Consumerism is part of the system that we live and function in, it exists because we exist, it exists because of our participation in it. Perhaps the structures of society were founded before we were born, we didn’t actually physically create them, but we participate in them and in this we allow them to continue existing, so that means that we agree with how the current system is structured and operating, because we never stopped it. Therefore, this consumerist system shows us the kind of beings that we are, it shows us 'the nature of ourselves' as it is a reflection/presentation of what each human being participating/existing in this system is allowing to exist within themselves.
So, agreeing with how the current system is structured and operating means that we agree with and support the abuse of planet earth so that we can feel good in buying our favorite foods, clothes and doing what we like and what makes us feel good about ourselves. We agree with the excessive and brutal killing/slaughtering/butchering of animals as what happens in every country to supply us/the people with meat so we can have our ‘hot summers day afternoon – barbeques with our friends’ that give us the good feeling we so desire and enjoy. We agree with all the consequences of our participation in the consumerist system, which is for example globalization, wherein Africa for instance is able to be accessed easily and sucked dry by the rich ‘colonialist’ countries so that we could consume and feel happy and lucky and all the people living in Africa are left to rot in the mess that we left behind in our search for producing more products so that we can consume more.
To sum up what consequences we agree to within our allowance of the existence of consumerism, in one word is ‘abuse’, in all ways imaginable. Because consumerism and ‘consuming’ implies a desire/want/need to have/take/get always more and more and more. It is taking without giving and this can only end in abuse as we will take what we want without considering anything besides our own personal wants/needs/desires. Now in this I am only looking at the word ‘consumerism’ and ‘consuming’ in itself as what we use to describe ourselves within and as the system that we live in, we are ‘consumers’ in a ‘consumerist’ system as capitalism.
Within our consumerist society/world, our personal desires come first and we have created and allowed the creation and existence of a system that is based on trying to fulfill those ‘personal desires’ that we deem so important and from this system, within the ‘consumerist mentality’, we go into the world and take what we want to have to fulfill certain desires within ourselves, we take advantage of and pray on the weak, justifying our behavior with statements and beliefs like ‘survival of the fittest’ or by simply refusing to look at what is happening in the world as the abuse that the system that I am participating in is creating. Africa especially has become our ‘milking cow’ that serves to maintain our ability to satisfy our desires and addictions as the lives that we in the ‘wealthy countries’ are living.
We have glorified this ‘consumerist society’ as the ‘capitalist system’ to such an extent that we truly believe our personal desires to be who we truly are, we believe that ‘who I am’ is defined by ‘what I want’ and ‘what I like’, not realizing that in order to fulfill my desires, I have to TAKE something from this world. And in this I do not even ask myself ‘where does it all come from?’. And because we refuse to ask ourselves this simple question, we don’t see and we don’t want to see the effects and consequences of our consumerist behavior on this planet and the beings in it.
Are we honestly this blind? Do we really not see? How is it that we cannot do the simple math as the realization that there is only one planet – with billions of people – so if we are all taking without giving = destruction of our one planet?
So, what consumerism shows/tells us about ourselves is:
1. That we are abusers as we allow the abuse of beings in this world to continue as a consequence of consumerism, while we ‘turn a blind eye’ for the sake of feeling good about satisfying our personal desires
2. That we are blind because we do not see the reality as what is actually happening in this world because apparently we still seem to find reasons for feeling good and happy and positive about ourselves and the world, while reality shows us the opposite
3. That we are dumb because we cannot make the simple equation of seeing where and how our individual behavior supports the collective actions and how that affects everyone and everything that is here in this world
Finally, it shows us that we have to stop ourselves, we have to stop our desires, we have to stop who and what we have allowed ourselves to become, which is consuming machines/robots that have a complete disregard for all life. We have to stop holding onto this belief that for some reason, just because we are ‘human’ and because we can think, feel and experience emotions, we are ‘special’ and ‘superior’ to all other life forms because apparently we were created by ‘God’ with a special purpose. We need to really get over ourselves as the ego that we have become as it is just that: ego, selfishness, as what can be seen of ourselves as our actions in this world.
Join us in the re-education of ourselves in how we see the world, teach yourself to see the world through ‘real-eyes’ and ‘real-ize’ yourself as who you truly are, which is life as one and equal with all life that exist. Stop yourself as the ego and stand up as life!
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