You’re scrolling through your Facebook feeds and stumbled upon an advertisement on the new iPhone that just came out. You clicked the ad to have a glimpse at the updated specifications and design that comes with it. In your head, an excited voice shouted “ I want this!”. Then you check your bank account, the balance screamed back at you “Nope”.
If only you had more money, you could get the new iPhone in your hand now.
Then what?
“Oh, then I’ll be happy”.
Yes you will be delighted, but does that delight last long though?
“Well maybe for a couple of weeks. That’s worth it. Plus I’m getting the best of the best”.
So if you don’t get the phone, are you less happy then?
This situation of being cut off from some spending due to financial constraints is relatable to most of us. It’s not the best feeling in the world.
This uncomfortable feeling came from the unmet desire of purchase.
Now you may wonder, why do I even have this desire to purchase these products anyway? Imagine if I could just rid myself of any desire for consumption that would be great. No desire, no anxiety.
That sounds familiar. The idea of being free from desires. It sounds like being dead. Or being a monk. Either way, one would say they’re the same.
Being free is being condemned
Perhaps freedom from desires might not be as realistic of an option for the modern society, but let’s first clarify what does freedom means. According to Cambridge Dictionary, freedom is defined as the condition or right of being able or allowed to do, say, think, etc. whatever you want to, without being controlled or limited.
The existentialist Jean Paul Sarte remarked "Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does." Freedom is described as a condemnation because the responsibility that comes with freedom is agonising. Now that you have freedom, you are burdened with decision-making and whatever decision you choose, you are accountable for it. Freedom stresses you out.
The consumer society
For the faint heart which is most of us, a lot of times freedom can be overwhelming. Hence, we outsource our decision-making to the external such as culture, religion, media and that includes the consumerist culture that is prevailing in this day and age.
Consumerism has been here since way back, it’s just that a few hundred years ago capitalism had been the activator that catalysed consumerism into the global phenomenon that it has become today. Capitalism is a blessing and a curse depending on which side you’re on.
Post-Marxist thinkers like Guy Debord is particularly against the Capital as it breeds the consumer society.
A blinded society conducting their everyday life with consumption influenced by the Spectacle; an agent of images and pseudo-truth in the form of advertisements.
Yes we are the consumer society.
Free to consume
A proponent of the consumer culture would argue that we are much more free than we were before capitalism came into the picture. Imagine being in a time when the monarch and the aristocrat were the ruling power of the world, one could not even fathom the possibility of self-actualising oneself to a higher status and wealth.
Capitalism made rag to riches possible. Freedom for the peasants to become the king of their own empire is a dream that is now realizable. If that’s not freedom, what is?
On top of that, industrialisation had also blessed us with an increased amount of purchasing power thanks to the modern technology that are capable of mass production making everything cheaper than ever. Now more people can afford to buy cars and computers.
Oh wait, there’s more. The free market system allows more freedom for businesses to thrive in any industry. More businesses in one industry means more competition. More competition means more product that are going to get better and better for us. We have the freedom to choose from thousands of products instead of just one monopolising brand. That my friend is the freedom to choose.
Is it though?
Tainted freedom
Yes the economic advantage of capitalism for the consumer society is indisputable, to an extent. The economic equality that capitalism offers far outmatch any system in previous time can offer such as the state controlled economy that the communist tried to implement.
However, let’s not aggrandise it as the perfect economic system and make it a dogma. If it’s a perfect system, then global poverty would have been pulverised long time ago. Though capitalism is imperfect, it’s the lesser of two evils.
Yes we do have more freedom when it comes to the selection process of products that we consume. But that freedom might seem superficial if you’re looking at it from an existential perspective. This so called freedom is what Debord would identify as the image of freedom which is a perversion of values by the Spectacle from a more profound personal freedom.
The personal freedom to choose our own existential values from an authentic place is tainted with this image of freedom that the consumer society perpetuate. Values are commodified in consumer society. We base our values on things and objects rather than being. The social life as we know is mediated by commodity.
It feels like we’re going back to square one. Instead of being governed by the monarchy ruled by people, now it’s a monarchy ruled by commodity.
Conclusion
How then can we cleanse our freedom and reclaim our values from this force of global consumerism when the barrier for exigence from the consumer society is really high? Even if you manage to isolate yourself from the system, being a subsistent recluse living in the jungle like an ancient savage does not sound enticing for most people at the very least.
Intentional consumption could possibly be the closest we can get to retrieve our personal freedom while still being a functional member of society.
It is a kind of consumption that does not sacrifice personal values to commodity fetishism. An approach that many participant of recent minimalist movement advocate to open our eyes on our mindless consumption.
What do you think of our freedom with consumerism? Leave a comment below.