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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: Ilaine who wrote (91128)	4/8/2003 10:52:48 AM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (3) of 281500

>>Mass consumerism is devoid of most values. It's followers live lonely lives<< ST - the above sentences, spoken with so much authority, rest on thin air. There is no such belief system as mass consumerism. I was almost to say "I rest my case" after your sentence above, but that would have been smug. So I elaborate. As you've pointed out there is no manifesto of consumerism. But there is a value system and a life style which is most beneficial to such a system (i.e. if you believe it or live your life that way you become the perfect consumer). Not surprisingly those are the values promoted by McWorld. They involve a life style that puts excessive value on material possessions without necessarily providing the time to enjoy those material possessions. It involves being the coolest kid on the block not because of who you are but because of what you wear or how many rock concerts you go to. It involves not having enough time for your family because you have taken on too many financial burdens. I could go on but I think you know what I mean. "Life Style" and "Value System" are interdependent whether that dependency is implicit like the one in McWorld or explicit like in Jihad. What makes you say that someone living in Washington DC is lonelier than somebody living in . . . . oh, heck, I can't even come up with a counter example, you'll have to. I am sure you can. Experience and a ton psychological studies tell me that. I lived in Manhattan for years and I'll be damned if I know the names of the people who lived next to me. There is a huge industry just devoted to helping you meet people. Hell, we even have very successful businesses in Manhattan that are devoted to planning your weekends and your leisure time for you. Anywhere else in the world it would have been odd to say I am going to spend my time off with a bunch of people I've never met. Next time spend some time with the elderly. See if they are not alone. The contrast is really massive if you travel to Asian or Arab countries and they let you in (being a tourist doesn't count). On a more concrete level, depression, suicide, and all the other psychological disorders that are closely related to being lonely are considerably higher in the West than they are in the East (and even rarer in Africa!). Even within the Western societies, there is direct correlation between "high" standard of living and such psychological problems. ST

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