Will Consumerism Save American Democracy?

It wouldn’t be the first time

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

My usual instinct is to consider American consumerism a plague upon the earth, both literally and figuratively.

Why do I find our materialist, acquisitive culture harmful? Let me count the ways:

• It’s environmentally destructive. We waste resources and pollute the atmosphere to produce useless junk, then pack landfills with our discarded detritus.
• It’s psychologically pointless. Will that new pair of shoes really fill the gaping hole in your soul? So many of us spend so much of our lives buying items in pursuit of a fleeting feeling of happiness; we’re only satisfied for a short time before we start desiring more stuff.
• It’s imprudent. Lots of Americans lack the savings for retirement, healthcare emergencies, or a new roof. Though the primary reasons for these problems lie elsewhere, the fact that so many of us waste money on useless stuff doesn’t help.
• It encourages competition and unhelpful status-obsession. Your clothes are fine, and so is your car. You don’t need to feel bad about them because somebody else has slightly fancier versions.
• And it’s fundamentally empty. The more we seek satisfaction in things, the less we seek it in each other. A consumerist lifestyle is…