Most of us today have become consumers. We consume media, food, and almost everything in access. With easier accessibility of almost everything at our fingertips, the level at which we consume stuff has immensely grown and is too out of control. Media has glorified consumerism. Every bit of advertising has us chasing stuff that we don’t even require. 

The Rise of Consumerism

With the rise of social media and the flow of information, there has been a direct correlation between the rise of consumerism. Every new iPhone launch (although it’s not even new anymore every year; they just advertise it as new) makes us want to buy it, even though the previous one works just fine. Every new clothing trend has us chasing it. It’s like we have lost our sense of satisfaction, and these big brands as well as corporations realize it. 

Big brands and corporations don’t want you to stop consuming. It’s how they benefit from you. You are there profit-making machines. Every consumerist option that you chase is another dollar for one of these brands and corporations.

The rise of boredom Replaced by media consumption

Modern Human’s don’t get bored enough. By bored, I mean, like bored bored. They have every second of their boredom filled with mindless scrolling, consuming media at an unimaginable rate. Scrolling past short-form videos through hours while frying their dopamine receptors in the brain. The irony is, the more we consume stuff, the more our brain craves for more, keeping us stuck in this constant loop.

Creation: The remedy

There is consumerism. We accept that. But what is the solution to it? Well, it seems to be creation. To be Blunt, you are either a consumer or a creator. Im not saying that people that create do not consume or vice versa, but there is a ratio to it that determines your state of mind. If you consume more than you create, then it’s a concerning thing. The solution lies in creating more that you consume. 

Creation of any kind of value, whether it’s through social media content, YouTube vlogs, or writing blogs, will have you better placed in the long run.

Wealth lies in creation

You see, the ultra-wealthy of the past generation were those that used capital as leverage. Those were the Warren Buffet’s , Charlie Munger of our times. The current scenario has flipped. The post-internet ultra-wealthy or rich of our times are the ones creating. These people leverage ‘products with no marginal cost of replication’ as the great Naval Ravikant puts it.