The hottest Consumerism Substack posts right now

Living in WEIRD societies gives us better stuff like food, clothes, and entertainment.
Bullshit is a product, just like goods and services, and is abundant in various forms like psycho-bullshit and political bullshit.
Advanced forms of bullshit like pursuing happiness or self-actualization are unique to our WEIRD world.

People around the world share common emotions like happiness, sadness, and fear despite playing life's game on different boards.
America has a deep-seated culture that resists centralized power and favors institutional proliferation, with capitalism being a prominent 'god'.
American business thrives on a combination of sales, service, marketing, value creation, and finance, shaping a society deeply rooted in consumerism and desire creation.

Consider the importance of counterculture in challenging the status quo.
Increased economic independence can help revitalize and preserve dynamism in society.
Consumerism, while offering comfort, can lead to distractions and inhibit personal growth.

The automobile industry changed the design of our cities, taking away spaces that were once meant for people. Streets used to be safe places for everyone, but cars changed that, leading to rises in accidents and fatalities.
Big companies shaped public perceptions about cars being essential for modern life. They promoted the idea that owning a car was necessary, while at the same time, they bought and destroyed public transport systems to make way for more cars.
We need to imagine a new future for our cities away from car dependency. It’s important for everyone to contribute ideas for a better urban design that prioritizes people, nature, and community, instead of serving corporate interests.

Fast fashion creates a lot of waste and pollution. It produces billions of clothing items each year, with most ending up in landfills or polluting the ocean.
The fashion industry uses a huge amount of water and chemicals, harming both people and ecosystems. Growing cotton and dyeing fabrics often uses toxic materials that contaminate water sources.
Many workers in the fast fashion industry face exploitation, including low pay and unsafe working conditions. The industry often relies on the labor of vulnerable populations, leading to serious human rights violations.

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Relying on AI for thinking and social life leads to cognitive offloading that can weaken critical thinking and turn education and relationships into corporate products.
Consumption has become a symbolic economy where brands and cheap retail practices shape identity and often harm people through price tricks and shallow meaning.
New technologies—automation, surveillance, biotech and material innovations—are reshaping jobs, privacy and environmental risk, with opaque corporate power deciding who benefits and who loses.

Objet aims to bring back joy and pride to the relationship humans have with shopping and objects.
Sublime possessions have soul and meaning, like the painting Caro purchased from Javier Mariscal.
Caro values objects with stories and dreams of owning embroidered items from 'Life is a picnic.'

Maxxing means narrowing your whole life down to obsessively amplifying one trait, even if it destroys your body or wellbeing. People pursue extreme practices—cosmetic surgery, self-harm, asceticism—to push a single quality to infinity.
Modern social and economic conditions make maxxing possible and tempting, because formal equality, specialization, and a market for personal traits let people game hierarchies by maximizing one attribute. It’s not just internet subcultures; the logic comes from games and evolutionary strategies too.
A tiny number of extreme maxxers can have outsized cultural and political influence, creating turbulence and unpredictable effects across society. That concentration of obsession may shape the century and draw everyone into reacting to their extremes.

Disposable trinkets and souvenirs as gifts are often cheap, meaningless, and environmentally harmful.
Consider alternative gift ideas like experiences, personalized gifts, subscriptions, or charitable donations.
For acquaintances, opt for neutral gifts like gift cards, consumable treats, office supplies, home decor, or books.

Ideas and actions that seem to be for the greater good often serve to strengthen capitalism and consumerism, benefiting the wealthy at the expense of common good.
Green initiatives like solar power, while seeming environmentally friendly, can unintentionally encourage greater energy usage and resource consumption, due to their integration into the capitalist system.
AI, though touted for its benefits, primarily serves to make consumerism more efficient, distracts from environmental destruction, and may lead to a toxic cycle of technological dependence that harms nature and society.

China's culture has changed greatly since the Cultural Revolution, leaving many people without a clear moral or artistic framework. This has led to a focus on commercialism and imitation rather than originality.
Revived traditions in China often lack deep meaning and personal connection. Many people celebrate old customs without understanding their significance, almost like trying on someone else's clothes.
Innovation and creative thinking are not always encouraged in Chinese culture, which affects areas like customer service and productivity. While there are impressive advancements, they often stem from improving existing ideas rather than creating new ones.