My GP Answer of the day

Discuss whether shopping is nothing more than materialism at its worst.

                Shopping, started off as a simple activity of the past where people gather to trade their commodities bloomed to a mega phenomenon of colossal shopping malls congregated in different spots on the face of the earth. While producers busy themselves with designing the next product line to dominate the world, consumers find themselves indoctrinated with the teachings of the materialist — the insatiable desire for material objects while being indifferent to cultural values like people and relationships. While shopping do at times expresses the materialism within, it definitely could not be the worst.

                In fact, when one analyses shopping as an activity, one cannot neglect the fact that people do go shopping in groups and it is highly probable that it is treated as a bonding activity rather than the manifesto of materialism. If one were to assume shopping as the epitome of materialism then the malls will be filled with crowds of lonely people rushing from shops to shops with such unbelievable zeal and minds too intoxicated with the obsession for material goods that one could not spare the time to answer a phone call from a loved one.

                Of course, there are people who shop alone at any time of the day and it is not likely that their mind has been devoured by the materialist archfiend. While proponents of shopping being materialism at its purest diabolical form would love to believe that lonely people are indeed on a sacred operation mandated by the God of Materials, people in fact, sometimes go shopping to buy a product when they need to solve a problem. Take for example the distressed housewife whose fridge was depleted of supplies. In the perception of the proponents then, the woman goes to the market to fulfill her irrepressible urge to obtain groceries rather than out of necessity. Is it not of utmost absurdity that shopping would be nothing but the display of extreme materialism?

                However, there have been cases whereby the needs for objects do indeed overcome the need to take into consideration the safety of others. Take for example the recent China sales stampede which resulted in two dead and another sales stampede that took place in Chongqing which claimed the lives of three people. Indeed, materialism does seem to go over the line in shoppers’ heads sometimes.  While bouts of materialism showing itself do happen time to time during shopping, is it the worst? Consider war between countries for natural resources. Take for example, America’s war with Afghanistan for oil resulting in many times more casualty compared to the sales stampede. Indeed, the extent of the atrocity materialism can bring about in shopping was shamed when compared to the death toll of the war.  Furthermore, the existence of materialism in times of great sales can actually be questioned. Was the rush in sales due to the obsession for material goods or the strong desire to save on a few dollars as humans are so loss adverse, as proven by the demonstrations of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman’s prospect theory?

                It seems that shopping bringing out the worst materialist in people was, after all, a myth. In fact when people purchase a good do they not purchase it based on cultural values? For example, the man who desires a state of an art device does he not, in unknown measure, desire it so as to improve relationships with others by giving them something to discuss about? Does materialism in this context then, even exist?