Series on Materialism II: Want

Part I: Clutter

Clutter is the symptom of of a deeper illness. Want.

It's hard to ignore, once you see the signs. The economies of Western countries are based on consumerism. We are lucky (most of us) to be living in a technologically advanced enough place where we don't have to worry about food, water, shelter, clothing, or electricity - the industrial revolution, competition, capitalism, division of labour, and advances in science and technology have in their ways seen to it that we don't even give a moments thought about such basic human needs (is electricity now a basic human need? I would have said no previously, but there is a huge disadvantage in potential between those who have access and those who don't, so I'm going to say yes). And, not only do we have the luxury of being able to take all such for granted, we have time and leisure (and disposable income) then to spare.

Of course, once we no longer have to focus on what we need, then we begin to focus on what we want. And what do we humans want? Everything under the sun, and more. It's human nature to want, it would seem. And if you're not sure about what you want, advertising is always there to help. Product X will make you the most beautiful woman the earth has ever seen, and Product Y will make you the most powerful, most respected man. Better than all these, is Product Z, which is just so awesome, it will make you the envy of all you know.

In my opinion, what advertising really does is hit at some hidden inadequacy that we feel, and then assures you that the magical product will deal with the problem. Except that (i) it doesn't, or (ii) it does, and one is lured by the advertising of another product, dealing with something else. In essence, we fill a void within ourselves, and are temporarily happy, but when the happiness goes, we need to buy something again to become temporarily happy again, and so on. This phenomenon has been documented and given a name: "Retail Therapy".

And the truth is, we're never done spending on what we want, and we won't be. There is always something else that we want. Like how we need goals beyond our current goals, so that we have something to aim for once we hit our current goals, likewise our mind has a list of stuff that we want, that we think we need, and after we acquire the frontmost possession, and the transient happiness of a "new thing" has passed, there is another to take its place, which then becomes the new object of our desires. And so our life becomes filled with stuff we don't want, and we end up frustrated with the clutter in our life and intuitively feeling that something has gone wrong somewhere, but we don't know what.

Lest you think that this writer is himself blameless, I have a thought experiment to try out. Imagine that a fictional stranger offers you £100, but you have to spend the money on material goods for yourself. Nothing else. For me, despite the fact that I haven't thought about it before, my mind presents me, almost unbidden, with a list of stuff I want. Except I didn't want it before. Or didn't consciously know that I wanted them. I'm guessing the same happened for all who read this. Now increase the limit to £1,000. The same happens again, but you now have more in the list that comes to you, because you can already buy what you would have bought with the £100, so your mind presents you with other stuff on top. And again with increasing factors of 10 - £10,000, then £100,000, and so on. Each time the list will be different. And I am ashamed by how quickly and easily each list of mine is filled - under the surface, for all my spiritual pretensions, apparently I want A LOT of stuff.

Now, it is possible that some of the stuff we buy is actually of use. Out of everything I own, I would gladly give up everything except for phone and laptop (2 items, up from one the last time I checked.). And I am sure others have similar items. So I'm not against owning stuff per se, or buying stuff that we need, or will benefit us. What I am against is buying for the sake of buying, or wanting for the sake of wanting, with fleeting or no benefit, to fill the empty voids within us, which I see way too much of in this society.

And this will continue as long as we continue to focus on what is not important, and allow our hearts to be occupied other than Allah. As much is promised in the Quran:

أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

....verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest. [13:28]

The wording is perfect. Our hearts will forever be restless and uneasy without the guidance of Allah, and from this will come the wanting of other stuff, which will fill the void temporarily, but never be enough.

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I think now have two more pieces to write for this series. Writing them has definitely helped crystallise my thoughts, and I know roughly the structure and content of the pieces to follow, and just have to make sure I write them clearly.

Part III: Debt
Part IV: Money
Part V: Addendum