Consumerism Obsession

José Fernando



“Life is a constant oscillation between the desire to have and the boredom of possessing.”
Arthur Schopenhauer

Mrs. Maria*, with her usual cheerful manner and friendly smile, would enter, week after week, for decades, the doors of a respected Spiritist institution, always arriving punctually for the meetings of the social assistance and outreach department. She was always impeccably dressed in clothes purchased at the organization’s thrift shop at modest prices. Always perfumed and adorned with accessories that matched her dress, she displayed an elegance perhaps refined in ancient times. Her upright posture and sober, graceful gestures often sparked comments, and some even went far as to say she must have been a lady of European nobility, now reincarnated into the humble persona of a simple housewife living in a modest neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.

Mrs. Maria received food parcels and participated in raffles held by the institution, always being joyfully grateful and praising to the donors, never refusing any gift. Time passed, and Mrs. Maria, by then nearing her eighties, eventually ceased her weekly visits to her chosen temple, causing worried concern among all who knew her. It was not long before the unfortunate news of her disappearance reached them. Some time later, her neighbors and distant relatives found her lifeless, collapsed on the floor of her humble home. To everyone’s painful surprise, her body was found hunched over, fallen onto a narrow section of the floor, as there was no free space in the tiny house, which was completely filled with objects and belongings she had accumulated throughout her life. Amidst rags, obsolete objects, and food remains, many of the gifts, prizes, and personal items she had received from the raffles at the Spiritist association stood out.

With her rather unique life story, Mrs. Maria prompts us to reflect on a human behavior that is unfamiliar to those of the “old days”, yet increasingly frequent in the times of frantic consumption we live in today. The disincarnation of our sister, who was dearly loved by all, caused great commotion in our spiritual community. As a fatal victim of the excessive consumerism of contemporary society, how can we understand someone, with limited financial resources and no access to modern consumer goods, developing this uncontrollable urge to accumulate without limits?

Benjamin R. Barber (1939-2017), Emeritus Professor of Political Science at New York University, widely known for his best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld (1), offers an interesting, perhaps slightly pessimistic, but cautiously logical reflection on this overwhelming phenomenon present in our globalized consumer world. In his particular interpretation, the immense social inequality, impactful in almost every country, has divided the world into two classes of consumers: the poor from developing countries, with more material needs but unable to satisfy them; and the rich from the First World, wealthy yet without reason to spend.

Faced with this impasse, what did sales and marketing professionals do? In Barber’s opinion, modern capitalism is no longer based on the production of goods but on the creation and stimulation of “pseudoneeds” for frantic consumption. Since the poor are unable to consume frequently, the solution is to invest in the 60% of potential consumers: adults in developed countries who, by force, will be copied by the poor, who will sacrifice themselves to keep up with them, even with high debts and extreme difficulty.

Continuing along this line of reasoning, the conclusion reached by marketers, according to Barber, was to induce these potential consumers — the wealthy — to adopt an “infantilist ethos”, keeping them childish and impetuous in their habits and tastes, mirroring themselves after young, idle, and prosperous individuals who fascinate middle-aged hedonists longing for times of high virility and unrestrained pleasures.

In his acclaimed book Consumed, the author provides countless examples of behaviors disconnected from the users’ age group, referring to the post-war baby boomer generation — those who experienced the peak of their youth during the 60s, 70s, and early 1980s. He reflects on the social conventions of contemporary times, highlighting some of them: plastic surgeries and botox injections, which promise the fountain of youth to women of that generation; and sexual performance medications like Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra (with sales exceeding $1 billion per year in North America alone) as consumer goods for men in their sixties, likewise dissatisfied and attempting to smuggle atavistic youth into the age of social security.

You see businessmen wearing baseball caps, jeans and baggy T-shirts, imitating the studied negligence of their growing children. In addition to pop culture, the “infantilist ethos” also dominates dogmatic judgments, based on radical behavior, absent of sense and lacking in coherence. In politics and religion, they exchange the nuanced complexities of adult morality for the marks of perpetual childhood imprinted on adults who indulge in puerility without pleasure and indolence without innocence.

We see businessmen wearing baseball caps, jeans, and oversized t-shirts, copying the studied carelessness of their still-growing children. Beyond pop culture, the “infantilist ethos” also dominates dogmatic judgments, rooted in radical behaviors, lacking in prudence and devoid of coherence. In politics and religion, they trade the nuanced complexities of adult morality for the marks of perpetual childhood, embodied in adults who surrender to pleasureless childishness and innocence-less idleness.

Barber concludes:

“Hence, the new consumer penchant for age without dignity, dress without formality, sex without reproduction, work without discipline, play without spontaneity, acquisition without purpose, certainty without doubt, life without responsibility, and narcissism into old age and unto death without a hint of wisdom or humility.”

Allan Kardec, in his proverbial wisdom, questioned the enlightened spirit mentors about why God added allure to the enjoyment of material goods. They replied that it was “to drive humans to fulfill their missions and also to test them with temptation.” (2) But then, what would be the purpose of exposing man to so many temptations that heighten his senses, leading to moral failures and poignant suffering? Once again, the wisdom of the guardian spirits’ answer compels us to frequently study The Spirits’ Book. Their concise, simple, and profound reply to Kardec was that the purpose of man’s temptations is “to develop their reason so that they may learn to keep themselves from excesses.”

And how might we understand the case of our unfortunate Ms. Maria, who, despite lacking even the minimum means of self-sufficiency, developed a lifelong compulsive behavior of accumulating simple, cheap, and technologically outdated objects? Modern psychology suggests cognitive-behavioral therapy with specific antidepressants, which may yield good results, but without ever clearly addressing the root cause of the disorder.

Given that our field of study and work is the Spiritist Doctrine, we may consider two hypotheses in this case: either a persistent negative spiritual influence, or perhaps more likely, an animic phenomenon. In her new incarnation as ‘Ms. Maria,’ this time-traveling spirit imprinted upon itself a strong and obstinate desire to relive experiences of material consumption that were abundantly fulfilled in past lives. However, in her current reincarnation, being completely unable to satisfy this desire, she acted uncontrollably, accumulating simple objects of little monetary value in a desperate psychological compensation, behavior completely at odds with her present reality as an extremely low-income consumer.

Corroborating this reasoning, mentor Joanna de Ângelis warns us: “Consumerism is fantasy, a shift from the essential to the trivial. The consumer who does not reflect before purchasing ends up consumed by the debts that torment them. Many people shop as an escape mechanism. Dissatisfied with themselves, they flee by acquiring dead things, only to further disturb their peace.” (3)

For years, international media has widely reported that Princess Charlene Lynette Wittstock, wife of Prince Albert II and Princess Consort of Monaco, once spent a fortune of €355,000 euros (approximately R$2.5 million reais) in a single shopping spree, purchasing 140 haute couture outfits which she wore at ceremonies and events worldwide. We can only imagine the immense discomfort the princess might face if she were to reincarnate in a state of extreme poverty.

With Kardec’s guidance, we might speculate—in this case—how the test of wealth could reverberate as disorders and suffering in the Monegasque princess’s future reincarnations. As Allan Kardec states: “Wealthness is a more dangerous test than poverty, for it tempts abuse and excess. It is harder to remain moderate than to be resigned.” (4)

Better yet is to always heed the millennial warning of Christ: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (5)

(*) Ms. Maria is a fictitious name given to a real character.
1.BARBER, Benjamin R. Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. Chapter 1: “The Triumphant Capitalism and the Infantile Ethos”.
2. KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book (Historical Edition). Translated by Darrel W. Kimble with Marcia M. Saiz. Brasília: International Spiritist Council, 2016. Part Three, Chapter V: “The Law of Conservation,” Q. 712.
3. FRANCO, Divaldo (through the Spirit Joanna de Ângelis). Daily Episodes. Salvador: LEAL Publishing House, 2003. Chapter 25.
4. KARDEC, Allan. Spiritism in its Simplest Expression. Translated from the 7th French edition (1865) by Louis Neilmoris. Digital version. Paris: Gallica-BnF, 2019. Item 53. Distributed by Portal Luz Espírita.
5. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Matthew 6:19-21.