Sometimes, you have to stop and look at an article written by someone you trust, who is a respected expert with a lot of experience.
Clive Hamilton, an Australian writer, thought leader, and educator, has written one article in a brand new magazine called womankind. This article, which can be read in full, is by Hamilton. He lobs some track-stopping whoppers on our shopping paths.
Ouch!
Is that a way to make me feel manipulated? Yes, it is a little stupid.
I have written before about how we should aim to be at least half as informed as marketers and advertisers about our buying motivations. We are blind at the wheel and are influenced by clever words and tactics that aren’t meant to make us feel better, or at best, in service of their higher goal, but still want to sell stuff.
We don’t want, need, or will use more stuff.
We were less aware than an advertising professional of our emotional and psychological states (and were) when we purchased the product.
It makes me feel stupid to think about the things I have bought in such circumstances. Because I was asleep at my wheel, someone else benefited. Someone else is more prosperous than me, but I am poorer because I was not paying attention.
Because I ignored my emotional and psychological state, someone else benefits. I co-opted it out in an attempt to purchase the feeling state that I wanted.
The truth is that even if I had too little time, energy, and attention, I still managed to buy my desired emotional state. Shopping is a poor strategy for feeling better. It wouldn’t have passed the testing phase if it was a pharmaceutical.
The uplift in positive moods is only temporary. This means that the pattern must be repeated quickly to gain any lasting emotional benefits.
It does. It is possible to imagine a better system, an environment, and a sociological structure, but I am not so consumed by consumption. I choose self-responsibility.
This is it:
You can take control of your psychological and emotional well-being.
You didn’t pay attention, and you shouldn’t have allowed such an essential aspect of your life, happiness, and health to slip by you. You need to put more energy into creating the life you love—one that isn’t focused on buying more stuff and frequent shopping.