3 Signs You are a Slave to Consumerism

“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” ~Dave Ramsey

Our whole economic system is based on consumption. The more people buy, the more money is in circulation, and that’s what some economists suggest is best for a society. This belief, combined with the marketing techniques from big companies who brainwash us through advertising into wanting to buy their products, has turned us into mechanical consumers, who always want to buy stuff, whether we truly need them or not.

Most of us think that we are not victims of consumerism, when in reality we are, but can’t realize it because of the kind of society we’ve been used to living. Here are the three basic revealing signs that will help you find out if you are a slave to consumerism:

1. You seek happiness in consuming.

One of the most revealing signs of one who is a slave to consumerism is that he or she is seeking for personal gratification through the act of buying products. To them, shopping is a kind of psychological “therapy” that allows them to forget themselves and fill their lives with the things that they are consuming. However, little do they know that objects cannot truly bring them happiness. On the contrary, most of the times the more they buy the more empty, sad and disappointed they feel, since objects can only give them temporarily pleasure.

2. You buy only expensive brands.

Another sign showing that you might be a slave to consumerism is that you always focus on buying famous or expensive brands. You don’t care about buying products that you truly need and that are efficient, but you buy those brands that make yourself feel that you are important, as advertising has made you believe.

3. You always want more.

The desires of those who are victim to consumerism are insatiable — the want more and more things, and no matter how many they have, they still need more. This insatiability is an obvious sign that a person is a slave to consumerism, a prisoner of his own desire. If you find your self always desiring to by more products, then that’s something you need to look into. Maybe the products you buy are just a substitute of what you truly need, and a substitute can never be good enough to fulfill you, no matter how big its quantity is or how much it costs.

Source: theunboundedspirit.com