“(Our) materialistic technology and commercial acquisitiveness (has led to) a loss of spiritual culture.”
- C.G. Jung
“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.”
- Barack Obama
“The situation the earth is in today has been created by unmindful consumption. We consume to forget our worries and our anxieties.“
- Thich Nhat Hanh
In 1843, Karl Marx put forth the idea that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” The quote has been prominent in western culture ever since. My take on it is that Marx envisioned working people as controlled and held down by the higher ups and believed that religious life keeps those people from being more actively aware and thus critical of those who have been taking advantage of them. While acknowledging the difficulties and potential problematic effects in religion, I would suggest that our opiate is actually consumption.
“Consumption” is referred to in psychology as “incorporation” and is seen as one of our defenses against anxiety provoking and depressing stress. We incorporate, or consume, in an attempt to bring on a better feeling. It includes eating, smoking, watching TV – anything we take in. It includes all of our addictions. It also refers to collecting, its less valued cousin, hoarding, and pornography. This model implies that we are in some respect empty and that we try to fix that by taking in things we enjoy – or think we enjoy. In 1997 I wrote a piece on the death of Princess Diana in which I suggested that Western Culture’s over-the-top fascination with celebrities came from a pervasive emptiness and lack of real meaning that compelled us toward the internalizing of those we idealize. All the trashy magazines and newspapers in the supermarket cashier line reflect that emptiness.
Consider how rampant overconsumption is in today’s world. The ultra rich have incredible amounts of stuff and never say “enough,” but how does that affect their happiness? According to a study referred to in a CBS news article, “[M]oney can buy happiness – the more wealth you have, the happier you get…” What do you think?
Since I tend to focus on spirituality, I think the study must have had serious design problems. The material world is controlled by those Uber-rich folks and my sense is that the world is falling apart in the throes of rampant dissatisfaction and lack of meaning. I don’t believe billionaires would hold on to all that wealth if they were truly connected with the world; furthermore, they will leave it all behind someday. Consumption satisfies the self and true happiness, I believe, comes from compassion, from real giving and connecting. Legendary billionaire J. Paul Getty installed a pay phone in his house. What does that tell us about him?
Our attitude toward consumption has become the biggest cause for our lack of progress in dealing effectively with climate change and, really, all societal problems. Moreover, it can also be implicated in the development of the climate crisis in the first place. Empathy, compassion and awareness of Interbeing are necessary in order for us to live in a way that is kind and sustaining to our planet. In fact, we’ve reached a point where the planet has become existentially in need of our making that shift.
We have become “addicted” to overconsumption as a way of dulling our pain; too often we assuage our wounds with our wallets. Think of all the times the idea of going shopping has been suggested as a cure for whatever blues is present. And consider how long the rush of a new thing in your life pleases you. In the words of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, “Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting; it may not be logical but it is true.”
As soon as we consider the greater good when we consume, the big picture changes dramatically. When our consumption is informed by reverence for others and for the planet that has sustained life – including ours – for billions of years, we become less oriented to self-soothing and develop a larger and more peace-driven mindfulness of the connection between how we live and the state of our world. It matters and it directs us. And counter to the “research” that equates acquisition with happiness, when we are tuned into the world that we inter-are with, we live with much greater joy and fulfillment.
Thinking along these lines is new for most of us. If you have thoughts, please hit the “Book an Appointment” tab so we can discuss!
