Materialism
Exploring the importance of posessions over spiritual values
A materialistic society is one that values personal and physical possessions over spiritual ones. We rely on physical objects and items for happiness, allowing self destruction by materialism. We have been sucked in by the power of materialism and many of us are led to believe that our possessions measure our wealth, when in reality shouldn’t it be our happiness that measures that? Materialism can affect both rich and poor and is thought to be the root of many mental health issues. Various studies have concluded that the more materialistic a person is, the more their wellbeing decreases. I think that the barcode evolution image is very hard hitting and is a clear example of the effect materialism is having on society. It portrays that evolution has not stopped like we thought, but it is continuing, turning us into materialistic and possession obsessed humans.
Listening to a Radio one podcast a few weeks ago, I came across a very good example of someone trying to escape from our materialistic society. An illustator had moved from living in a flat in the centre of London to living in a Teepee next to an estuary in the country. She used all the natural resources around her to live, bathing in the estuary, using fire to cook her meals. But still, she had her art materials, laptop etc which she needed to live and work from. As hard as we try, we will never be able to escape the hard grasp of materialism.
Image 1 https://arebelwithacause.org/2016/05/02/materialism/
Image 2 https://wordlesstech.com/the-next-stages-of-human-evolution/
Image 3 http://cargocollective.com/praewS/Bridges-Consumerism-and-Materialism
Image 4 https://arebelwithacause.org/2016/05/02/materialism/
Image 5 https://georgesjournal.net/2013/03/23/worshiping-materialism/