Image courtesy of Marc E Marc.

In recent years, with the developing technology and globalising world we have all become people who live in a turbo-consuming society. We all consume something during our lives; we buy dresses, cars, holidays, escapes for weekends, services on health, education and entertainment and whatever else our minds can imagine. However, with the strike of financial crisis, we all felt the effects and drawbacks of too much consumption. In this post, I wanted to discuss the consuming sickness; a sickness to consume more and its effects.

Consumption can be defined as the act of buying something, and consumer can be defined as the person who buy or consume something in order to meet their needs and fulfill happiness.

Although all the basic needs (such as food, shelter, clothing and security) are met by many people in this sociocultural order of 21st century that the world provide us, most people now have been consuming more and more to gain high status and respect from people around them as well as to feed their own emotions and egos to satisfy themselves.

Multi-million dollar companies like Proctor & Gamble keep working everyday quietly with advertising and marketing professionals at Research and Development departments in order to prepare the most effective advertising and marketing campaigns to touch the hearts of us all. They sell us anything, even the things that we can have without paying any money; they sell us freedom (Hazır Kart: I am free), connection to life (Turkcell: Connect to Life with Turkcell), togetherness (Phillips: Together, Better), being different (Selpak always different), love (Cornetto: Would you melt with my love?), taste of life (Coca-Cola: Taste of Life) - in brief, everything!

We now on live in the age of turbo consumption; we pay money for all the experience we get from life and every day we must buy something in order to be happy. Our happiness is defined by the unhappiness of the people around us¹. If we have got a car that is better than the neighbour’s then we feel happy, if we have got a worse one compare to the neighbour’s then we ask ourselves why we don’t have the better one and we work more to have that better car. Although a mobile phone can be used at least five years, we change it frequently, want to wear new dresses, want to have the latest technology and brand new products every day.

Actually, as many economists say, the initial reason that the world was hit by the financial storm was due to the banks in America which gave out loans as if they were giving chocolates to children in Easter. Majority of the people who got loans could not afford to pay back. Though, not only was it the banks’ mistake of course, but it was also the mistakes of people who took loans to make their dreams come true and to satisfy their egos even though they did not have the finance to pay it back. There is an endless demand of consumption; we all love the idea that the more should be mine, the better should be mine. Advertisers do anything to encourage people to demand and buy products and services. They focus on the weakest sides of people’s problems, and offer better ways to solve these weaknesses; a better smile, a better bank, a better holiday, house, car and even a better relationship and love is sold by influencing people through subliminal messages and frequent advertising.

Consumption is endless and it is time to be aware that the economic growth model that the west has followed till now does not make people any happier. It seems to me that the happiness levels between the rich and poor and between the high status owner (rich) and the low status owner (poor) is not great at all. Several scientific research also have proved that being financially rich does not mean being happier. A rich person works more to protect their social status therefore cannot have enough time for themselves due to hard work, therefore feel unhappy. On the other hand, a poor person also continues to live an unhappy life due to too much free time and no money to buy something to be happy. Too much consumption may bring happiness just by satisfying the current wants and needs of people for a limited time. It is just a desperate vicious cycle.

Consumerism and sustainability which derive from consumption does not seem to be the right solution for a better and happier living. With new and alternative ways, people should find their way to live better lives – it is not me who says so but the financial crisis does. From the beginning of our lives, we are all educated as the consumption machines and we will continue to do so for the rest of our lives.

Here is what I believe at least to be done to slow down the turbo consumption process and make societies consume for only their needs;

• Consumption should be done but only as we need; as the vice president of TEMA (The Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation
  and the Protection of Natural Habitats), Hayrettin Karaca who has been wearing the same red jumper for more than 10 years, says “I may have the money to consume but do not have the right to consume“
• Government should limit the advertisements; and then as a result the desire in people to buy continuously will be limited as well. For example; Junk food ads to children in England is %100 prohibited.
• To make going to work as good as going to shopping; it would be good if we could have the same pleasure of shopping when we were working.
• Material we own should not be the way to show our status among other people; in order to have a high status, instead of buying latest brands, wear branded shirts to show one’s social status, better ways should be found and people should be encouraged to follow those alternative ways.

This is it for now.

P.S.: Guardian‘s commentator Neal Lawson’s latest book All Consuming encouraged me to write this post.