{"id":11859,"date":"2025-12-13T05:39:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&#038;p=11859"},"modified":"2025-12-13T05:39:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T05:39:20","slug":"from-consumption-to-consumerism","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/from-consumption-to-consumerism\/","title":{"rendered":"From Consumption to Consumerism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The term \u201cconsumption\u201d is defined as \u201cthe using up of goods and services\u201d to satisfy man\u2019s needs. In Neoclassical Economics, an individual gains the more he or she personally consumes. The economic theory deals with the behavior of the homo-economicus (economic human) and one\u2019s relations with one\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Rational Choice Theory&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#anchor_ftn1\"><\/a><a><\/a>[<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#f51\">51<\/a><\/strong>] presents individuals as rational beings acting to realize their interests, having all the tools and reasoning required to make objective decisions in order to maximize their personal gain. In fact, however, these assumptions are not realized. The latest studies in behavioral economics demonstrate that man does&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;behave rationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prof. Dan Ariely, an international expert in behavioral economics, describes in his book,&nbsp;<em>Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions<\/em>, many incidents of such irrational behavior. One example deals with a person who was willing to make a 15-minute drive to save seven dollars on a pen that cost $25, but would not drive 15 minutes to save the same seven dollars for a $455 suit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#anchor_ftn2\"><\/a><a><\/a>[<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#f52\">52<\/a><\/strong>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our aspirations have grown along with technological and industrial advancements. Over time, the world has adopted the \u201cculture of consumption,\u201d otherwise known as \u201cconsumerism.\u201d This implies acquisition of goods and services&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;for satisfying fundamental needs, but for obtaining social status. Thus, the product has become a symbol of one\u2019s social status, and the product itself and its usability are of very little importance. Buying the product may well bring more pleasure to the buyer than its actual use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the modern consumer society, happiness has become a function of one\u2019s level of consumption, while consumption itself has become the objective of our lives. Barbara Kruger, an American conceptual artist, memorialized the consumer society with her piece in the Museum of Modern Art\u2014a paper shopping bag with the words: \u201cI shop, therefore I am\u201d\u2014paraphrasing Descartes\u2019 famous words describing the essence of man: \u201cI think, therefore I am.\u201d Man has become a compulsive consumer with a new pastime: shopping. Exaggerated consumption has become a culture, and one of contemporary society\u2019s primary characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#anchor_ftnref1\"><\/a><a><\/a>[<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#51\">51<\/a><\/strong>] John Scott, \u201cRational Choice Theory,\u201d from&nbsp;<em>Understanding Contemporary Society: Theories of The Present<\/em>, edited by G. Browning, A. Halcli, and F. Webster. (U.K., Sage Publications, 2000), http:\/\/www.soc.iastate.edu\/sapp\/soc401rationalchoice.pdf<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#anchor_ftnref2\"><\/a><a><\/a>[<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/eng\/content\/view\/full\/108937#52\">52<\/a><\/strong>] Dan Ariely,&nbsp;<em>Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions<\/em>&nbsp;(NY, HarperCollins Publishers, 2008), 20<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The term \u201cconsumption\u201d is defined as \u201cthe using up of goods and services\u201d to satisfy man\u2019s needs. In Neoclassical Economics, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":11620,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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