TODO: flush out the top here

Do you ever feel that consumerism has gotten out of hand? Would we have the same environmental challenges, political battles over regulations, wealth inequality, or global power struggles without it?

Sometimes, when I ponder these big questions, I find myself scapegoating consumerism as the root cause. My train of thought goes something like this: [insert big picture challenge] changes by the decisions made by those with power -> power is held by the decision made by the masses (elections, armies fighting for nations or militias, or the exchange of wealth) -> i) elections are won in largepart by their funding money; ii) militaries are only as strong as the coin backing them; iii) wealth is money -> everything to do with power requires money -> money requires an exchange to be made for it to work -> exchanging of something is consumption of that thing -> [big picture challenge] relies on consumerism. Something, something capitalism, something.

If only we were all buddhists!

However, think about what you’d be doing right now if not living in society of consumption. At worst, that society is a dictatorship or hateful monarch, at best it’s hunter-gather societies of ~150 humans or so.

Let’s be nice to ourselves and picture life within that hunter-garther tribe. What would we be doing? Well, I for one, would probably be finishing my hunting and gathering in the morning to spend the afternoon relaxing or playing. And what would relaxing look like? Or playing? Probably making tea, smoking native plants, and conversing with my fello tribespeople. Ideally, somewhere communal and comfortable. Maybe we’ve built a clay couch or wooden chair. And what playing would probably involve some object, perhaps a rough ball made of vines or collection of evenly sized sticks.

The point is, I’d probably be consuming! To think, we’ve gone from consuming nicer barries/teas, to starbucks coffee, fastfood, synthetic physodelics, electric cars, trips around the world, and miniture 20th century super computers capable of ordering anything from anywhere at anytime.

Sure, we’ve swapped some nasties along the way. Instead of being at the mercy of 150 people you know well, we’re pressured by our society in ways beyond our control; or instead of being killed by a tiger, we’re forced to fight a war we don’t care much about, sometimes dying in our attempt to escape. We’ve even created new terrible things, like social media influenced suicide, or nuclear bombs. Yet, on average, fewer people die today than in any past life. Possibly hunter-gather tribes were more wholesome to live in, but who knows? Maybe the negative consquences of consumerism have been with our species since day one. All we can do is sit back, and enjoy the fruits of our 10,000 years of species history.