Hustle & Bustle

No, they aren’t a set of animal twins from some animated children's story. These guys are for real and they are everywhere. Consumerism defines our present culture. We have been told that the economy trumps all other issues and the answer to our economic situation is simply to get more and spend more. And we believe it. The crowds prove it. Consumerism is a gigantic plague on our contemporary society. It is like a fatal sickness that we choose because of the unquenchable thirst for more fed by the giant marketing industry upon its unsuspecting victims. And where does it lead? It leads to disillusion, debt and despair.

I was recently reading an article that pointed out something that I don’t remember taking notice of before. In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, in one of the two main biblical passages that describe Satan’s fall (the other being Isa 14) and subsequent activities, there are an amazing number of references to commerce. Take a look. I’ll put them in bold for you.

4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud…
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. Ezek 28:4,5,16-18

Of course, Genesis chapter three introduces us to the serpent who is more cunning than any of the beasts of the field. I find it very interesting (to say the least) how a description of the ways of our enemy also describes our present economic system so well.

All of this is a big enough problem of itself, but it has some spin offs too. Riding on the coat tails of consumerism is acute impatience. That might not sound like a big deal but it is worse than it sounds. We have pretty much lost the value of delayed gratification. Whether it is simply the result of easy credit, or a combination of things, we not only want it all but we want it all now. I thought of this when I saw this sign recently:

We offer 3 kinds of service: Good – Cheap – Fast
You can pick any two
- Good service cheap won’t be fast
- Good service fast wont be cheap
- Fast service cheap won’t be good

The thing is, as this sign makes clear, we can’t have it both ways. In our headlong pursuit for more, we would do well to consider what we are in fact forfeiting for it. Because there is a price to be paid for everything, and regardless of what the advertising industry might suggest, the cost is way too high for this.