4 ms·

I find the concept of taking pride in consuming differently from others to be a bit bizarre. You're not a farmer growing the coffee, or an agronomist planning f

by Bakary 4y ago

I find the concept of taking pride in consuming differently from others to be a bit bizarre. You're not a farmer growing the coffee, or an agronomist planning for it, or a jovial Italian man running a shop for it, or even an engineer building a cool or stylish device for it. You're just a person who makes a purchase. Somehow, the modern world has fooled us into believing that this is a sufficient criteria to exist as an individual.

lm28469 4y ago
> Somehow, the modern world has fooled us into believing that this is a sufficient criteria to exist as an individual. > You're just a person who makes a purchase. That's how you know capitalists won, most people don't even question it, dangle the new toy in front of their eyes and they'll buy it in a heartbeat. You _are_ what you consume. Most hobbies are now consumption hobby, you have to get the most exotic or expensive gadget to show your peer you're better than them. Go to bicycles, watches, pencil, cameras, &c. subreddit and witness it, it's the weirdest thing ever, it's almost like watching another form of life > The proliferation of faddish gadgets reflects the fact that as the mass of commodities becomes increasingly absurd, absurdity itself becomes a commodity. > Reified people proudly display the proofs of their intimacy with the commodity. Like the old religious fetishism, with its convulsionary raptures and miraculous cures, the fetishism of commodities generates its own moments of fervent exaltation. All this is useful for only one purpose: producing habitual submission. > The pseudoneeds imposed by modern consumerism cannot be opposed by any genuine needs or desires that are not themselves also shaped by society and its history. But commodity abundance represents a total break in the organic development of social needs. Its mechanical accumulation unleashes an unlimited artificiality which overpowers any living desire.

by Bakary 4y ago

lm28469 4y ago

> Somehow, the modern world has fooled us into believing that this is a sufficient criteria to exist as an individual. > You're just a person who makes a purchase. That's how you know capitalists won, most people don't even question it, dangle the new toy in front of their eyes and they'll buy it in a heartbeat. You _are_ what you consume. Most hobbies are now consumption hobby, you have to get the most exotic or expensive gadget to show your peer you're better than them. Go to bicycles, watches, pencil, cameras, &c. subreddit and witness it, it's the weirdest thing ever, it's almost like watching another form of life > The proliferation of faddish gadgets reflects the fact that as the mass of commodities becomes increasingly absurd, absurdity itself becomes a commodity. > Reified people proudly display the proofs of their intimacy with the commodity. Like the old religious fetishism, with its convulsionary raptures and miraculous cures, the fetishism of commodities generates its own moments of fervent exaltation. All this is useful for only one purpose: producing habitual submission. > The pseudoneeds imposed by modern consumerism cannot be opposed by any genuine needs or desires that are not themselves also shaped by society and its history. But commodity abundance represents a total break in the organic development of social needs. Its mechanical accumulation unleashes an unlimited artificiality which overpowers any living desire.