Consumed by Consumerism

According to reports, in 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 3.53 trillion US Dollars. Between the US and China, these two largest economies are responsible for over $2.5 trillion worth of online e-commerce sales which make up more than 70 percent of the total generated worldwide. Here in the US there are some staggering statistics in regards to our shopping habits, but here are just a few to show you just how bad it is:

1. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches than on higher education.
2. Shopping malls outnumber high schools in America.
3.An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) comes from retail consumption.
4. The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year.

So what is it that has us so obsessed with buying things... Lets find out

Consumerism by definition is the human desire to own and obtain products and goods in excess of one’s basic needs. However, in todays society, consumerism is a huge part of our lives with most of us are buying stuff that we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t know. We are constantly being overloaded with advertisements everywhere we go. They say we see an average of 5,000 ads every day all carrying the same message that our lives will be better if you buy what we are selling, so they convince us that we need to keep up with the latest trends, and have us constantly looking to upgrade the quality of products and services that they sell to us. Some of us will think that we are not effected by this but everyone is (even myself), just some more than others. The reason why we don’t think that it effects us is because we don’t consciously see the message that is being portrayed, the ads that these large companies create use subliminal messages that only appeals to the sub-conscious mind so we end up buying these things thinking that we are making the conscious decision to do so but we are actually being told what to buy.

Society has led us to believe that by having these certain products, it will give us a certain level of status and or economic power. Social media has a massive impact on this, with people following their favourite celebrities and purchasing the same brands or products that they use or endorse giving them a false sense of confidence. For example, you find a lot of these celebrities who endorse certain make-up products (a lot of whom are insecure themselves) will portray that buying this products will give you the confidence you need and make you feel beautiful so that impressionable teenage girls will always be kept in a state of low self esteem trying to obtain a sense of beauty that doesn’t exist and will therefore be a constant customer because they believe this to be true.

Increased consumerism has shifted us towards materialism, competition and disconnection but we need to start shifting back towards our core values of spirituality, community and integrity. I know it’s easy said than done, but we need to just be happy with what we have or if you do end up buying things you don’t need, at least be aware of this before the things you own end up owning you.