Shopping: The Great American Pastime.
Once we went shopping because we needed, or even wanted, something. Used to be that if someone was going to the mall, the natural question was: what for? The answer: "I need a new pair of dress shoes" or "Frampton Comes Alive is on sale" or "I need a new ribbon for my typewriter."
Ask the question today, you will most likely receive the answer: "No reason in particular, just to shop."
Yes, shopping is no longer utilitarian, it has officially become a leisure activity. For some, even a sport. Sort of like baseball, hide and seek and red-rover used to be.
More on the flip.
OrangeClouds115 has recently written thought-provoking diaries that touch on, among other important topics, social responsibility and sustainability (
here and
here). Her discussion of Americans' promiscuous lifestyle sent my thoughts to Karl Marx (no, I am
not saying OC is a Marxist!).
Karl Marx famously wrote: Religion is the opium of the people. Much has been written about the meaning of this nifty turn of phrase, and in various versions it lends itself nicely to abuse as an anti-clerical slogan. Leaving aside questions about the existence of God, I subscribe to a generally accepted view of Marx's criticism of organized religion in his time:
Marx is not saying that religion is a tool used by the bourgeoisie to keep the masses quiet and complacent....Instead of focusing directly on the causes of suffering, religion--like opium--works on the imagination to generate illusory causes and illusory solutions to human suffering. (source: Wikipedia)
We have all read the statistics about declining attendance at religious institutions and the widespread closing of parishes. Where once religion played in important role in giving meaning to our existence, it has now been replaced by consumerism. The mall is our new Sunday morning destination. It is where we go for fulfillment.
Shopping is the new opiate of the masses. Rather than solving the fundamental issues that are amiss in our lives or psyche, shopping is a band-aid to make us feel good, something to fill a hole left empty by another lack. I say this not to accuse, but to observe. I do it too.
Why do we buy things we don't need? Sometimes it is a symbolic first step in changing our lives (I am going to read more, I will cook more from scratch, I will keep the weight off). Positive changes that make us feel good, that give expression to our hope for a better life. Nothing wrong with that, so long as your purchase will truly deliver on its promise (more on this below).
Sometimes we buy things to impress others (even if we don't know that is why we do it). Be honest with yourself: surely you have experienced the rush you get when a friend or stranger expresses admiration for something you own. It sets you apart, makes you feel good. I own, therefore I am.
Sometimes we buy something simply because we can. We have achieved a level of success we dreamed of, and we purchase a tangible symbol of our arrival. Like my friend Rolf, who bought the fire-engine red Ferrari he fantasized about as a child. Or Max, who, when he finally made partner at his law firm, fulfilled his childhood dream of owning a Rolls Royce: he celebrated by buying a 1972 Silver Shadow, with the intention of lovingly restoring it.
Unfortunately, many of us have discovered that the pleasure of those dreams-no-longer-deferred is short-lived. Strindberg hit on it in one of the most famous quotes from A Dream Play: one character spends his life longing for a green fish net. Having finally obtained a fish net by the end of the play, he is asked if he is now happy. His answer: "I wanted green, but not this green." In short, nothing is quite what you dreamed it would be.
Rolf's Ferrari was fun, but when the thrill was gone two years later, he sold it to the next person looking to achieve his childhood dream. Max's Rolls Royce is--to the best of my knowledge--still in storage, having been driven only once in the eight years since we picked it up. (To his credit, Max has focused on the much more important pleasure of rearing three children).
Am I against all shopping? Hardly. Rather, I am making a call to arms against empty consumerism, shopping for shopping's sake. Before you go out and buy something, know why you are doing so. Ask: Is it something I need? Is it something that will make my life better, easier? How so? Is there a better (perhaps even more socially responsible) alternative?
We don't all have to be perfect. That is unrealistic. But everyday we are faced with dozens of choices whether to buy something or not. If even once a day, each of us can make a better decision, that will be the beginning of something good.
Last weekend, I made such a choice. My mom's lawnmower was getting on in years and wouldn't start. My first impulse was to buy her a new one. Why? Because I'm a guy and buying things with motors is fun! Because I could. But then I thought about what OrangeClouds115 wrote. I loaded the lawnmower in the back of the car, took it to a repair shop, and in 2 hours I had a perfectly functioning mower. The repairman even sharpened the blade instead of replacing it. The best part was not the money I saved. It was that there was one fewer perfectly good lawnmower sitting in a landfill somewhere.