In some Catholic circles, there is confusion as to two terms ending in "ism". I want to clarify this as one can understand the predominant faults of two continents by examining this two seriously false manners of thinking.
First of all, consumerism is the plague and greatest evil of American society, imo. Consumerism is a philosophy and now, a complete way of life, which emphasizes the constant buying of things. Consumerism most likely grew up in the middle classes, who confused the American dream of happiness with having things.
The incessant preoccupation of buying and selling takes up the time of many families, including Catholic families.
This obsession with having things, the latest trends, reveals a mind-set of concentrating on the here and now and forgetting that we are made for eternal life. Ironically, many members of the Catholic Church in America have fallen into the idolatry of things, bigger, better, newer.
Part of the obsession with consumerism is the insistence on comfort. Few want to live without comfort. I think this really struck me many years ago when electric Venetian blinds, run with a remote, were invented.
Such frivolities cause American Catholics to read the sales, collect coupons, buy things which are not necessary.
Consumerism becomes a way of life, pushing people into shopping almost everyday, thinking they need things which they do not need. Shopping has become a form of entertainment, not something to be done for because one needs something.
Consumerism connects to the American ideal of conformity. America has always been a conformist society, at least since the end of the 19th century, but before that time, de Tocqueville warned us all about conformity.
A lady this last week told me how hard it was to keep up with the other women in her church group. She said that everyone talks about the newest thing or the latest vacation they have bought. She is a stay-at-home mom who thinks she has suffered from not having and not keeping up with her fellow Catholic sisters. I tried to encourage her in her good choices, but she feels pained by this lack of things and activity.
Consumerism dulls the conscience as well, as this philosophy demands a focus on the exterior world, rather than the interior life.
One reason I have loved living in Europe is the absence in many places of consumerism. The hot pursuit of things and comfort seem less, and the societal demand for conformism is definitely less. One can be more of an individual, even an eccentric, in Europe. I have a dear friend, who because of arthritis, wears slippers everywhere. She does not care what other people think.
But, the evil of that continent is materialism-the topic of the next post.
To be continued...