Everything you've been bashing more or less provides actual value to the consumer. It's fairly apparent that you just seem to hate everything to do with modern society, probably because you've been influenced by people who try to make you hate it, and it clearly worked. There's nothing wrong with doing things that make you happy or provide entertainment. No one expects long-term happiness from these things. All these BS arguments against consumerism seem very Puritan-like at their roots.
Are there people who ARE shallow and get these clothes just to make themselves feel better, etc? Yes. But that doesn't mean everyone is like that.
I was one of them for the first 28 years of my life. I went to football games, bought shit I didn't need, maxed out lots of credit cards I should never have been given, and basically tried to keep up with the joneses because I felt it was expected of me.
I can honestly say that the VAST MAJORITY of the shit I did and bought was done or bought out of some sense of keeping up with others or even impressing them.
My freaking House certainly was. God I regret that decision especially, and the $8k engagement ring I bought too... Sure I enjoyed being a homeowner and sure I appreciated the look on my wife's face when she saw such a nice ring, but I'd take both decisions back in a heartbeat if I could, along with 1 Million Plus other bad investment decisions.
Lets take a simple example that everyone here can relate to: Beer.
People who buy shit
have been sold shit. Plain and simple. If you buy a beer, then somebody sold you that beer. Some commercial, some salesman, somewhere at sometime... You got an image of a beer as a good thing that someone else put there. The desire for it did not originate within you.
Were you thirsty?
Did it taste good?
Did it make you feel great?
...All irrelevant!
Beer is NOT the best at quenching your thirst; Gatoraide would do a better job.
Beer is NOT the best at getting you drunk; some Bacardi 151 would do the job far faster & cheaper.
The only thing you should be asking yourself when you feel like a beer is if it is the best beverage to do the job of quenching your thirst or getting you buzzing. (Unless there is some 3rd reason to drink one I'm not aware of.)
Why? Because all desires are put there by others. So if you discard desire, then you can make the SMARTEST decisions.
No human CREATES a desire for something within themselves... Others tell you what you want, plain and simple. That's the underlying problem here. That's what American Culture hides from us; you should be master of your own desires.
Century of the Self shows you exactly why you aren't. Wake up.
What you're calling "actual value" has no value at all that you'll appreciate in the future.
