I think the “mad men” are to blame for our troubles these days. They are the ones who convinced us we need material things to be happy.
The “mad men” I refer to are the advertising execs of Madison Avenue. If you’re a Baby Boomer, I know you’ll recognize, “When you eat your Smarties, do you eat the red ones last?” Playing again to the playful Boomer generation, particularly the ones with a healthy bank account, is Mazda’s “Zoom, zoom.” And who could forget Coca-Cola’s claim its dark and mysterious beverage is none other than “the real thing”? There’s simply no denying those “mad men,” and women I might add, have done their jobs very well: they’ve convinced us that it’s the sizzle that we want, not the steak.
But, Boomer that I am, I also recall images from my childhood that had nothing to do with materialism. Pictures found in my catechisms, prayer books, and our parish church didn’t show Jesus surrounded by lavish belongings or wearing high fashion duds. Instead, images depict him wearing pretty much the same robe, cloak, and sandals most of the time. Put simply, Jesus didn’t need to accessorize in order to live a fulfilled life. It seemed his disciples followed his example when it came to plain-Jane and practical attire.
If Jesus could be satisfied with so little, why can’t we? Did the Madison Avenue gang brainwash us so well that we really can’t imagine life without whiter than white socks? Or bits and bobs made of brightly coloured plastic that quickly become unwanted clutter.
Hmmm. Have we been hoodwinked or what? Let’s do one of those A/B tests which are done so often in the marketing world to find out. Okay, here goes: Which makes you feel better: clutter and junk (A), or to feel safe and loved (B)?
It’s a no brainer, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, the “mad men” have sold us on the idea that we need all kinds of material things to make us feel safe and loved. But, when you really stop to think about it, it’s easy to see how they could fool us so utterly and completely. They are, after all, appealing to what we want most in the world.
Through their cleverness, the advertising crowd succeeded in moving our entire society from that of producer to one of consumer. This has not come without some unfavourable consequences, mostly because we have been convinced to develop endless appetites. We want more and more, we want newer and better, and we don’t care at what cost as long as it’s at a price low enough so we can afford to buy more.
Enter China. Enter India. Enter every other third-world country to which we outsource our jobs, from which we buy those bits and bobs of useless clutter, and to which we export our energy supplies to create these things which don’t make us happy. Our hunger to consume has us eating ourselves out of house and home. The real madness of it all lies in the fact that as we do these things we risk what we want the most: to feel safe and loved.
What we really need are families who have access to good homes, jobs, and education. What we really need is less risk to our environment, including less risk to our water supplies, the air we breathe, and the soil that supports our crops and livestock.
Walking a mile in Jesus’ sandals to remind us of what we really need — now that’s in our best interest.
For more in your best interest, follow Sheelagh on Twitter @sheesays.
