This paper examines consumerism as a contemporary religious framework and compares it with traditional Lakota spiritual beliefs. Using a comparative religious analysis structure, the paper addresses fundamental questions about human meaning, purpose, and transformation—including what it means to be human, the nature of human problems, causes of suffering, goals of spiritual transformation, means of achieving those goals, the nature of reality, and conceptions of the sacred. The essay argues that while traditional religions like Lakota spirituality ground happiness in connection to nature and spiritual betterment, consumerism locates fulfillment in material acquisition, ultimately disconnecting individuals from authentic human experience and spiritual meaning.
Consumerism is the term used to describe a person who equates their happiness with the act of purchasing and possessing material things (Barber, 2007). The Lakota are a Native American tribe from the Great Plains area (Christafferson, 2001). The Lakota Indians lived, and still do live, simple lives that focus on the connection to nature. In modern day, consumerism has evolved into a form of religion. The fundamental difference between consumerism and Lakota tradition is that consumerism takes the person further away from their natural roots, whereas Lakota spirituality emphasizes harmony with the natural world as the path to meaning and happiness.
Every individual and community answers the question "What does it mean to be human?" or "What is the meaning of life?" differently. These differences in answers stem from each individual's personal beliefs and morals. These beliefs and morals in turn stem from that individual's history and culture. Thus, religion plays an important role in answering this question.
At the most basic level, the religious person would answer that the purpose of being human is to "do unto others as you wish to have done unto you"—the golden rule. However, as society becomes less religious and consumerism increases in importance, this foundational rule is being replaced with an individual-focused definition of the meaning of life, one that holds the purpose of life as to consume as much as possible, at all costs. This shift represents not merely a change in values, but a fundamental reordering of what it means to be human in contemporary society.
The basic human problem is finding the answer to the first question—what it means to be human. Because there is not one universal answer, there end up being competing answers, mostly individualized answers. The basic human problem is coming to terms with how to deal with these many different meanings and learning how to live with them instead of living in conflict against them.
The cause of the problem is that the religion of consumerism has taken humans outside the traditional cycles of good and bad, birth and death, and harmony versus disharmony. By contrast, consumerism simply creates the problem of "What don't I have that I should have?" Unlike other religions, which create a connection to either nature (Lakota) or a divine being, consumerism makes a connection between the individual and the artificial. Instead of seeking happiness through spiritual betterment, consumerism allows one to purchase happiness. The result is the problem: humans lose the connection to what it means to be human, becoming trapped in an endless cycle of acquisition that can never be satisfied.
The end goal, regardless of one's religion, is happiness. However, the definition of happiness differs greatly from one religion to another. In religions such as Lakota spirituality, happiness is found by making the gods happy or Mother Earth happy by learning to be one with nature. Other religions have a similar goal of happiness, where one obtains happiness by serving their god. However, in consumerism, happiness can be bought yet is never actually attainable because there is no end to the possessions one can consume. This fundamental paradox reveals consumerism's inherent flaw as a spiritual system.
For the Lakota and other traditional religions, the means of transformation are the service of one's god. Typically this involves such things as loving others, not sinning, doing good unto others, and so forth. In consumerism, on the other hand, the means of transformation is consumption. In other words, the act and the goal are the same thing: the consumption of possessions.
"Spiritual versus materialist constructions of reality"
"Nature and possessions as sacred in different traditions"
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