I really want you to see this video. It’s enlightening. This is what we’ve become.
You are an individual, but you are also a member of a global community. Most important of all, you are a consumer. As a member of this community, it is your duty to consume. Why? Because the system would collapse if you stopped spending.
Funny is that many people won’t even recognize this as a provocation (sad but true). It’s not the fault of the system anyway. It’s our own fault. We feel the urge to compete in everything we do, so we want better cars, better watches, better TV sets and better notebooks. We need better photo cameras. We don’t want to look outdated. We are what we own. What we own becomes what we are and this will increase our social attractiveness. We have to feel desired by others and to do so we have to compete with those who have better mp3 players or better gaming consoles. Or maybe we are just trying to fill a black, deep hole inside our soul.
It’s just a sad carousel. You start looking at things in a very different way when you’re out of this amusement ride.
I am clearly not against brands.
I own a Canon camera, I own Levi’s and I own Nike stuff. I own an Apple iPod player (and I own many things that I don’t really need). I think that the key is to find balance. There should be balance in our life: I won’t change my 350D until I really need to, I won’t change my old pair of jeans until they completely tear apart (and I’ve repaired them thrice!), I won’t buy another pair of shoes until these melt! But why going on buying things from these brands? Because (someone will not agree on this, I know) these brands always left me more than satisfied: their products last for years.
I trust in big brands because they let you buy their products and run with them for decades! And that’s called saving anyway!
I don’t need a brand new cellular phone since my monochromatic-monophonic-cameraless Nokia is still up and running (since 2001). I don’t need a GPS (I know where I am and where I have to go, thanks!). I don’t need to replace my 2 years old notebook just because my touchpad buttons died (both of them, right and left… but I use a usb corded less-than-5-dollars mouse so I don’t care). I don’t need to drink a little can of coke when I can drink 2 litres of pure oligomineral water for the same price. What’s the point?
The point is to find balance: get what you need and choose what gives you the best ROI (return on investment) just like my old Nokia phone or my Levi’s jeans. Maximize its use and lifespan. Be happy with your assets and save whenever you can. If your friends start making fun of you because you’re not wearing the latest metropolitan chic watch, then start investing (time that is, not money) into friends with higher IQ. ROI with real, sincere friends will be greater, believe me. Also try to kill envy, for it is stressful and it can result in a distorted perception of reality.
Find sense in this nonsense consumerism. Balance. Do not hate brands. Do not support them just because they’re cool or trendy. Be as objective as you can be without falling into fanaticism.
Fill your soul with true friends, a job you love, healthy routines. Material goods will give you only illusions and a false sense of self acceptance, at least until the new, improved model comes out. Question advertisements. Question trends and models.
You’re not a sheep and there is no flock.
