/lit/ - Literature

Consumerism is the root of many of the problems of the 21st century. Fuck consumerism.

Technology makes life pass by so fast, sometimes it's nice to sit in a chair and be bored.

>>5094302
Obviously against
I remember being 16 and literally thinking "yeah as long as I'll have money I'll be alright, I'll buy new electronics and eat tasty food all the time"
kek

>>5094321
yeah for real.
like 3-4 hours pass by so fast when i'm just refreshing pages and just slaving away on my PC, but when I go out I do lots of shit, hang out with friends, go out to eat, screw around, even going to school/work feels like 10 hours have passed but in reality it's just like 3 or 4 hours.

I live frugally on welfare which I consider infinitely superior to working yourself to the bone to get a lot of stuff.

One thing I love about consumerism is that welfare is determined by consumerist standards. So people on welfare get an amount of money that allows them to live a lower end consumerist lifestyle, which most people consider horrible and which a lot of people on welfare feel very unsatisfied with. If you don't live by consumerist standards however, you can live like a fucking king with that kind of money.

So from a personal point of view, consumerism as a cultural phenomenon has served me greatly.

I hate mindless consumerism but only because the average person is a fool and will keep buying the same, slightly modified bullshit which causes R&D departments to never innovate anything because why would they? I'm typing this on a smartphone, it's over 2 years old and the backs is cracked to all fuck but I still use this one. I purchased it for the convenience of always having internet and being a slimmer MP3 player that can access pandora and stuff. I'm a big advocate of the internet and multitasking, it's just unfortunate to tje average person this means snapchatting and facebooking at the same time I don't care whether or not people have new technology, but I judge the fuck out if people who do stuff like buy multiple consoles and dozens of games then never finish a single on or even try to play half of them. It's just retarded. I don't respect people who were brainwashed into buying something they've no intention to use.

>>5094345
Society would improve if you died

>>5094345
inb4 shitstorm of people who are kinda NEETish too condemning you for saying that and calling you a parasite

>>5094355
Holy fuck the typos. I post all the time and the one time I say "LOL smartphone here guize" I totally butcher the message. It's kind of like the phenomena where people correcting grammar/spelling on 4chan always fuck up in the same post.

>>5094361
>Everyone on 4chan is useless leech because otherwise I have no point to make and besides in 2006 everyone here was probably a loser so we're all losers LOL

>>5094302
>What is /lit/'s stance on consumerism?
>Are you part of it?
Who isn't in modern society. Fuck, those vintage books you just had to buy are part of consumerism.
>Are you against it?
No. I'd prefer an alternative, but consumerism breeds competition (but alas also fucking repetitiveness in terms of shit that sells seems to be made over artistic merit.)
>Do you judge people who give in to it?
Not at all/
>Do you consider people who don't own basic 21st century necessities such as a laptop, a smartphone, a video game console to be a bit fucked in the head and you wouldn't really hang out with them?
Not really, that's their choice, but by missing out on a major part of modern society they only have to blame themselves when they say "I don't own a TV" and then get looked at like a rapist.

i don't think that most people who participate in consumerism actively consider themselves consumerists...they more or less become lost in a process of acquiring goods for purposes that range from practical to fantastical. the conditions of the world make this easy and it quickly becomes normal.

consumerism is more of a 'why not?' than a 'why?' for most of its participants. this is why existentialism is becoming so popular again. when people realize that there are alternatives to this constant acquisition of goods (in addition to the conditions that reproduce the desire for these goods), they begin to suspect that this constant acquisition has covered up a 'lack.' or an anxiety or something similar. things swept under the rug. and there is a possibility for something which seems like growth. connections with other people are more desirable and understandable, etc.

but the lack will always be there, discovering it alone does not eliminate it. and the convenience of consumerism will remain whether or not you gain anything from this existential break. the 'why not?' will always be there for you to recline in. it's not helpful to judge others for living this way. the best you can do is lead by example.

>>5094359
If you would take away all the people who don't work for a living, you lose a large part of the market to sell the products and services rendered by those who do work for a living. So by removing unemployed people, you create unemployed people. If you would then remove them, you would create even more unemployed people et cetera.

Economically we function on a level of efficiency that needs a number of consumers that vastly outnumbers the number of producers.

>>5094364
What?
All I'm saying is that there's people living the same lifestyle that would take the time out of their day to call someone out on something they do themselves too.

>>5094332
Yeah
After a long time I went out yesterday
I'm in a foreign city now
Walked 10+ miles instead of taking the bus
Started talking with random people, gave money to old homeless guys, everybody seems kind and people seem to like me and I'm not as autistic as I thought, in fact I was pretty smoth and funny
Random guy bought me a coke because I picked up his phone when he dropped it accidentally
Felt good
He was probably drunk though
Talked with people of multiple nationalities, heard interesting stories and lives
I already moved out from home and have no internet access (now I post from the foreign city in a hotel)
Gotta start living IRL
More fun and interesting than this shithole

>>5094373
That's my point you retarded faggot. You have nothing to say other than "BUT IN MY MIND YOU'RE ALL NEETS TOO GUYS WE'RE ON OE 4CHAN AMIRITE?" Just stop posting, tripfaggot. Fucking idiot.

>>5094376
get@me

Consumerism in the technological age breeds social alienation and economical distractions. Capitalism does not require consumerism, and consumerism is a blight.

>>5094382
>Capitalism does not require consumerism
kek

it would instantly collapse if people learned to not spend like motherfuckers for no reason

>>5094372
>Capitalism is evil but remember don't vote to stop giving me free money because it will hurt capitalism or something, heheh

If I live to see SSI become over burdened because of lazy pieces of shit like you I will join the riot police in beating you faggots into the ground.

>>5094345
I do this too

>>5094345
>>5094390
how do you guys pull this off? sounds like the perfect lifestyle for a writer or artist

where's the line that decides if i'm a consumerist? i use laptops, mp3 players, headphones, a smartphone. am i a consumerist then?

my laptop is a thinkpad x201 though, and i run only open source free software on an arch distribution. my mp3 player is a sansa clip+ and mostly listen to "anti-commercial" highly experimental rock such as krautrock, noise, 1st wave post-rock and whatnot.

not sure where do i fit in your world

>>5094385
I never said capitalism was evil and I didn't mention hurting anybody, silly.

We have all been consumerists at some point in our lives. I update technology and goods when I need to, but I dont buy new iPhones and HD televisions every year. Some ride the consumerist roller coaster their entire lives, while others learn to get off the merry-go-round and enjoy what we have.

>>5094302
I was an ugly, impressionable kid, and the read of Beigbeder books grew the most stupid ideas in my mind, such as money makes happiness. I imagined the "golden youth" as the most beautiful and confident kids and I did everything to look like them.
Seven years later, I only buy books and hardly go outside to meet anyone, I have to work to convince my parents I am not totally lost and I regret everything.

>>5094385
>SSI become over burdened
wow, maybe rich americans would even have to start paying some taxes. maybe they could even bomb a few less brown people

>>5094302
It is good.

>>5094415
>bomb...less
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Report_from_Iron_Mountain
:^)

>>5094441
hahaha what the fuck haven't see nthat one before
why the jana water that thing is like only in slav countries

>>5094448
>tfw you still truly love vaporwave

>>5094454
^_^

>>5094454
you're like those old women who still wear leg warmers

>>5094399
>I use laptops
>laptops
>s

Yeah, you are a consumerist pig.

>>5094633
i work as a software engineer bro, i need a few of them

I think it's fine as long as it doesn't get out of hand, and even then, it doesn't really affect me.

>>5094374
What country/foreign city do you live in anon?

Ah, tripfags.

>>5094399
Consumerism is more ideology than specific spending pattern.

>>5094371
My thought exactly, well put anon

>>5094694
Can't tell because paranoid about 4chan :/

depends how you define consumerism
there's nothing wrong with deriving happiness from consumption of material products but if it guides your life that's obviously a problem

>>5095029
don't worry we are all hackers here

i love final fantasy

capitalism yay

>>5094371
Oh look. A diamond of a post in the shitpile

>>5094458
i-it will come back in style

>>5095138
wow

Its awful and causes a great deal of suffering and mental anguish and what is worse is that people conflate it with innovation, imagining that it can only happen in a consumer society and likwise that innovation can only be good. They see iphones but not planned obsolescence

>>5094385
The SSI was doomed from the start it is a literal pyramid scheme so unless everyone starts having vastly larger amounts of prosperous children it will collapse

What are your views OP?

As an adherent of Marxian economics, I must object to your use of the word "consumer." Consumption is not about buying goods in Marx; it is about using them up, extracting their use value. The actual buying of goods occurs at the stage of "circulation." According to Marx, consumption is good because you actually realize and sanctify workers labour by extracting use-value from the product. I think Marx would be horrified by the empty circulation of late capitalism, where goods have been emphasized as status fetishes as much (arguable more) than as temporary bearers of use value.

>>5095029
I guess it makes sense to not reveal yourself to the ~8 anons of lit

I do judge people who are vapid consumers.

I work at a fried chicken restaurant, and I stopped dealing with customers because the kinds of people who eat there are consumerist pose obsessed with buying things and stuffing their face with unhealthy food.

I have a laptop, a car, books, and a turntable. Other than that, I tend not to spend money on things. I've read that happiness comes from experiences with others, so I go out, travel, and spend money on experiences rather than possessions.

>>5094345

I've been living like that for a while, and it surprises me how comfortable life on welfare is - in Britain, at least. I fully intend to get a job eventually*, but the money I receive at the moment is more than enough to eat, pay bills (including internet), rent, buy books, etc. And not working, I have whole days to read, make music, exercise, improve my French, etc. Things I could not do when I was working 8 or 9 hours per day.

The people who are unhappy are indeed those frustrated would be consumers, who lives, they believe, would improve substantively if they could own that iphone, BMW or whatever. It isn't even that they think these items will bring them great joy - I think most realise that their iphone will lose its luster in a few weeks, if not much sooner. It's that they think owning it makes THEM better, at least in the eyes of others - and it's others' eyes that determine their self-worth. Our society determines your status by your level of consumption, or at least your ability to consume, so unless you're quite confident in your own self-worth (and most people, in spite of how they act, have fundamentally low self-esteem), then you need to seek affirmation from society.

*I think I could live like this for a long time, but I know it's makes my old Dad unhappy, and I do want to make him proud.

Don't they have a state mandated minimum income for all citizens in Denmark? Or Switzerland? I can't remember.

I used to know a guy who had a seasonal job, and when the summer rolled around he'd just collect welfare for a few months while doing whatever he wanted. People will probably look down on your for doing this in America at least, but it's feasible.

>>5094302
>Are you part of it?
living in a western country its almost impossible not to be
>Are you against it?
mostly
>Do you judge people who give in to it?
i judge those that dont have the means to live a highly consumerist lifestyle but do so anyway
>Do you consider people who don't own basic 21st century necessities such as a laptop, a smartphone, a video game console to be a bit fucked in the head and you wouldn't really hang out with them?
no, wtf?

>>5095592
you're going to be a consumerist for your dad's sake?

>>5094302
>What is my stance on consumerism?

HAH. That is like asking; What do you think of Air? What do you think of Water?

Consumerism is my tradition! When I consume, bottom feeder as I am, I feel like a father caressing his newborn child. I shun voting to consume! I have no choice. To consume is to be embraced by the elements which formed me, to reunite with the ideas that have been instilled in me since birth.

Everytime I go to the Salvation Army to look for copies of old books and toys I once had I am unraveling my Genesis. Could you imagine if these items were unique? Once lost they could never be reclaimed.

Because of Capitalism I am able to have shared experiences with people of almost any race or nationality, as long as they are from my generation. Who else could claim The filthy hippie liberal commie scum wants to destroy the happy moments of my youth, has he no shame? He does not know the meaning of "authenticity" yet he flouts it. He would do away with Mortal Kombat, Slayer, Versace, and Magic Mushrooms!!!

My lone Versace shirt makes me feel whole. It is my sacramental garb. Arizona, Fiji Water, and Monster are my consecrated beverages of communion.

Capitalism is not my political affiliation but my religion. It is communion with my fellow man. It is the ascendance of the greatest minds. It is the true International. Nothing unites us so much as our desire for material goods. Capitalism is the one reality, the only reality, embrace it and you are joyous, deny it and you are miserable.

My devotion is strong. The devotion of the consumer is what propels society forward. Our every happiness depends on it. I will consume until I die. If I cannot consume I will end my pathetic life, having done my part. I will be content to have basked in the glory and know for a fleeting moment, the greatest way of life known to human beings.

>>5095930
>there's something wrong that.
Shamefur dispray

>>5096008
I like this.

Going to listen to vaporwave on my iPhone tomorrow when visiting the mall. Going to buy some things but I don't know what yet.

>>5096022
you should buy New Balances and a pretzel and an iPhone cover (dark purple, at least $20).

>>5096056
>tfw already have one of those expensive incase covers
I-i guess I could buy one more

What has /lit/ bought lately?

No books pls.

>>5094399
back to /g/ chinkfag

Choosing not to consume has become a way to consume? Discuss.

>>5096008
if this isn't satire you should kill yourself

>>5094640
>engineer of any sort
Yup, you're a consumerist. The worst kind too. I bet your idea of relaxation is Netflix binging, and your idea of fun is to go to the mall and look at watches.

>>5096125
I pay for my seedbox every month, and I rented a new apartment. I might by some furniture or something. I don't know.

I'm pretty anti-consumerism. I'd not buy something or buy something shitty from a thrift store, estate sale, or garage sale or repurpose something or get it from the local free store than buy something new and shiny. I don't even own a car, and I have enough money for one and live in America where that's pretty much expected from even people who live in "poverty" outside of the middle of huge cities.

>>5096262
http://youtu.be/T9CEqlUJGCE?t=14s

What do a walrus and a woman shopping for tupperware have in common? They both like a tight seal!

>>5096008
holy smokes dude

That dude so ripped off my thing about food at funerals and turned it into a capitalist thing. See...the world is fucked.

That was the worst thing I've ever read, srs.

I am actually cry

>>5094399
>first-wave post-rock
>highly experimental
please
come back to me when you listen to Sonorism and Electroacoustic Improve exclusively

I wipe my ass with babywipes, how consumerist am I?

>>5096008
Fucking awesome. Attaboy!

i wish i was a woman

>>5096314
You aren't consumerist.

You're just part of the baby wipes master race.

>>5094302

It's fucked up that we have to exploit so many people around the world and trap them in sweatshops in order to have those admittedly pretty cool things.

It's also fucked up that it puts poison into the environment. And that apparently, behind consumerism is an engine called growth that is inherently unsustainable with a limited planet. We're gonna have, at one point in the future, to reduce the size of our economies.

It is probably an illusion that we buy into but those things always seem like they are just in reach of being dealt with.


Also, having two cars, two cellphones, two tvs and all that shit is where the line is drawn. You don't need two of those things. You're an asshole if you do.


That is the basic jist of it. It's a very simple opinion.

>>5094372
youre a cunt but i like it

>>5095692
>no, wtf
its insane how many people irl would say "yes" to that question, anon. seriously. its fuckin disgusting lol

>>5096441
I don't think many people would actually say yes to that.

>>5095592
>And not working, I have whole days to read, make music, exercise, improve my French, etc. Things I could not do when I was working 8 or 9 hours per day.
bull fucking shit
the time you have by not working 8 or 9 hours a day is spent on 4chains funny youtube videos jerking off and anime not improving your french making beats or going out and exercising or whatever the fuck.

everything else you said is ok and onpoint but that's stupid as all fuck

inb4 projecting
inb4 "JUST BECAUSE YOU DO THAT DOESN'T MEAN EVERYONE DOES"

you all know this is the truth

>>5095592
>>5097082
also to make my point, you wrote this post at 2:54am, no one who has a productive day and spent their day exercising goes to sleep at like 3-4am


stop that shit.
having a job or a strong interest that will make money soon is the necessary step towards having a healthy lifestyle

>>5094332
This to me has always been one of the great benefits of reading. It seems to stretch out time so that hours can pass in minutes.

>>5097093
dats bad doe
then again all fun things seem to last a short time

When will you disgusting piece of shit finally stop shitting up our literature board with blatant off-topic garbage? Kill yourself.

>>5096262
but i dont watch movies and dont wear a watch anon

>>5094302
Anti-consumerism is an inherently conservative position. I would't be surprised if most of /lit/ were against it.

someone recommend me anti consumerist literature besides society of the spectacle