Materialism and Anakin Skywalker
For the last several sections I have discussed the fixation in Americana with stuff: possessing stuff, acquiring stuff, and storing stuff. As I explained in the last section, Americana has become a culture in storage. Until now those remarks have all been preliminary, insights into the nature of Americana’s fascination with collecting stuff. We are increasingly becoming a culture that equates success with how much stuff one has, but there is a darker story to be told about our obsession with things.
Generally stated, materialism, within the context of cultural economics, is the assumed importance and preoccupation with material possessions. A materialist is one who professes such a claim as the general principle of one’s life, and one who further identifies one’s self worth with the value of his or her possessions.
With reference to two chief dangers that arise in discussing materialism in an account of Americana, it should be noted that I am not suggesting these dangers are in any sense exhaustive, as there are surely more dangers in assuming a materialist stance. I am, however, asserting that in a discussion of materialism, the two dangers I will address threaten the very fabric of Americana. Moreover, since this investigation is an analysis of the process wherein Americana is globalized, the dangers of materialism threaten to undermine the very fabric of the world.
There is no inherent danger in merely acquiring nice things, but one must understand that there is more to life than simply acquiring stuff. Life is filled with complex decisions and relationships, and if every decision and relationship is based on positioning oneself to amass more, one is essentially using oneself as a means.
Thus, the first danger to assuming a materialist stance is to understand that such an assumption necessitates unhappiness or at the very best, intermittent happiness. If, in acquiring things, I come to identify my success with the possessions I have attained and success makes me happy, then it follows that my happiness is itself dependent on my possessions.
The trouble with possessions, however, something we learn as children during the holiday season, is that our gifts, no matter how grand they are, eventually lose their original appeal. We get bored with things and gadgets, which is only complicated by the fact that manufactures are always coming out with newer and better products.
Take, for example, my favorite chip - Doritos. I’ve been eating Doritos since I was a child. I remember saving any money I could find to purchase a bag of Doritos from the neighborhood convenient store. Recalling the probably hundreds of bags of Doritos I’ve eaten over the years, I seem to remember a consistency in the flavor of the chip, but each year, branded across the entire face of the Doritos bag is the proclamation that it’s the cheesiest bag ever! The reason why this practice is done it to keep consumers “brand loyal.” To be honest with you, if Doritos were never to get any cheesier, I’d still eat them.
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