Name: Eva Solo
Date: 04/12/19
Professor: Marcela Godoy
Reading Response
Andy Couturier’s writing in The Abundance Of Less Breaking The Trance of “The Next Better Thing” reiterates the consumption habits of our ever-so developing society. The example from the conversation with Asha Amemiya about wanting to buy the newest version of a computer, because its even better than the previous one, flashed me back to conversation with my dad long before I had a grasp on how customer marketing worked. When the iPhones started popping out every year he always used to and still says ‘the phone is not much different, the price exceeds what its worth, and yet it is one of the most popular items, its sort of a status symbol to pull out the newest version in a business meeting or gathering of friends, on top of that the phone is extremely fragile and a few drops result in the need for screen replacement services – that too exceed the price of tech repair by a large percent’. His considerations never resonated with me as much as it does now, I moved past the societal need for ‘proving myself’ through my possessions and can make (somewhat) objective decisions when it comes to investing large sums of money. As the text described the impact of growing up in India, I also considered the locational impact of the youth. A child forming their core beliefs in a materialism based society or even household cannot be expected to just understand minimalism and how that can be a much more rewarding way or living. I have to say I too was a child thriving off my possessions, seeing a day at the mall as the most exciting activity of my childhood and now I can account a lot of my change to detaching from this type of life and moving to China. I am not saying change cannot be implemented based on location, but for a long time of my adolescence I felt out of place and did not understand why buying did not bring me the joy it once did. After I moved here and familiarised myself with other types of lifestyles and struggles, my core beliefs started shifting too and I can not find happiness from within and my what I create. This reading further inspired me to consider my immediate circle of my family and how I can bring them the impact I am experiencing through my education: my brother is nine years old and I hear a lot of the same articulations on his future goals as I did his age, he often references that he wants to be ‘known’ and when I ask him for what reasoning he replied ‘for having a lot of money’, I tried not to laugh but it was comical to see that level of certainty in something – I know he will move away from. I sat my parents down and had a conversation that just by taking his iPad away because ‘you should learn to entertain yourself’ is not enough, we – as the older people in the family – need to provide him with tools or options on how he can spend his time. I see how much technology has affected his life, and I am currently trying to damage control – why? Because it is so important for children to receive that level of satisfaction from own doing/ participating / creating, rather than a score at the top of the video game ranking. Children should not be overlooked, they should not be ‘let free’ till they form a comprehensive brain to start explaining these concepts to them – on self-worth, environment, and human relationships. By learning how to communicate these concepts to children we will be growing generations of inspired individuals that prioritise more than just instant-gratification. The issue I see is that the industrial world, or corporate, doesn’t want communities like this, they need brainwashed and dull souls trapped in the consumption cycle to fulfil their human-purpose by possessions. Can we ever break free, if we are programmed to go the opposite way? This makes me consider how grateful I am to be born in a time where I can access education, learn, and make my own informed decisions, while simultaneously trying to battle again the urges that formed in my childhood, such as impulse purchasing.
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