Keeping Up With the Joneses

Frankly, I find the quote from Veblen offensive and yet utterly true for the majority of the population. This is an "ought" versus "is" situation and I don't honestly think that society will change simply because a few self-sacrificing individuals decide to break the consumeristic chain.

I think that by living to accumulate "stuff", we lose sight of what is important in life, and ultimately, of the meaning of life in general. This can be seen frequently in our ever-increasingly postmodern society. The idea that accumulated wealth is the only objective which requires purposeful effort requires humans to take their eyes off of themselves and focus on others in a negative way. Instead of achieving some form of self-actualization, we consistently compare ourselves to others (because "enough" isn't enough to live on, "enough" is more than everyone else). This idea of success is pervasive and depressing because the standard is constantly in motion. Culturally, accumulated wealth may be viewed as "success", but I suggest that on the personal level, happiness is a better gauge of "success".  If we are to ever break this cycle of continually "keeping up with the Joneses", we must establish a better measure than "who is the most consumeristic".

I also feel that, for the Christian population, this idea of accumulated wealth is extremely poisonous. Jesus had advised that people not store up treasures for themselves here on earth, but rather to lay up treasure in heaven (corruptible, temporary treasure vs. eternal treasure and happiness). Everyday success should be a measure of how much a person loves, lives, gives, and grows--not how much money they can rake in. Personally, when I think of this, all that truly comes to mind is the Casting Crowns song "American Dreams". The line "who's to say whoever dies with the most toys wins? But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end?" speaks especially to this situation--even if one does not believe in God, it is easy enough to watch prominent businessmen lose their souls to the company they create. What does this actually gain us? Nothing in particular. Brief feelings of self-accomplishment. There must be more to life than that.