Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Scrivener7

(57,066 posts)
5. I disagree with all the other posters in this thread. I think this video is a bit of a mind-blower.
Sun Jul 6, 2025, 06:04 PM
Jul 6

He's right that the consciousness of the past is gone. I remember when union households were proud of being middle class and the ethos was to stand together. The rise of the McMansion and the TikTok "unboxing" and "haul" etc. culture prove his point that desire for prestige through consumption is what is now driving a very large chunk of the population. And all of this consumption, which has reached absurd proportions, is in the end geared to enriching the elite. That means that a large proportion of the labor and time of the entire population is enriching the elite, and that enrichment has gone beyond any level that could sanely be considered reasonable. And I don't see many people who have enough being satisfied. I see people just wanting "more" no matter how much they have.

I saw a reddit post yesterday that asked, "You wake up and it's 1990. No internet, no cell phone, no social media. What do you do?"
EVERY answer was about how to make money on Apple or Amazon or Facebook stock. No one had any other thoughts about it. So yes, we ARE slaves to consumption.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Consumerism Is The Perfec...»Reply #5