Is consumerism materialism the same thing?

Let's think about this for a second.
I'm going to see if I can break the idea of consumerism and materialism being inextriably linked and if I can do so without obsessing over their exact definitons.

Can I think of a person who is consumerist but not necessarily materialist?

Well I do see religious supply stores, as well as spiritualist supply stores. Selling things like candles, jewelry, books, rocks. A frequenter of these could be a consumerist that is not principally materialist.

Can I think of a person that is materialist but not consumerist?

There are the kind of hippies and/or hipsters that idealize such things as tiny homes, minimalism, living in a van. They do this typically not for religious or spiritualist reasons (some exceptions), but more because they lean against extinction rebellion kind of worldview. They think the resources and renewability of earth are running out. They have a materialist world view, without being consumerist. Thinking about these two type of people tells me that despite the strong bond between the two where one easily leads to the other, I don't think they're inextrectable from each other.

Definitely not the same thing.
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
Reactions: contradiction of terns and Haim Arlosoroff
WeWuzFinns said:
Materialism is a school of philosophy that claims that everything can have a physical explanation and there are no higher powers influencing things. Consumerism and other forms of hedonism are often used to fill the void left by not believing to higher purpose.
Click to expand...

I should have known it was some post-modernist wankoff. Apparently even an idiot like me can come to the conclusion drawn by Historical Materialism.
From some other user:
It is the theory that a societies mode of production fundamentally determines everything in the society and its evolution.
I would say that it seems to be a theory with a great deal of merit despite being an anticommunist
Click to expand...

From me:
contradiction of terns said:
Because people are inherently materialistic, and yes, this time the ONLY answer is materialism. It's strictly about wanting money to be comfortable/do whatever you want; ie, good 'ol fashioned greed.

You could say it's a closed cycle, I guess. Greedy people create a system that runs on the natural urges of humans to be greedy.

Edit: I tap out. lol. This was fun tho.
Click to expand...
 
They are among the average layperson, consumerism is the purchasing of stuff to entertain the amoral atheistic midwit people in a world they are convinced doesn't care about them and materialism is the belief the mind is in some sense materially constructed by the world rather than the world is in some sense mentally constructed by the mind.

I suppose in the same way the bourgeoisie are the natural extension of heliocentrism, consumerism is the natural extension of materialism, and madness and misery are the natural extension of any shift in the way a civilization perceives the world.

I wish Donald Trump had Completed the System of German Idealism.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back