This Magazine (yes, that’s the name of the magazine, “this magazine”) has a neat little explanation of why the ideology of “anti-consumerism” is such a failure: it’s not an ideology, it’s a fashion statement.
Brands are useful to me. They are blocks of meaning which I can use to navigate the material world. I can assemble them to communicate with others (“I’m a badass!” “I’m a young professional!”).
Maybe my couch is “just a couch” and maybe it’s the symbol of all my aspirations for comfort and luxury. Maybe it’s lumpy and just stained and uncomfortable and I want something I can work from when it’s snowy out and I am so not tromping to the office in knee-deep slush.
Yeah, I’m afraid of the rat race. I’m afraid of dying and having my obituary explain that I was the author of such classics as “Product Marketing Statement” and “Installation and Administrator’s Guide.” I’m afraid of wasting the fruits of my labor on shiny things that won’t make me happy.
I still want a motorcycle though. Triumph Bonneville, of course. It’s shiny and tells people that I’m a badass, yet sophisticated.
Secretly Ironic 