hidden worldviews-chapter 3

8/8/2019 Hidden Worldviews-Chapter 3

1/19

3

CONSUM[RISMIAmWhatIOwn

THF. BIBLE CI.EAR I.Y TEACHES A1\' !DEA yo u will se ldom h e a r f rom t h ~

pulp i' or in ~ Bibk mldy. T h i ~i d e ~ ,which Scripnm, by! 0 "1 right fromIh" beg in n ing, i , ,h,n God ha s created , I S ~ ; ;co n 'UnleTs . More o ver, Godw ants us It , enjoy Ihe process o f consumpt io n. R eally! In Genesi. 2,

G o d created a hum an and then proceeded to g ive h im the things he

needed fo r " good l i k ~ A n JIhe LORI) God m:" lc ~ l l kind. of tree ;;

grow oU! o f the groun d - t ree s , h at were pleaS in g 10 th e eye a nd good

f"r t oo d ~ (Genes is 2:9). Pan " fG od's gifl 10 Adam wa s a garden, :l!ld "beaut ifu l o ne a t lku . God intended for Ad,un and Eve (w ho join,,'! him

a few vcrses lalcr) to enj oy the garde n' , aesrhetics and ga in ,,,risE.ction

when Ihey ,Ue (consume d) the products ,hal grew in it.

Ahhough we will fill o Ul the picture of what hUIllan beings need

latcr . ,his should "0' ovnsh"dow ,he fi,et ,h", wc e,mnot li ,'c wi,h o lllconsullling eer!" in thi ngs. A, the m os t bas ic level, We have to cons umcth ing s. 11 is 3n unavoidab le fact that wh a t , , 'cr we cat, drin k. we ar or

live in must ,o",e from nature. This is not ju , t the ease for us, bu t for~ n y l h i n gthaI has b i o l o g i e ~ lli f e. H ow cver , huma" beings are more

than ju s t biological beings_ and fulfIllment o f our social, c d u c ~ ti o n a l ,


2/19

eu[tura[ an d spiritual needs and de,ires 0.['0 rO'luire, that namra[ re

sources, ro .ome degree, be rearmngcd or u.ed. I n shorr, life cannot be

s u s t ~ i n e dOr complete without consuming things. Therefore, assumingthat life (and a complete One at that) is a good thing, it is impo ss ible to

say that the consumptio n that makes life possible i, bad.

\Nhile Scri pture an d everyday experience make it clear that w e mu st

consume thing. as a meanS o f pre se rving an d enhancing our lives, there

is a lw ays th e danger that resp on s ible con>umption will degene,,"e into(onluml'rirm. Thi , li,cd worldvic w is a[" , sometimes ",fer red to as m o l ~ -

r;olim" alth ough we will not use that term h u e to avoid co n fusion withscie ntifi c materialism (sec chap . . r s ix), which i. a va)" different thing.

Consumerism is a world"i.w that starrs with some thing that is a rdat ive

good-consumpt ion-aod make. it an ab rolute g oo d. C"n>umeri,m

ah rolut izes co o ,u mption by bdieviog that we can find fu lfl il meot hy

accumulat in g wealth and everything that comes with i1. I t tells us tb m

all our needs can be satisfied by what we consume. The more we use, th e

mOre needs We s: ui sf". S ince th e fulfillment of needs is what ,al,,;uion iecubr reli gion.

One uni'lue f ~ a t u r eo f a c o n < u m ~ r i , tw o r l d v i ~ wis that "lmost n o o n ~

will adm it that they b d i ~ , ethat s"hari on ca n be found by aC'luiring

and u.ing thing'. Howe,er, tht: e,idence of consumeri, m' s im p act on

Arneri,an life is o ... rw h dm in g. The d O ~ l I m e n ta r y AjJ1umza reveal .

that Americans have consumed more re sO urcc i 0 ' n the [a,t fifty rear>

th an the to t al u , ~d oy the mtire popu"'tio n o f earlh p ri ' " to 195 0. Ana v ~ r a g eAmerican conSlimes Ih ir t y ti m .. m o u that Ihe a""mge per.onfrom India. ln 1999, teenagers 'pent a hundr ed billi o n d ollars, amI their

parent ' spent an ,,,Idition,,[ fifty billion dolLtrs on them, according t o

lhe d,>


3/19

o pini o n s about w ha t is ful fillin g or sa ti sfri n g, but w e all find a cerm ind c g r~ e of sa tisfaction in m a n ~' thin gs w e: own an d consu m e. 1\10reo,.., r.

We att"leh meaning 10 th e o bje cl:$ we o wn. A ca r is not just a C:lr; it muymeun freed o m. StUIUS Or secu rity for us . Armch ing meaning to thi ng.is, in it sel f, not a b ad thin g. In fact, it is un avo idable . \ lVhere we cross

th e lin c int o consumerism is wh en we adop t the idea th m a/ / our re le

vant n ee d s arc fulfi lled by th e m eanin g w e attach to t h~ accumulat io n

an d use o f thing s.

Several years ago, Ford Motor Compa ny pr od uced a fascinating ad-

vertisement th at playe


4/19

cial your 'pouse, children or parents are. A diamond ring or necklace isp o r t r a ~ ~ das .,idence of how much a man 10"es his wif . 1\ new 1\ -1.....

cede. a. a Chri stmas present comnHl nica tes one's deepesT affections .The primary meuage ;5 that the way to .how so meone how deeply yonIm-. and appr ecime them is To g;,'e them expensive things. Re adinghetween the lines, t he more ex p ensive the thin g, the more ~ ' o nIon thatp e r ~ o n .Once "ga in, the ho rder separating consumer goods from l o ~ e

gets fuzzy.J J ,m"Y;$ powu , .Money provides access to different types of power,

and co nsumu i,m is bnilt on the asmmption thm the forms of poweranainah le hy w ealth are desirable. At its mos t hasic leve l, mo nev pro

vides th . purc ha sing p o w ~ rto gel the food, dothing and .holte. weneed . The mo"" mone)" you ha,'c, the more op don. it create. fot you interms nfwhere )"ou livc, ",hat yon eat and the d


5/19

value we ha,.., att ached to it. Consumerism se.ks to convince us that th e

"nswer to insecurity i . a m"tter of purchas ing t he right t:-pe. of pr otec

tion again st p otential threats. If OUr identitie s are wrapped lip in whatW e own, los ing Our possessions means W e lose som ething of ou rselves.

, \ loner also possesses "nother unique form of inf luence- the powu

to define what we should consider important. And ind icators point toward a trend in which wealth increasi ng ly defines itsel f as the moSt im -

portant goal t o pursue. Si nce 1969 Dr. Alexand e r Astin has sune.""dcollege freshmen. In the ea r l)' 1970 s, aboll! 70 percent of ),oung pe ople

went to colk ge to develo p a meaningfu l phi loso ph)' oflife. Today, thishas dropped to 40 perc ent. H owe"cr, 75 percent of current freshmen say

th e .- go to college to be verv well otTfinaneiallr. ' \-Vhat has happenedhere is n ot that th e de,;re to bobler o ur ne t ,ve>nh h:>.> become ma re

important than dev eloping:l. meaningful philo sophy o flife.ln'lead, the

aim of bein g well o fT fin ancially (th e roots of consumerism) has ".rom" a

philosophy oflife for many. In the proC"ess, consumerism has reshaped

th e way W e lmdcr sra"d th e role of e d l '~ ' t t i o n , j l l ' l:t . it do


6/19

sumers understand ma", as consumer goods . T h e good life becomes a

matter o f to talin g up th e num b e rs.

"" 'hen ]\'1a rtha 5lew a n"s company wem public in 1'J99 it n e a r l ~ 'doubled in price in one d ~ y ,m ~ k i n gher nel w ort h hundreds of millions ofdollars . ~ J u s t a little bi t more" i . perha ps w h ~ t! .hr thn Stewart and

st ockbro k er P et er Bacanovic w ere thinking when the y made n s toc k

trade based on nn ins idcc's tip "nd then lied to co ver up wh"l they ha d

done. T he irony i. t h~ t the "well-timed t rade - . aved h er "round fiftv. .rh o usand do llar s, a r d a t i , e l~ . mall amount cnmpared to th e massive

damage to her ow ra ll fina n cia l w or rh from th e resulting drop in herown company's va lu e. A dd fiye month s in j a il, five m o nths under h ouse

"nest and tw o years" probati on , and she paid a very hillh price for her

de,ir" to acqu ire ju. t a littk h il m ore.

\Veahhy inst illlrions and i n d i v i d u a l ~a re th e e a s ~ 't arget. when ir

comes to criticism for th e pursui t of ", ea lth at th e coot o f all oth er val

ues. H ow e ve r, we don't h", 'c to h ave a large ne t worth to adopt a con

sume r i .t worldview. \Vhile Ihe poore.t have valid needs for ba sic g oo ds,

when Ihe y believe th;lt money i . f b f .olll[ion !O their ,e,,,ch fo r fulfill

ment , t he y ha"e bough t int o conmmeri


7/19

50

spokespc ..on for hamburgers. E w n m o r ~jolting, h o w c " ~ r ,i . that our

culture has mo'-cd.o Car toward accepting the object ificati on o f human

beings that a major company feels u fe running commercials that . 0open ly ,omp"r. women and consumable, such n. burgers.

T he tend ency to tr ea t poo ple as object, or as m ean , towar d some

ot her end is a],a evident in other way . Pnrcnr . fight the temptation to

confu.e a child', in h eren t wonh with h i. or her performance in school

o r 'ports, A s we los. th e int ernal g " i d c ~that remind u S o f the value of

human life, we have had 10 u e e ! m o re . " rern al barrie . and mle , to

make , ure tha tpe

op le nrc n o t (,..,aled l ikeb b rats,

andwe


8/19

any indi v idu31 beco m es 3 1 i~ b il i ty , th e others turn on t h ~ tperson and

'ot e h im o r her off th e team.

\-'l hile rea l life is usually no t ~ s b b t ~ mas S"rvivor, rel atiom hi p sseem to be in c re asing ly thought o f in tran saction"l term S. In stead of

th inking abou t friendshi p or m"rr iage a. relati onships with imrin s ic

m lue , w e loo k t o them "S" mean s o f fu lfi l1in g ou r need s. \-Vh e" theneeds arc no lo n g"r satisfied by that relationship, we disca rd it and

mo ' e on to anot h er th at we belie'e will be a better usc ofou! re so ur ces.In stead of pbc ing value on com mitment, we c on stantly search for whm

is nove! an d in t eresting.

THE GOOD IN COHSUMEHISM

One thing th at c on . u m~ r i> m get s right is ohviou s. Human bein gs ha'e

need s th"t at e d ire clly addre ssed by cons u mption. A usefu l too ] fo r

understanding th e relationship between consumption and n eeds has

been pr ovide d b y Abraham M a ~ lo w. H is h iernrchy o f human nee ds be

gins with the b , i c physiologic:d and ,afety needs, p roce eding to needs

for bel ong ing :",,) love . Ab ov e thi . , We h:lVe " need fo r self

esteem and status. At the top Oflhis pyram id is the need for wh"t h e calls

, elf-aclUali2ati on (if you lik e, you could mbstitUle the word Jt"-utl/ion

here). T h e lowest nee d . in l\-lasl o w's hierarchy lend 10 oc cupy our :men

ti o n u nt il t bey ,ue mel. Onl)" t hen Can we mO,"e up the >calc to fO


9/19

52

t h ~ r c .althoug h less b asic. T h e p o int is that co nsum e ri sm is co rrectw h ~ n;1 n o tes that al l human beings h , w ~essential need s Ihm ar e con

necte d wilh consumption. T he teml't:llion, which we will examinelater, is to interpret ever y nee d as one th at c ~ nbe quenched byaccumu-larion and con,umption.

1. I d ~ / e r m i n ehow 10 lise III)' re JOllru Part o f being an adult is a

greater leyel aff re .dom to make decisions than we had as a ,"hiJd. Thi ,freedom c lea rn demand s for imp orta nt d cd , ions . H ow will we earn

Qur m one y? W h at will we d o with it once we get it . \\ 'h:\1 ,hauld we. ~ p e C I

from it ? In turn, ou rdeci

, io n , ab out wea

lth and Qur use of itinvo lve many o t her judgmonts, such a ~ th e type o f edu ca ti on we will

pursue, how we will usc our lim e a nd e n erg" and where we will l ive . Inother w o rd ~ , cOni umer; .m helps li' r ~ m ~ m b e r(hat we al t h i. d o . d ylinked with c erta in t y pe . o f f" 'ed o m.

O f course, freedom it self is n o t a p u re good , e' -en i f we sometimes

spea k o f it a . su c h_ In fact, i f yo u g ive so me people m o re f",ed o m, bad

thin)!;> C:tn h:tppen, which i . wh y We l imi t the f r e ~ d o mof c hildren and

c riminal>. I n crea. ed freedom on ly w o rk . tow:ml );00 ,1 i f com bined with

",.ponsibility. T h e b o t t o m Jinc i . that co n sumeri sm, by m3k ing u ,awa", of the broad array o f uses fo r o ur r( ,ou re co n fr o nt> u . with

ebo ice . and remind s us Ihal we have significant freed o m i" h o w we

m a k e those chu ice. _Thi ..:ems to b e an import a '" part uf the e re :uion

sto ry, whe re G od pay. a hug e ,-o mpliment to hum "" beings by gi, -in g

them f re edom t tl "':Ik e cho ice s abo ut h ow the y 'l>e th e rc oou re.< G od

ha s "",at cd. G od al .o co mp li me nt. u . by making human be;


10/19

forces compel produce" to make thing;s that p ~ o pl e will wanl to buy.

This can r.sult in a great de al of innovmi o n . Thi . isn't difficult to i l~

lu s t rat . For those of us who sta r t ed buying computer$ a long time ago(in computer y . ~ r $ ) ,it is a marvel h ow p ower fu l and chelp they have

be co m e. Nlany of the basic services and goods we n .e d ar c m or e readily

available, in be tt er quality and at lower p rice. than before . And wh o

know. ho w many ),ear. w e wil l add t o our l i f e > p ~ nby innovati on . in

medi,al technology? \V h ile we sh o uld n Ot forget th at ,omumerism's

benefit, of ten come at sig nificant costs in other areas, it is hard to deny

that demandfOf

ne w er, b el l cr and cheaper goods driv e . creativity andnew idea s , and " ' . often derive great benefit from th e se in n ovations.

P ROBLEMS WT H CONSUMERISM

1. C " " $l Im ~ r i $m i ~ ,w / llu; ,m i $r k i" J " p " ing "",. " "" J$. Ahrahum

M as low, wh o m we met above, is cre d ited with sayi n g th m if a ll you

own is a h ammer, everything smrts t o look like a nail. A hammer is a

gr e: n too l for driving nail. (in d uding thumbnails, I've di scove red), bllt

it C;!n b e " horribly de. tn leti"e thing if used for jobs not designed fo r

hammers. The sa me is true for money. I t ca n do a g",at deal of goo d if

used in proper wa ys, but whe n consumerism defines e v ~ ry p r o b l ~ m as

one th at can be io lv ed by w ea lth an d its byproducts, yo u get "ery b:,,1r e~ u h s. An01her w ay of sta ting thi s is to . a ~ that co n su m er ism is redu


11/19

.umerism tem pt. us to beli eve thM a ll th . s . aspirati on. can be fill ed b ~

producr. w e can chuge to a credit c ~r d _

\ -Vhile we have ackn owledged that som e of OUr needs can be suffidem l)' addre ss ed by financial means, consumerism encounte rs s eri

ous problems when needs ar i se t h n cannot be r.solved b ~ ' money.

This forces consumerism to make substitu t ions. Si n ce ,-inue cannot

be purcha,ed, consumeri,m td l s u'l t ha t " lot ofmone), will make u,

socially respectable. Mo n ey won't b l l ~ ' l o v e, bu r i, can pal' for ,ex, I m

m o rtality is n o t fo r sa le , but heal th care, life in.utan ce and Inrg e

headstones a re. You can't pay enough to buy God, but a so li d e1mrchbudget can guarantee thaI you can get a preacher who c ~ ntalk ab out

God in an engag ing- way.O f course , th e problem with buying ,ub'litutes i, that they do not ad

dr e " o ur real need,. \ '\Ih"" We tr y 10 gel lm 'e, friend,hip, ge nuine respecl

an d spiritual vitalily fr om con


12/19

""""~M

P""Sd"1l)j"'l"~llf

"S"('~6t

"DJ0'ln.CM

J~"'~Ul~~fqoOU

W~lllU

~""A

I~ll'm'~~.

'l~!'lMA

sm'~ws~~(do~dUA

Uli!'~W"iUOJ~S"~J_

"~'1".j~"'!~p

~Al""'U!OP

l"UOiJ~J.U~'POJ

~>["lOU

'Sl"~fqoO

',,,oSJ~d~Jn

.:111!~'1U

~s"c"~q'l~A~A,oI_I"1!J~u~qO

'~jP

~qP~PU~IU!

~~H~~fqo>Wq

"sl~~fqo~JOM~ldo~dJ

J~doJdJ1P"jJ~d1

Pll\O~''1LCO>

""\!l~"dsJ~d~'11WJO

'1lu~m""UCApc

uStuJ~1

US~n:1n~no"

>"~A'

'~Ido~d~sn

0jjU!ldW~1'~jjcnS"uCj

AC~JOUl

U

Im"J~'lIO

A~>[!l

"~m"')"q"~!I!POWWO'

S

_o~d:ilU!I"'~JlPC

'SI.l0!IU~11.l1)"Is~'1~'l1M

t.l~,'j

"S"!I!POWtuO~0p

-~ldo"d"I~"J~ljl(~""\

"U

_~'.p

POpC

~!"IS~U0'l~Jn~M

J""~'l10l'iu!~s",d

_UUU1'l~ns~W!llU~!'!.l.lns

>1

SP~WO~U!lU~p!.l.l'\s

PPm ;" o u nd us , :md m oney u sed within prop er

limit s C'an be "e ry \>scful. The da n g er co m es when m o ne y c reale s th e

illusion th a t all thing ' a 'e p ot en t ia lly u nd er our co ntrol. I t 1;", 1 'IS intothinking that if w e just h ad sufficient financia l re so urces (alway . "a

linle bil m o re " Ihan we a lrc"dr h ,,,'c) wc co uld bc in th e d ri , "r' . Seala " d Ihc Ihre a" w o u ld disappear .

O ur d es ire t o b e il l th e d riv er ' s ~e " t e tl co \tntets tW o maj o r pr oblem s ,

llwcvcr. First, cmuumcriifn is u nre :.!i .!"i" "b o ut Ih e extetl t o f our


14/19

57

power. An h o n ~ s tappraisa l will td l us 'luickly thM most threats t o our

well -being cannot be stopped by aC'luiring stuff or throwing m o ney at

them. T he most o bvi ous ca.e is death. Under consumerism, th e bottomline i s sunival. b ec au s ~ all oUr fears are wrapped a round OUr continuing

existence. Bu t even th e wealthi est individual. know thM they will die.

and while they might be able t o postpone il for a while, there'. ulti-

mately nothing they (and we ) can do about it. Se co nd, ~ o " , u m e r i s m ' s

drive to contro l th ing s forgets that we are not th e "lt imate source or

owners o f what we h ave. W hi le the pr o ducts we buy may have labels

that sayN a b i ~ c o ,

De ll o r Lexu s on them, God i. ultimately th e so un;eof the material . from which these Ihings come. Moreo"er, e v ~ nthough

we may have legal prope rt y rig h ts over the thing . we purchase, th e

Bible remind s u< t h ~ tG o d h" . ultimate ownenhip. Thi . is on e of the

im p or tant lessons of th e G ~ r d ~ no f E d ~ n .The human s wh o i n h ~ b i t " d

th e garden had th e privi lege o f enjoying it, but rhey w e r ~middle man

agement. T he g arden was owned by G od . T herefore their pri"ileg. w a .

balanced by their resp omibility 10 be g oo d c a r e f ; l k , ,~ for th e own er,

who happe " , !O C,. . e deep ly for hi,; crea tion. To put i, o therwise, then,

consumerism, whi ch by. claim t o what rightly come. from an d belong.

to G o d, i . ju.t one m ore fo rm o f m i. guided pride.

M i. gu ided pride i. dangerous enough precise ly b.. use it is pride, blllit is d o u b l ~ 'dangero us becau." it i. misguided . I f w e take a loo k at ther e~ u h ofliving "cco rding to the co n.umeri.ti , worldview, th e search fo r


15/19

humnn ity. Mo,"" over, i f we mke the incarnatio n . e r i o u . l ~ .whe,"" Goda s s u m ~ .a real humanity in th e person o f Je.us, it follows naturally that

Jesul also had physica1 need, such as air. food and , heh er, and it ~ h o u l dnot be [00 much of a , t re"h to beiie"e that Jesus enjoyed q uite ~ nUm -be r o f her e- and-now activities. In short. the incarnation co nfirm s what

is dear in creati on. Co nsumpti on is endorsed by God , as long as it i.

kept in its proper p b ~ e.

The ~ r e a t i o n, w r r als o h c lp ~ u. develop a proper perspective on con

.umption when it defines us as middle manager


16/19


17/19

60

cia ! decisions we make, so " good proce,s "flY, ld


18/19

4

NATIONAliSMMyNation.UnderGod

IF Jr.SUS WF RF. Al-lI ' P. TODAY, would he b e " ,ur i o!;c? G ot your an swer?

Actually, that i . not rcally the


19/19

62

i n t ~ g m lp ~ r tof Cod ' , p lan (an i d ~ ak n own as cxccptiona lism) holds t he

seeds o f a religious nat iona li sm .

Religious n"'tiona linn i . rather distinctive among the world'-;ewssun'eyed in this book becau se, in this country, il is molt frequentlyfound w i thin con,ena!; ,"" C h ristian circles . O u r superpower status and

the longevity o f our po l itical syne m provide a potent seedbed fo r na

tionali . ! ideas. When this is combined with a rather widesp read belief

that thc Un ited State , is (or in

hidden worldviews-chapter 3

Documents