ST #49: Nihilism, Consumerism and the Islamic Antidote — Part 5 | Imran Hussein (2022-01-15) #

0:00:12 assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters
0:00:13 welcome back to the sapiens thoughts
0:00:16 video series in this episode we're going
0:00:18 to be looking at consumerism how it
0:00:20 links to nihilism and why it's such a
0:00:22 big problem now
0:00:23 let's go back
0:00:25 a moment to the whole idea of the
0:00:27 enlightenment philosophers and thinkers
0:00:29 the idea that our objective is worldly
0:00:32 progress we have to create paradise on
0:00:34 earth
0:00:35 now this idea
0:00:37 obviously you know
0:00:39 has to result in something for for us to
0:00:42 attain a paradise on earth you know we
0:00:44 saw how the consumerist
0:00:47 ideology the consumerism as a way of
0:00:49 life was necessary to implement because
0:00:51 this is
0:00:52 now the system which is going to lead
0:00:55 to
0:00:55 what they think is going to lead to
0:00:57 prosperity and is going to lead to this
0:01:00 this this idea of a utopia a worldly
0:01:02 utopia now
0:01:04 i think it's important to define what we
0:01:06 mean or the difference between
0:01:08 consumerism and materialism as a way of
0:01:10 life they're used interchangeably
0:01:12 sometimes but there is a slight
0:01:13 difference as noted by tim kasser in the
0:01:15 high price of materialism
0:01:17 the consumer materialism as a way of
0:01:20 life
0:01:21 is
0:01:23 a an idea which is that
0:01:26 we as human beings we find value
0:01:29 through our material possessions and our
0:01:31 acquisition of
0:01:33 the material goods
0:01:35 value is attached to this this is
0:01:37 materialism as a way of life consumerism
0:01:39 is now if you like us acting upon this
0:01:42 ideology or this way of looking at
0:01:43 things so we go out and we consume and
0:01:45 we believe consuming material goods and
0:01:48 more products and all of these things is
0:01:50 going to lead to well-being and
0:01:51 happiness and it's going to lead to us
0:01:52 finding value and meaning
0:01:55 now how does consumerism or materialism
0:01:58 as a way of life linked to nihilism well
0:02:00 i'm sure you guys can connect the dots
0:02:02 and if you want take a moment pause the
0:02:03 video and let me know your thoughts in
0:02:05 the comment section below what you guys
0:02:06 think the link is between nihilism and
0:02:08 consumerism
0:02:10 so if you've done that one of the links
0:02:11 i want to share with you here is and
0:02:13 it's a very
0:02:14 simple logical point and that is that
0:02:15 when one finds themselves one finds
0:02:17 themselves in a state of meaninglessness
0:02:20 they realize life has no meaning what am
0:02:22 i here for what is it all about and they
0:02:23 can't find answers
0:02:25 the first place humans are going to turn
0:02:26 to
0:02:27 is the material world
0:02:29 and
0:02:30 on top of that if
0:02:32 the consumerist ideology and mindset and
0:02:35 you know has been pushed to us and
0:02:37 promoted to us everywhere well then
0:02:38 naturally we're going to hearken towards
0:02:40 it if we because that propaganda is
0:02:42 there you know and it's been there for a
0:02:44 very long time that
0:02:45 buying this attaining this having this
0:02:48 is going to lead to happiness it's going
0:02:50 to lead to well-being although there's
0:02:52 no direct correlation as we'll see in a
0:02:53 moment but this is what's going to lead
0:02:55 to happiness this is what's going to
0:02:57 lead to prosperity when we're being
0:02:59 bombarded with these messages especially
0:03:01 a human being that can't find meaning in
0:03:02 their life it finds themselves in
0:03:05 nihilism well then naturally they're
0:03:07 going to incline towards this
0:03:08 and on a level superficially when human
0:03:11 beings acquire things and buy things
0:03:13 especially if there's this
0:03:15 things in fashion if this atmosphere has
0:03:16 been created you know of of products
0:03:19 that you know
0:03:20 have gained been given this sort of
0:03:22 ephemeral value which we believe that
0:03:24 they have value and people are buying it
0:03:25 and there's social consensus on this and
0:03:27 everyone's inclining towards these
0:03:28 products which somehow in some way gives
0:03:31 these products value uh you know that
0:03:34 when we buy these things and we feel
0:03:35 like we're a part of that group now that
0:03:37 elite group that has a particular
0:03:38 product or you know has acquired
0:03:40 something it's gonna lead to a temporary
0:03:42 sense of fulfillment and happiness but
0:03:45 that runs out very quickly
0:03:47 because it's very ephemeral in nature
0:03:48 this type of happiness you buy something
0:03:51 you probably you probably experienced
0:03:52 this yourself you know we buy a product
0:03:54 we are aspiring to buy something we
0:03:56 spend months maybe years saving for that
0:03:58 thing we buy that thing we enjoy it for
0:04:01 a few weeks
0:04:02 a few days and then after that it's just
0:04:05 another product it's just another thing
0:04:07 that we we're just not finding that
0:04:08 satisfaction in it anymore that
0:04:10 happiness
0:04:11 we may live through others now we may
0:04:13 get other people to come and enjoy the
0:04:14 thing that we have so when they enjoy it
0:04:16 for the first time we live vicariously
0:04:17 through them now and they experience
0:04:18 this
0:04:19 or we may aspire to buy something else
0:04:21 now and we go and search for another you
0:04:24 know thing that we think is going to
0:04:26 bring happiness to us but it doesn't
0:04:28 so
0:04:29 nihilism and consumerism there is that
0:04:31 one link there and and the consumer
0:04:33 mindset if you are someone that has
0:04:35 taken materialism as a way of life
0:04:37 well then you're more prone to fall into
0:04:40 types of nihilism because all you're
0:04:41 focusing on is the material ephemeral
0:04:44 world which at bottom is meaningless
0:04:46 it's not going to give you value you
0:04:48 know it's not going to it's not going to
0:04:50 define you in any substantial way so
0:04:52 it's going to open you up to nihilism
0:04:54 you know so it swings the door swings
0:04:56 both ways
0:04:59 that being said what are the origins of
0:05:01 consumerism what was very interesting is
0:05:03 that
0:05:04 the origins of consumerism can be traced
0:05:06 back to also the time of the
0:05:07 enlightenment in 1732 for example
0:05:11 an author a physician i believe named
0:05:13 bernard mandeville he wrote a book
0:05:14 called the fable of the bees and this
0:05:16 was a very interesting tract what he
0:05:18 essentially
0:05:20 tried to do
0:05:21 was redefine
0:05:24 virtue
0:05:25 in his book
0:05:26 which at the time was understood you
0:05:28 know as someone virtues was someone that
0:05:30 was godly someone that was you know
0:05:32 lived a very simple life you know that
0:05:35 wasn't
0:05:36 engaged in vanity or you know buying all
0:05:38 of these things or someone that was
0:05:40 you would call a minimalist someone that
0:05:42 was focused on god in the spiritual life
0:05:44 as opposed to material life and what
0:05:46 mandeville tried to do was was turn this
0:05:48 around and suggest no
0:05:50 virtue
0:05:51 a virtuous person is someone who really
0:05:54 engages their desires and goes and
0:05:57 fulfills their material desires goes
0:05:59 engages in consumerism why his reasoning
0:06:02 was because the more you buy
0:06:04 you know you are facilitating for the
0:06:06 economy to increase and as the economy
0:06:09 increases in the long term you are now
0:06:12 bringing more money into the country
0:06:13 which leads to a safer country uh leads
0:06:16 to a more prosperous country and then
0:06:18 there's there's excess money to put into
0:06:20 you know
0:06:21 social projects you know increa you know
0:06:23 injecting money into hospitals and and
0:06:25 care and all of these types of things so
0:06:27 it was a very interesting idea
0:06:30 um which
0:06:32 was challenged by many philosophers and
0:06:34 some other thinkers like adam smith uh
0:06:36 in in the wealth of nations although he
0:06:38 didn't disagree with mandeville's
0:06:40 overall conclusion
0:06:42 uh
0:06:44 or reasoning what he did disagree with
0:06:46 was
0:06:48 specifically on consumption what should
0:06:49 be consumed to lead to this ultimate
0:06:52 goal what is it that we should be
0:06:53 consuming because according to mandible
0:06:54 it was just
0:06:55 it's just ridiculous
0:06:57 silly pointless things basically like
0:06:59 mirrors hats
0:07:01 certain items of clothing and you know
0:07:03 pottery certain you know brand names and
0:07:06 all these types of things he just wanted
0:07:07 you to buy whatever you know and and
0:07:09 fulfill your desires go and continuously
0:07:10 buy and just
0:07:12 gain as much as you can because at the
0:07:13 end of the day it's good because it
0:07:15 increases the economy it brings more
0:07:16 money in which will lead to good overall
0:07:18 uh but uh adam smith
0:07:21 tried to refine this and he said well
0:07:23 and he proposed well we should be
0:07:24 thinking of
0:07:25 you know let's make the things that we
0:07:26 consume more substantial and worthwhile
0:07:29 and meaningful and he proposed things
0:07:31 like education and the education system
0:07:33 and so on and so forth so it's a very
0:07:34 interesting discussion that was taking
0:07:36 place uh between these guys
0:07:38 interestingly during the same period
0:07:41 the enlightenment was taking place you
0:07:42 could say it was a part of the whole
0:07:43 process
0:07:45 but the idea is
0:07:46 consumerism especially today this
0:07:48 unhealthy type of consumer society that
0:07:50 we're a part of today
0:07:52 is directly linked to
0:07:54 the conception of the idea of creating a
0:07:57 paradise a worldly utopia you know
0:08:00 and at the same time what we've been
0:08:02 told is that this is what's going to
0:08:04 lead to happiness
0:08:07 well-being you know this is the idea
0:08:08 that's been pushed which is not the case
0:08:11 so the end of the day it's not about
0:08:13 individual well-being
0:08:14 although that's what's suggested and
0:08:16 that's what we learn it's about
0:08:18 money at the end of the day it's all
0:08:20 about money power and control at the end
0:08:22 of the day so there's a very interesting
0:08:24 quote here which i think summarizes this
0:08:26 whole consumerist system that we're a
0:08:28 part of
0:08:29 it's by lawrence shemsey in in his book
0:08:31 the hunger for more he states
0:08:33 consumption without excuses and without
0:08:35 the need of justification the beauty
0:08:37 part was that it finessed the irksome
0:08:40 question of values and of purpose during
0:08:42 the past decade many people came to
0:08:45 believe there didn't have to be a
0:08:46 purpose the mechanism didn't require it
0:08:49 consumption kept the workers working
0:08:51 which kept the paychecks coming which
0:08:53 kept the people spending which kept the
0:08:55 investors investing which meant there
0:08:58 was more to consume the system properly
0:09:00 understood was independent of values and
0:09:03 needed no philosophy to prop it up it
0:09:05 was a perfect circle complete in itself
0:09:09 and empty in the middle
0:09:11 very profound quote which i think
0:09:12 summarizes everything and by the way
0:09:14 you know this the people that were sort
0:09:16 of running or promoting this consumerist
0:09:20 ideology over the past several decades
0:09:22 century or so
0:09:25 again you can when you read what they
0:09:26 had to say you can start to pick up and
0:09:28 tell that human well-being was not
0:09:31 in this at the center of all of this it
0:09:33 wasn't about the individual for example
0:09:35 there's a quote here by victor level a
0:09:38 retail analyst from the 50s 1950s he
0:09:40 stated our enormously productive economy
0:09:43 demands that we make consumption our way
0:09:46 of life that we convert the buying and
0:09:49 the use of goods into rituals that we
0:09:51 seek our spiritual satisfaction our ego
0:09:54 satisfaction
0:09:56 in consumption we need things consumed
0:09:59 burned up replaced and discarded at an
0:10:02 ever accelerating rate
0:10:04 i mean you can see how shocking this is
0:10:06 right and what's really interesting just
0:10:09 as a side point
0:10:11 products are designed to break down it's
0:10:13 a part of the system so that we go and
0:10:15 buy more
0:10:16 there's cool it's referred to as
0:10:18 perceived and planned obsolescence or
0:10:20 some referred to as a psychological type
0:10:21 of obsolescence where products are
0:10:23 designed to have a certain shelf life
0:10:26 although they could be designed to last
0:10:28 much longer but they're designed to
0:10:30 break down so that the consumer goes and
0:10:32 buys another product take phones for
0:10:34 example you know
0:10:35 most phone companies these days come out
0:10:37 with a new phone every year what's wrong
0:10:39 with the old phone it's fine it's
0:10:40 working
0:10:41 but it's interesting because some
0:10:42 companies deliberately update software's
0:10:45 of the phone in a way that the phone
0:10:47 slows down starts to slow down at the
0:10:49 same time
0:10:50 they create this hype this propaganda
0:10:52 you know this need for this new upgrade
0:10:55 the next version
0:10:56 and we just we just buy it to this
0:10:58 advertising and we go and buy every year
0:11:00 and it becomes a social thing as well
0:11:02 where you become a part of this type of
0:11:04 elite group where you know everyone you
0:11:06 know in this group has the next phone
0:11:08 this year's phone i need to get it as
0:11:10 well to be a part of this group so it's
0:11:12 it's it's almost uh if you like you can
0:11:15 see it as psychological
0:11:17 warfare to a degree where they're trying
0:11:20 to create you're trying to create this
0:11:22 consumer because at the end of the day
0:11:24 it helps facilitate the system no it
0:11:26 doesn't lead to the well-being of the
0:11:28 individual
0:11:29 and and it's been achieved i mean we are
0:11:31 a part of a relentless consumer society
0:11:34 today
0:11:35 for example stephen mills
0:11:38 in consumerism as a way of life in his
0:11:39 publication he states consumerism is
0:11:41 ubiquitous and ephemeral it is arguably
0:11:44 the religion of the late 20th century
0:11:47 now this is
0:11:49 very very interesting that he refers to
0:11:51 it as the religion of the late 20th
0:11:53 century you know
0:11:55 that highlights that it's it's rampant
0:11:57 and it's widespread you know it's not
0:11:59 something that's been practiced by a
0:12:01 small group of people
0:12:03 now
0:12:04 hopefully this will give us a bit more
0:12:05 of an insight into the history of
0:12:07 consumerism and what it really is
0:12:11 in the next episode what we're going to
0:12:12 do is we're going to start looking into
0:12:13 the problems of consumerism why is it
0:12:16 really a bad thing you know fine we're
0:12:18 consumerists we live in a consumerist
0:12:19 society we buy things
0:12:22 okay fine there may not be a direct
0:12:23 correlation between well-being and
0:12:26 um you know consumerism but why is it
0:12:28 really a big problem and that's what
0:12:30 we're going to explore in the next
0:12:31 episode until then let me know your
0:12:32 thoughts in the comments section below
0:12:34 why do you think this modern consumerism
0:12:35 is a problem let me know your thoughts
0:12:37 until next time salaam alaikum