Money is invisble. This is how our system now works. Most money transactions are invisible. Out of sight, out of mind. Debit cards and credit cards, direct debits and automatic payments have made money all but invisible to us. We are no longer a cash economy which means money has lost its physical presence. The result is that we spend without thinking.
Money is free. Buy now pay later psychology. Tomorrow never comes. Subtly, as a result of money that is invisible, and loans and credit cards that are thrust upon us, we're likely to find ourselves in the position of thinking it's free money. Not that we actually think it's free but we do not make the strong emotional connection between having it now and paying it of later. If we made a strong emotional connection between whatever we borrowed and the work we needed to do to pay it off, we might think differently. This separation of cause and effect frees the willing shopper from immediate consequences.
Good little consumers. Advertising messages are simply propoganda. If you watch TV, listen to the radio, stand at a bus stop, someone somewhere is trying to convert you to their agenda. If they were political messages trying to convert us to communism or fascism, or christian fundamentalism, we'd be up in arms. But obviously since it's often a brand of beans, or new clothes, or a new loan which will take you 15 years to pay off, it is on a different level. But at bottom, it is still brainwashing. It is still indoctrination. Every trick is employed by advertisers to win you round. And it's a prolonged training most of us have received since childhood. Is that right? Is it ethical? There are many answers.
Having and Being. I've talked about this before, but the primary mode of 'being' in our society is through 'having'. It is much easier to buy identity than be it. Want to be 'sporty'? Buy a pair of trainers, get all the the kit. It's far harder to go into the gym and consider oneself as 'sporty' because one works out a lot. We have become the sum total of our possessions in this consumer society. We've lost the art of being to the art of shopping and having. No wonder people shop and get into debt so that they can 'be' more. It's just awful and saddening that it's a complete illusion.
Money is freedom. We're taught that money represents freedom. But that's only if we have it, not if we've spent it all. And if we've overspent, well, with mounting debts we do not pay off, it's simply increasing the sum of our obligations - the amount of time we will have to work to pay it all off.
Money + Shopping = Happiness. I think this is the biggest illusion - that if you have enough money you could buy complete happiness. I don't think that's true. Wanting never stops. Real satisfaction comes from different things. Like community and family. Like achieving something, like spending time appreciating what you've got already, by developing new skills and independence.
You're not good enough. If you buy into consumerism, you're buying into being told that you don't measure up all the time. No wonder we all want to 'get ahead'. The messages are disheartening: you're too fat, not beautiful enough, you smell, you're geting old and wrinkly so no-one's going to love you... would you let anyone talk to your best friend like that?
These, I think, are the most pervasive and insidious myths about money and shopping. I think they lead people into debt and unhappiness, and leave people ever more unfulfilled. I believe that if we can dispel these false beliefs, we would be a long way along the road to freedom.
Do you agree? have I got it wrong? Let me know what you think by adding a comment.
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