Skip to main content

Consumerism

Spending money not equal to happiness

Don't seek external validation for happiness

Sigmund Freud - Psychoanalysis

  • Mass consumer persuasion
  • Product placement in movies
  • Moved humans from needs (things you need) to desire (you want it, doesn't matter if you need it or not)
  • Dress has become an expression
  • Consumptionism
  • Consumerism

How Consumer Propaganda Changed America | Epic Economics - YouTube

Conspicuous Consumption

The spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power." (related: Veblen goods - "types of luxury goods, such as expensive wines, jewellery, fashion-designer handbags, and luxury cars, which are in demand because of the high prices asked for them.")

A classic example of this would be a luxury watch: A Rolex isn't better at telling the time than a cheap Casio -- but a Rolex signals something about its owner's economic power and thus their social standing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant