materialism ↘↖
Is materialism losing its allure?
A Pew Research Center survey released recently finds that the recession has changed Americans’ minds about many items that not long ago used to seen as necessities, which now can be classified as luxuary items, and also a culture of materialism.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall….
If a couple years ago, you told a true red & blue capitalist that the US government would be actually buying a private US company, or that one of the crown jewels of America Inc. would approach the US government with a begging bowl in hand, he or she would tell you in no uncertain terms that you were totally out of your mind. But, as we all know by now that the above scenario in contrast is stark reality today. After shocks of this major global financial crisis has sent many shockwaves across the globe, and the numero uno topic of the 2009 G-20 summit underway. The only hope of leaders meeting there is that the turmoil has eased with rays of light seen at the end of the tunnel.
But how did this come to pass? While it would take more than a roomful of top-notch wall-street analysts months to work out an explanation, one reason looks very obvious - the inherent nature of the ‘anything goes’ brand of capitalism which the US practices and follows. The basic premise of the ‘buy now, pay later’ system takes the assumption that everything will remain stable or will improve. It does not consider the flip side - that things may actually go down. Nature’s movements are generally cyclical and it would be wise to keep that in mind.
While various companies, institutions and even governments all over the world will face the fallout of this mega crisis, often compared to the great depression, there is a lesson in it for all of us. We need to inculcate a sense of financial discipline and avoid the pitfalls of ‘living on credit’. Many a time we are tempted to buy something, which we probably don’t need in the first place, because it is available on ‘easy credit’ - but that’s a big misnomer, there is no such thing as easy credit.
It would also be wise to avoid buying things just to ‘keep up with the joneses’. While its easy to get carried away in the flow of materialism and the thrill of acquiring new material possessions, it would be wise to remember that materialism, like fire, is a good servant but a bad master.
This is not to say that we should all become monks and start living in a cave, but we do need to keep in mind that there is a difference between genuine needs and mindless consumerism.
Let us accept that we are all fools. Happy all fools day!
