How much is enough? I guess the answer to that little conundrum is subjective, person and situation-specific. Food, shelter and warmth pretty-well covers the basic set of needs for life; Quite acceptable 50,000 years ago but it doesn't quite cut it these days I suppose.
We all consume...Cars, clothing, electrical goods, jewellery, makeup, hand bags, running shoes, going out shoes, shoes to match every gym outfit, high shoes, flat shoes, silver shoes, white shoes, black shoes, shoes for winter, shoes for summer, more shoes for going out, more shoes for the gym, shoes for work, shoes for date night...You get the idea. One only needs to take a look around at the shopping mall to see how much society values more in the endless pursuit of "happiness through expenditure". More shoes, or whatever item happens to be the flavour of the shopping expedition taking place at any given point. In fact, we don't even need to leave home to get shoes, or anything else. We can get them on the interwebs from the comfort of the couch...So convenient. Shoes for everyone with a credit card!
Mankind is a hungry beast consuming everything in its path, gorging on a vast variety of products placed in front of it on a platter through advertising media. Forget supply and demand, humankind are all about demand...Mankind shovels product into it's gaping maw to be masticated, swallowed, digested and eventually shat out ending up in the dump sites, waterways and oceans of the world. Perfect.
The other day my mother in law had a morning info-tainment show on the television called "Today" on the Nine Network. It's one of those abhorrent shows featuring a couple of abhorrent hosts, an attractive news girl, abhorrent weather person and "light-entertainment" in the form of interviews and segments on various topics. This is all interspersed by hard-hitting news and of course the mandatory frivolity and community-focused good news stories. It's shit. Total and utter smelly, runny, sticky shit...And people lap it up! I don't normally have it on however as my mother in law is staying with us for a week or so it's been on in the mornings. I usually block it out but on this particular occasion I paid attention as they segment was about buying Christmas presents (shopping). Just for some perspective, it's now August. Christmas, for the non-Christian people reading this, is in December.
The segment on the show was talking about what to buy and where to buy it, what's hot and what you need to buy and the presenters were getting all amped-up about it, excited and endorphin-fuelled as only shopping can do to a person...
Ok, so this was my observation...Here's a TV show advertising shopping, particular items and even retailers where those items are available...The show itself is, of course, paid for by selling advertising space which fills the gaps in between the actual show. You know, 6 minutes of show then 8 minutes of advertising and commercials, then another 6 minutes of show...And so on...A show about advertising, paid for by advertising with periodic breaks filled with advertising. Perfectly.
How much is enough? Humankind's appetite is insatiable. People seek to satisfy themselves by getting more stuff, just one more "cute top" or "brand new latest iPhone", or...Dare I say it, "pair of shoes". The item is irrelevant though; Satisfying the want for that item, for more-stuff-the-better-I-am ethos is what it's all about. In getting what they desire though people don't always find happiness, not lasting happiness anyway. Wanting the next best thing, the newest model, the latest fashion or whatever purchase it happens to be attracts people to shopping malls like zombies hungrily searching for the flesh to sate their appetites. They shuffle around justifying why they "just have to have" this or that and then zip their plastic to pay for it...Is that true and lasting happiness? Maybe in this society it is. And meanwhile the planet dies...Does want-purchasing make people happy? Momentarily I suppose it may, but once the shine wears off and the person realises there's a better Mimco purse, or pair of runners then the get depressed they do not have it and so they get it and the cycle repeats.