Today the subject of consumerism kept popping up. I keep thinking about how circular time is and it seems that throughout history there’s always the examples of great civilizations that meet their demise as soon as the society gets too decadent. Greece, Rome, Roaring Twenties. Good times make weak men etc
But why is that? Consumerism is what the DS uses to hypnotize people, to make them not care about the society they live in, not pay attention to the changes going on around them because they’re too busy caring about themselves.
The more you watch YouTube, the more you start consuming bc these YouTuber reviewers start helping you imagine situations you would be using said items and that’s the thought seed that gets you going and thinking “yea that would be a nice thing to have in case that happens”. Next thing you know you’re obsessed with the item. You’re thinking about it morning, noon and night. Consume consume consume. The average person who is susceptible to this hypnosis is spending his time either working to get the money to buy the thing he wants or spending his time finding the next thing to buy. Where is the time to give a shit about politics? As long as their life is not affected, they won’t unplug.
But a society must reach a certain level of prosperity before consumerism can take place. If society is at a level where you don’t even know if you’ll have a next meal, you wont care about much else and will be very involved in government to demand change.
Therefore the best point to maintain control of a society is to make sure the people have enough money to eat have a place to live and have some spending money. It’s much easier to distract people when they have some money to spend and we’re not talking a whole lot of money just needs to be slightly over “barely surviving”.
Now, you control the media/social media and you basically tell your stars what’s the next big thing for them to focus on.
The extreme preaning of men / feminization of men has happened prior to a civilizations down fall (Greek men and young boys as lovers, Men in drag in the Weimar Republic.
Narcissism also is high in a society before it’s downfall.
Sorry if it’s not very coherent. Just wanted to jot down some random thoughts. I’m sure this isn’t news to anyone but I guess I just never took the time to dissect out all these ideas.
Interesting topic and I have to agree that consumerism has definitely played a strong role in the demise of society.
Starting a long time ago advertisers began marketing directly to children. Goods became more expensive, but many parents felt the need to "keep up" (with the proverbial Joneses) - "... But all the other kids have those hundred-dollar sneakers so I can't let junior feel inferior..." This, in part, because parents themselves, many if not most both working, were accumulating more and more "status symbols" (homes. cars. expensive electronics) and feeling as if they needed to "keep up" to not feel inferior. It wasn't anymore about the shared experiences of a family, but of the accumulated wealth.
Kids were then inculcated into this mindset from a very early age. Watching the whole Apple iPhone circus year-after-year, people with perfectly good phones lining up to get the next great release, always struck me as a bizarre ritual. The year's top Christmas toy became a rabid obsession for many. The nearly animalistic frenzy on Black Friday of shoppers fighting to get their discounted goods.
All of this and so much more needs to be documented for future generations to learn from these mistakes. God willing, if and when we get through this to the other side and have a much healthier society, we can't forget what occurred during the past fifty years (and more).
All good points. I don’t think we’ve truly forgotten. Those who read the Bible have always known these Truths. Perhaps it’s just the nature of humans….out of sight out of mind. It’s just the easier path to indulge and enjoy in the senses when times are good. The devil is very good at what he does.
This particular degradation (consumerism), like all the others the beasts have perpetrated on humanity, was deliberate. I would love, going forward, for young people to be educated about all of this evil, to keep shining a light on it in perpetuity. Part of the reason we're having an issue waking sheep is that they refuse to believe that others can be so cruel. They need to understand the world we live in, to understand these beasts. The Bible has told us, yes, which is another reason the beasts try and push society away from God.
Enjoying abundance is fine with the right set of values, but this goes well beyond indulgence. It's an issue regarding values and also abysmal parenting by those who embrace the hollow, godless quest for material status.
Anecdotally, years ago as I had just moved to a new neighborhood, still unpacking, when the bevy of trick-or-treaters began to appear, one young boy, maybe ten or eleven (I'm not very good with ages) came to get his treat and he's kind of looking around me into my home and comes out with "Oh, you've got nice decor." Decor?? You want to tell me a ten-year-old cares or even knows about decor? Obviously his mother and/or father told him to get a look at the insides of the new neighbor's home and report back. All I could think at the time was who the hell teaches their child that a person's possessions should be judged? What difference would it make if I was using plastic lawn furniture? I was too stunned to reply, just gave him his candy and shut the door.
I have very wealthy and very modest friends, always have, and whether I'm sitting on a nice sofa in a spacious executive home or a simple chair in a mobile home, makes no difference. The person I'm with, our connection, our conversation, is what matters, not "the trappings".
I agree 100%. It’s the person and their character that should be important. Not their things. It would seem obvious but it’s not. I personally think so many people don’t even know themselves, how can they know others? If they don’t know themselves, how can they find happiness? And perhaps that’s why they go on the hamster wheel of materialism to fill that temporary void.
I’ve always believed that everything went downhill ever since they took religion out of schools and this is coming from someone who wasn’t raised in a religious household. But even as a child I really enjoyed the stories bc there was always moral to it.