looking at the old with new eyes

Have you been thinking about buying a second or third flat screen for other rooms in the house. A laptop to replace the slightly outmoded one sitting on your desk? A second car? Another gizmo that does something a little better than your last one?
I don't think that there has ever been a time when consumerism has been so rampant, so blatant and so unnecessary, as our own time. It's almost as if the spending impulse has replaced some ancient, though now redundant one. You can analyse why it happens and how it happens from many perspectives. Social commentators like Hugh McKay are already doing a fine job. Some academics build whole departments based upon aspects of social analysis that try to evaluate (or rather deconstruct) the phenomenon of consumerism.

There are vested interests whose existence is predicated upon you continuing to spend - the list is rather long - but includes the political class, manufacturers, advertisers, media outlets,shop keepers, ordinary employees and so on. Turn off the spending and you have an economic crisis. Japanese Governments have been trying to get folks to unloose their savings for twenty years now without success, resulting in what commentators call 'two lost decades.' Only the ability of big Japanese companies to export goods has staved off a more serious crisis.

How should we live then? Continue to spend into the future, heedless of the social and environmental cost? Re-think our ways and accept a reduction in living standards? We are in-twined with the system in so many ways and voluntary change will be difficult. After all, there is a psychological part to consuming(eg:the empowering aspect) that may be hard to break. And there are many naysayers and deniers of all stripes, some of whom are not into sacrifice.

As a starting point, may I suggest this. If you don't really need something (need = important for actual survival) then have another good look at what you are planning to buy. Turn it in your hand and study it. If it's big like car, do the same thing mentally. Break it into its component parts. Most likely it isn't a need at all, but a thing desired. Ask yourself why you want it? Is there a part of your life that this purchase is trying to fill, even for a short time? If so, what else could you reasonably do to change the way you feel? This is just the beginning of a journey to de-consumerise yourself.

And a part of looking at the old in a new way. Perhaps as if for the first time.