So, basically, we’ve fucked a lot of things up. You know,
destroying, plundering and wasting finite resources, casually but
drastically reducing biodiversity on the planet, altering the natural
environment so radically that not only are species we depend on (take bees, as
one example) struggling to survive but humans will suffer directly from the
changes as well.
Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard it all before. But the really
obscene thing about the whole mess is that we haven’t really enjoyed ourselves
in the process. We—at least Americans, whom, being a born and bred American
myself, I feel more qualified to comment on, and whom represent the
quintessence of the consumerist culture heading up all this destruction—aren’t
very happy. I know it’s no news flash, but owning stuff doesn’t make us feel
content, joyful, awe-inspired, or importantly, safe. Anxiety is a major
buzzkill, and many of us Americans hold more than our fair share of it (most of
us don’t live in war zones, but our adrenaline levels may look like it). I’d
even venture to guess that the richest among us—the top 1%— aren’t deeply
fulfilled and joyful people on the whole. However, not being in the first
percentile financially myself maybe I have no business speculating.
The way I see it, the consumerist years have been akin to a big
binge on a store-bought birthday cake…the consumption brings very little
pleasure in and of itself, but we avoid the discomfort of denying ourselves the
gluttony.
I don’t believe, however, that consumption itself causes
unhappiness. There is pleasure to be had
in owning beautiful things or eating delicious food. It seems to me that the
real problem is that consumption, the new king, has displaced those things that make humans, by nature, truly
happy. More on this to come…
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