerists" don't come easy. One could literally have to go to the ends of the earth before they could get raw materials to make these products. Then imagine if the consumerist requests for more than one of the products.
I know about two popular demonstrations that kicked against consumerism:
- The "Buy nothing day" demonstration in San Francisco, November 2000
- "Shop till you drop" London.
In conclusion, consumerism is legit but when practised too much, it becomes spurious and illegitimate.
! [Disclaimer]
In this article, I'm not trying to impose my views about consumerism on anyone but trying to give a layman's description of the term consumerism and its effects. I do hope that I didn't end up confusing you the more😅
This is my response to 
All images used above are mine and were taken with my mobile device
Thank you for your time
With love, wongi ✨