Materialism & Greed..all gone wrong
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Posted at Socialist CenterAuthor: Paramjeet Singh“Let’s go for starbucks” instead of “let’s go for coffee” – this is what I commonly hear when people are referring to going out for a cup of coffee. This statement might seem to be frivolous and unimportant at the very first instance but if we go deeper into it and analyze the human psychology behind it, we will come to a conclusion that the social dimension of human relations is increasingly assuming a materialistic outlook. People have started ‘loving things’ and ‘using people’. In fact, people ‘use’ people to gain ‘materialistic’ things. This is not healthy for the society and is the main cause of all the problems of the world. A man wants to have that thing which is considered ‘important’ in the society. These days it is the ‘materialist’ aspect this is given more importance in the society. The importance of any particular thing in the society is different from the importance of that very thing in theoretical sense. We all say that ‘love’ is important, ‘peace’ ‘honesty’ and ‘humanity’ are important. Are ‘love’, ‘peace’, ‘honesty’ and ‘humanity’ really important? Most of us would say ‘yes’ and could give lengthy lectures about the significance of these virtues. But are the virtues like honesty, loyalty, humanity, and love really considered to be important in our daily lives? No. In our daily lives, most of the people live far away from these virtues in order to possess something which the neoliberalism imposed practicalities of life have made ostensibly ‘important’ and that is “material comforts of life” at the cost of the virtues of the mankind. If ‘honesty’ was the benchmark, such rampant and wide scale corruption would not have been there.When we are growing up, we learn a lot many things from what is happening around us. We learn what is crucial for surviving in the world. We also learn what is important for that survival. If a child sees that possessing a top model luxury car is by what your status would be judged in the society, he will strive very hard to attain that car. If he will not be able to possess it by accepted means, he might go a step ahead and consider illegal means to possess the same. One of the major causes of increasing crime rate in the society is the greed that people harbor in their minds- a greed that has been ushered into the society to such an extent by the neoliberalism. The need of the hour is to install in place a system that can curb the materialism.
A Gift Of The Neoliberalism To The WorldLooks as if the poor bloke in the photo you posted could do with a few of the material comforts of life you seem to be decrying.I think you are confusing materialism with commercialism, the world of the market and the brand, where side by side with the message "look at all these nice goodies" is the message "can't pay, can't have".We don't need a system to curb materialism. We need to abolish the class division which allows a small minority to own and control the world's wealth to the exclusion of the majority. The world's resources need to be held in common. Then there will be no rich, no poor and nobody worshipping the brand.
Thank you for your comment. Commercialism exists because of materialism. We do need materials to survive and to sustain life and also to progress/develop (fortunately or unfortunately). However, the problem starts when the materialsm takes the centrestage and we forego other crucial 'things' that really matter in life.
Marxists use the term materialism in a very specific way. This is not the way you are using the word materialism. "It is illogical to attack a single commercial publisher for engaging in business practices which are, by economic necessity, no different from those of every other one."
I am referring to economic materialism (accompanied by psychological genesis of the same). Furthermore, I sincerely believe that Socialism should not be limited to merely theoretical discussions. It should, rather, be given a shape that is practically possible to be attained keeping in view the contemporary state of affairs and over-all scenario. We cannot afford to limit socialism to – "a class struggle". it is crucial for every section of the society.
The contemporary state of affairs and overall scenario you refer to are a direct result of class monopoly. Either you are part of the rich elite who own and control, or you are part of the vast majority who don't. This is the reality that pervades just about all aspects of our everyday lives. The "class struggle" encompasses the conflicts which arise through this basic division – to put it crudely, the haves versus the have-nots.The solution is not to chip away piecemeal at the inequalities this class division engenders, and then move on the next "good cause", in the belief that this is practical socialism. At best, all such activity can do is to slow the encroachments of capitalism onto our living standards. It generally fails miserably. As do attempts to foster love, peace and other things which matter without seeing the broader picture.Socialism should certainly not be limited to thoretical discussion. But because the number of real socialists in the world is at present tiny, the practical things to be doing all concern education and propaganda with the aim of spreading socialist ideas.
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