Why You're So Hooked on Materialism

We live in a material culture. We live in a plastic world where even the deepest depths of the ocean are riddled with particles of plastic. Our generation is hooked on the latest brands, the newest technology and all things celebrity. Despite my hate for this materialistic culture, it is impossible not to buy into it without being a recluse from society.  But it wasn't always like this. It was the beginning of public relations that lead to mass manipulation of the American population, with the UK following suit, and manipulated an entire world into a new infatuation on materialism and individualism. Most significantly, I find, this was all led by the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays. Through this post I will briefly try to outline how psychoanalysis has shaped and controlled our lives, leading to mass manipulation which funds capitalist corporations and even political movements,.

It is no doubt that in our postmodern world, capitalist corporations hold more power and wealth than entire governments. The amount of money in companies like Nike could probably trump whole governments of third world countries. It is almost shameful that the world has become to caught up in brands and fashion that we fund the obscene wealth of corporations such as these. Psychoanalysis, however, was the leading force in praying on our innate desires so that we buy into material goods, as we seem to identify with them in some way, continuing the myth of individualism. Psychoanalysis's theory of the composition of the brain as featuring an ID, ego and superego is that there are innate desires in all of mankind, present in the ID, that must be contained as they are dangerous and destructive. We can see them in times of war, or in paedophiles or mass genocide or brutal killings. The function of the ego and the superego, the psychoanalysists' believe, is to mediate and control these dangerous and destructive forces, so that we can live in a social setting peacefully. In other words, they act as a sort of consciousness, teaching us to abide by and live by the rules of society, acting in a socially acceptable way. So how does this relate to capitalist advertising and mass materialism, I hear you ask. Well, it is the very essence of the human desires that Bernays drew upon to form public relations. By preying on the very weaknesses of people; their innate desires, you are almost able to control them, especially when the population was not aware of these desires being inexplicitly revealed through aspects of advertising and material goods. For example, adverts for cars and smoking heavily revolved around sexuality and power- two undeniable an unchanging desires within man.

Before all this, cars were seen as objects of practical use, and goods were standardised. People were not infatuated with material culture and would only buy new goods if and when they needed to. However, the second world war left an abundance of standardised goods and a need to get rid of them, hence Bernays was called upon to increase sales so the large companies would not lose out on money. This marked the beginning of a significant change in society that characterises the very essence of today's world; individualism. Products started becoming a way to express a perceived individual character, and clothes and cars became a further extension of the 'self', a way to express ones self and create an identity for ones self (bland, I know). People began to feel connections with products, and each sought to be increasingly different from the rest, despite the fact that about 1000 more of these products were already in function with 1000 other people. This change in advertising and the purpose of material goods as not a necessity but a hobby or a status image was significant not only in capitalism but in changing a whole world, arguably corrupting the very essence and purpose of society.

I hope you find this of some interest, and maybe it encourages you to not buy in so heavily to the media saturated materialistic culture of the 21st Century, like I do.