Hot commodities. The world we live in is consumer culture. Window displays taunt and tease the passerby, tugging at lustful heart strings--mistaking longing for need. Wallets deplete in funds, from a mere glance at every shiny, new thing that promises to make your world that much better. Who wouldn't want a world full of pretty things? I know I dream of a closet of endless possibilities--shoes, jeans, dresses, hats--all aligned as neatly as a stack of green hundreds. Capitalism loves our thoughts, it feeds off our egos, and our necessity to look our best and buy the nicest of things. Think red enamel shining off a Lambo, or freshly manicured nails glinting ruby polish, or patent leather pumps clacking on concrete..it's all really the same--lust in the form of the dollar bill. What can our money buy? And when can we buy it? The faster the better. When life comes down to a string of decisions made with a credit card, it all becomes a blur. Money never materializes before it is spent. Now there has to be something wrong with that.
Why is it that we NEED these things? Is it like the drink-until-your-sorrows-are gone-syndrome? You know, when you excuse getting shit faced because you've had a bad week or day or life? When you just got dumped, or lost your job, or your life is just a big void you try to fill. Is it because American culture breeds humans to always want more of everything? And needs become insatiable?
We are becoming alienated by the consumer goods we purchase. Not only do they define social frames of thought, but they also have become internalized representations of self-image. We are what we buy.
