Six Ways to Combat Consumerism

We tend to think of consumerism as primarily an economic problem. But it is more than that. At its core it is a spiritual problem that reflects a loss of meaning and a loss of transcendence.

In the Gospel parable of Lazarus and the rich man St. Augustine notes that it was not wealth that sent the rich man to hell, but his indifference. He just didn’t care. He was too attached to the world and his own comings and goings to notice Lazarus. Pope Francis wrote in Evangelii gaudium,

Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor…as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us (EG 54).

Being thrilled by the market can distract us – we can all become easily attached to material things, to comfort, and the newest gadget. At its worst it becomes consumerism.

Consumerism is a Spiritual Problem

We tend to think of consumerism as an economic problem because this is how it manifests itself to us, and because we live in a consumerist society surrounded by advertising and behavior modification.

There is no doubt that a market economy and the advertising culture is one of the causes of consumerism. Yet the economy alone is insufficient to explain the problem of consumerism. At its core it is a spiritual and cultural problem, related not only to economic but to philosophical and theological issues. There are a number of social and philosophical influences that I will explain in more detail in a longer piece. But some some of these influences include:

• philosophical materialism

• the residue of 19th century atheism

• the sexual revolution

• what Augusto Del Noce calls “pure bourgeois” and the triumph of Yuppie Culture where everything becomes an object of trade; and happiness can be purchased

• what Rene Girard calls “mimetic desire”

• Tocqueville’s insight that equality and democracy create love of comfort

• widespread relativism, and the resulting nihilism

All of these and more contribute to an absence of meaning and purpose in life beyond acquisition.

While it is certainly the case that an efficient capitalist economy can encourage consumerism, I think it is an error to view consumerism as fundamentally an economic problem. The reality is that consumerism has been a problem in non-capitalist, communist societies. And throughout history there have been some capitalist societies that have shunned consumerism and valued thrift, saving, and long term thinking, which demonstrates that we can’t simply identify consumerism and capitalism. Though capitalism clearly exacerbates consumerism, it is primarily a crisis of the soul and loss of meaning.

Consumerism is more than simply buying things or the newest gadget. At its core, it is a way of seeing the world. As Benjamin Barber put it in his book Consumed:

“brands have replaced families, religion, and communities as a source of identity.”

Consumerism sees everything, every experience, and ultimately everyone as an object to be used for my pleasure or liberation. Marriage is merely to serve the emotional needs of the people involved, and is disconnected from children and the common good. Babies are not gifts to be reverenced, but simply choices that can be aborted at will if they are not convenient.

Pope Francis described the situation well in an address to bishops at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia on September 28, 2015.

“Today consumerism determines what is important. Consuming relationships, consuming friendships, consuming religions….Whatever the cost or consequences….

“The result is a culture which discards everything that is no longer ‘useful’ or ‘satisfying’ for the tastes of the consumer….

“I would say that at the root of so many contemporary situations is a kind of impoverishment born of a widespread and radical sense of loneliness….Loneliness with fear of commitment in a limitless effort to feel recognized.”

6 Ways to Combat Consumerism

Consumerism, culture, and the economy are complex topics and there is much to discuss and debate. But what I’d like to do here is suggest several practical ways to address the problems of philosophical materialism and consumerism.

Here I will not focus on economic policy, not because it is unimportant, but because most of us can’t really do much about the structure of the economy. But we can do some things about our souls and our ways of living.

I think it is essential to recognize that we can’t simply stop consumerism in ourselves and others without providing an alternative way of life – a higher vision of life and nobility that inspires us. So here are six suggestions that will help

1. Most Obvious - Reduce social media, don’t watch commercials, and reject the behavior modification that encourages consumption and addictive behavior.

For a good summary of this, read Jaron Lanier’s 10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. Here is a review of the book I wrote.

2. Stress the Reasonableness of the Faith in Contrast to the Just-So Stories of Materialism.

This may sound surprising, but if people believe they live in a materialist world with no meaning and no possibility of transcendence, what else would they do but eat, drink, and seek pleasure before we return to cosmic dust? Don’t underestimate the impact materialism has on consumerism. Nor should we underestimate the great intellectual and emotionally attractive power that Christianity has in a materialist world. As Benedict XVI has written:

“Christianity must always remember that it is the religion of the logos. It is the faith in the creator Spirit from which proceeds everything that exists. Today this should be precisely a philosophical strength….”

Materialism is insufficient to explain the deepest question of human life. It gives no satisfactory explanation of consciousness. It gives no satisfactory explanation of free will or our lived experiences as moral and responsible agents. It cannot explain or give voice to our deepest emotions. Materialism and its counterpart – empiricist rationality – cannot give an account for our most profound human experiences of love, justice, anxiety, sadness, hope, mercy, etc. Empiricism — the theory that the only things that matter and are true are those which can be empirically verified — can’t tell us why empirical facts are valuable in the first place. Rationalism can’t tell us why reason and rationality are better and more valuable than non-reason and irrationality. They both fall prey to Godel’s theorem of incompleteness. Benedict XVI deal’s with the problem of empiricist rationality in the Regensburg Address which I highly recommend reading.

In contrast to a culture of meaningless acquisition and an incoherent and irrational world of randomness, Christianity offers a call to nobility, sacrifice, and the highest values. Materialism gives us neither a coherent explanation of the world nor a plan to live our lives. In the end it gives us simply this: consume today for tomorrow you die.

3. Clarity on Moral Norms

Related to (true) religion providing a clear explanation about faith’s reasonableness is clarity on moral teaching. Christian morality is not simply a set of rules, but a positive vision of human life that promotes human flourishing.

To quote Benedict XVI again:

“Morality is not man’s prison but rather the divine element in him…the Christian faith is the advance-post of human freedom.“

This is especially evident in the area of sexuality and family. The sexual revolution failed, and has brought nothing but unhappiness. As

Carrie Gress

notes, women are not happier now, they are just more medicated. Women and children are suffering, and men are turned into predators instead of protectors.

The Theology of the Body of John Paul II is an antidote to sexual revolution. It’s not merely academic – it has had profound influence on many families and continues to do so.

4. Encourage Ascetic Practices

These include small acts of mortification and denial where we discipline our passions, desires, and will to attain higher goals. The practice of fasting is is not only a spiritual discipline or a way to lose weight. It is a good first step against consumerism.

Fasting also fights against consumerism by helping to create community. It can help create, what the late Oxford anthropologist Mary Douglas calls, “a condensed symbol”. She explains in her excellent book Natural Symbols that when abstinence regulations were removed in England, the Irish Catholic community of Liverpool was almost completely assimilated and lost much of its Catholic identity within only a number of years. Communal ascetic practices can help create a sense of belonging and community that fight loneliness, which, as Pope Francis said, is one of the causes of the consumerist attitude.

Even avowed secularists see the value of aesthetic practices. Think of all the books and essays on dieting, exercise, and meditation. The German philosopher Peter Sloterjdik has gone as far as to say that we need to recover a monastic secularism – he wants a Christian ethos of self-sacrifice without Christ. I think this is a futile attempt, but again it points to the philosophical and practical strength of traditional Christianity.

For a good introduction on prayer and fasting - and how to fast without getting headaches- I recommend Jay Richards’s book Eat, Fast, Feast as a good place to start. You can also listen to my podcast - Fasting, Prayer, and Ketosis - with Jay about this

5. Attend Beautiful Liturgy

Another thing that helps fight consumerism is good liturgy. Why? Because consumerism profanes everything that’s reverent and sacred and good. Sacred and beautiful liturgy says to the world that there are some things that are sacred, that this is different from everything else you experience. The core of divine liturgy is the proper worship of God as Dietrich von Hildebrand develops in his book Liturgy and Personality. But it also shapes and teaches us. Liturgy is non-linguistic catechesis. It teaches us about the sacred and deeper meaning in our lives - not verbally or explicitly, but implicitly —even if we are unaware or unable to articulate what is happening. Beautiful liturgy lifts us beyond the daily, and reminds us that we are not a commodity to be traded or a consumer to be pleased - a baptized Christian is “priest, prophet, and king”.

6. Sabbath Rest: Encourage Observance of the Lord’s day

This is a powerful force against consumerism. It sets one day apart with no work and no rushing, time set apart to be with the family and for contemplation, and should have no use of or at least minimal use of technology. The Sabbath and Sunday is a gift of time given to all for worship, spiritual reading, weekly family reconstitution, rest, and performing corporal and spiritual acts of mercy. There is a lot to say here; I address this issue further in my lecture on What is the Moral Imagination and in some other lectures I have given on “Sabbath to Lord’s Day” (which I will publish later.) I highly recommend Rabbi Abraham Heschel’s The Sabbath, John Paul II’s Dies Domini (The Lord’s Day) and Joseph Pieper’s Happiness and Contemplation and Only the Lover Sings to gain a deeper appreciation of why the sabbath matters.

But more important than reading is doing. Try to go for several Sundays with no work, no e-mail, no paying bills, no chores, little to no use of technology, building relationships with our family, and giving time for charitable works as a family or community including visiting the sick and home bound.

We are Created for More

Consumerism has economic causes and we need to think and address them, but the notion that the economy is the driving force of culture and consumerism is a false diagnosis of the problem. Consumerism is, at its heart, a philosophical and spiritual problem that no technical or economic policy can solve. It is ultimately about the deepest meaning of human life.

As Benedict XVI explains well:

Man needs transcendence. Immanence alone is too narrow for him. He is created for more. The denial of an afterlife led initially to a passionate glorification of life…The lust for life, the lust for all kinds of fulfillment, was intensified to the utmost.

But at once, an enormous devaluation of life came from this: life is no longer surrounded by the seal of the holy; one throws it away when it no longer pleases…Lust for life changes into disgust with life and into the emptiness of its fulfillments. Here, too, the abolition of man is the consequence.

Without the good news of faith, human existence does not survive in the long run. The joy of faith is its responsibility: we should seize it with new courage in this hour of our history.

An earlier version of this appeared at Religion and Liberty, September 2019

Photo Credit: Jacob Vizek on Unsplash