Consumerism: a Good Thing!

I felt like writing today, but haven't seen any movies recently I want to write about, so I am going to give some thoughts on consumerism. After my rather negative article on the internet from two weeks ago, I felt like writing something more positive. Something positive about something that so many people talk so negatively about. It bores me. I am talking about consumerism.



See, I for one, think consumerism is a rather good thing. Many feel our culture, spoiled by the riches of capitalism, has become too obsessed with owning, buying and collecting things that we arguably do not need. Like the little Tyler Durdens we are, we bemoan the concept of our identity being shaped by the items we own. But I quite like it. I think it is the other way around. The things we purchase do not shape our identity, our identity nicely shapes our consumer behavior.

For example, Shakespeare's works have been collecting dust for several months now. I know they are quite brilliant, and I have them there, not just to show off my literary prowess, but because one day I would like to read them. I enjoy literary works, I would love to read Shakespeare one day, and thus, like the consumer I am, I went and bought the collected works. I recently purchased John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, and I'm sure I won't finish that book for months to come. And the same goes for Atlas Shrugged, or Ulysses, or the Divine Comedy.

These are all books I proudly display on my bookshelf, partially because of a consumerist urge to own these books, as if them being four feet away from me somehow already makes me smarter. And in a way it does, since owning them gives me a bigger incentive to read them one day. The same can be said about my DVD collection. I might never have watched Citizen Kane, yet, but I paid good money for it so I am damn well going to one day.

Being preoccupied with spending money on stuff you might not need, whether it be books or DVD's, or clothes, posters, certain fine types of wine, computer gadgetries, or high-end TV's, is not a bad thing. I always considered capitalism to be something that can be quite helpful in achieving wealth, and people wanting to buy stuff to enrich themselves is not a negative thing.

And even if such consumerist behavior causes people to spend money on things they might not need, or even use, it is a comforting thought that ownership is still a prevalent thing in this day and age of sharing information, and having your lives' details be readily available online. The idea that something is yours, and yours exclusively, because you purchased it and have it on your shelves is a nice thought, and something that should not be dismissed as easily as some do. I quite like consumerism, because I like buying and owning things I would like to have. And that is a good thing.