I agree with your comment, but I think the definitional problem is core to the debate rather than something that can simply be discarded. Consumerism is not consumption, but it used to mean consumer protection and empowerment (obviously there is a spectrum there about what constitutes adequate information and the appropriate regulations/interventions to ensure that)...in support of their consumption, which was assumed to be valuable for them. Consumerism has taken on a second, more prominent meaning that itself is a spectrum: sometimes demanding the pricing/regulation of externality-generating production (not all that different in nature from economics, but unique in the externalities that are identified, oftentimes private costs that consumers simply don’t attend to), sometimes all the way to value judgments about certain kinds of consumption.
It’s such a loaded term I find it best instead to talk about what I actually mean rather than use the term consumerism. Do I want to talk about negative aspects of consumption? Do I want to talk about the consumer information movement? Which one am I about to get into when I say “I’d like to talk about consumerism”?
I also want to add to your bolded comment on substitution, which seems like a really good rule of thumb. But a lot of things cannot be substituted easily because they are timing- or situation-dependent. If I have 15 minutes to kill, it’s not obvious that just sitting there with my thoughts is particularly desirable (for some people, sure!), so I’ll seek to consume something (not non-consumption) - if the park is 2.5 minutes away, I can consume a 10 minute walk at the park, which might dominate my crappy phone game. If the park is 7.5 minutes away, I can consume a walk to the park, but given that menu of options, maybe my phone game is fine. It also provides optionality for when I’m looking for a low-transportation mode of entertainment in a waiting room. But it can shift from working in these initial use cases to being a prioritized activity in itself—maybe when I have 30 minutes, I’ll “default” to that instead of actually evaluating my options. In that case, regret would be a sign that something has gone wrong in my decision-making. It just reinforces the need to use that rule of thumb—be conscious about what you’re consuming and the options that are before you!
Consumerism is the selfish and frivolous collecting of products, or economic materialism. In this sense consumerism is negative and in opposition to positive lifestyles of anti-consumerism and simple living.[5]
Previously, from context, I believe it’s quite clear that we’re talking about definition 1 b (merriam webster) and 2.1 (wikipedia). The original post talks about how consumption is good even if frivolous, according to the OP; I believe this makes that quite clear. This is why the definitional issue of consumerism isn’t quite relevant, and the definitional issue that is relevant is regarding what’s frivolous. I see this a lot in internet discussion, where discussion revolves around a concept that is encapsulated by a word with multiple meanings, and a different-but-related meaning of the word keeps being brought up. It muddies the conversation. The discussion is about the concept, not the word; words are but the medium.
Regarding your more on-point criticism, I generally agree. I think the key, so to speak, is two-fold:
Sometimes things just can’t be equivalently-substituted not due to the goods/services, but due to the situation. That’s just life.
Sometimes the situation or one’s mindset, both of which are malleable, are the issue. The situation of amenities being too far away is one borne of bad urban planning. 2.5 mins, your benchmark, is quite short and good, however I do notice myself going out a lot less since I came to the US (almost a decade ago) because cities are extremely not walkable, so just going to the park is a whole thing. This is something you live with, but also fight to change. Thus, in the near-term, maybe consumption beats just utilising local amenities, but that is not necessarily the case, and once again is a semi-conscious choice made by the local communities and governments and can be changed. There is also a mindset aspect, which is that many things appear significantly less enjoyable than consumption, but that is something that we can change. For example, ‘sitting there with your thoughts for 15 minutes’ sounds quite fine to me! I strongly believe that isn’t because I’m special, it’s merely because many of my family who were part of my upbringing are buddhist and hence I was taught to find value in mindfulness. In other words, I think my rule-of-thumb holds, but one needs to look deeper, not at what is substitutable, but what could be, and what it would take to change that. That sounds like a lot, but a bit of incremental change every day or week adds up very quickly, and I think relaxing consumerist (by the contextual definition here) attitudes and stepping off of the treadmill a bit makes life a lot more fulfilling.
I agree with your comment, but I think the definitional problem is core to the debate rather than something that can simply be discarded. Consumerism is not consumption, but it used to mean consumer protection and empowerment (obviously there is a spectrum there about what constitutes adequate information and the appropriate regulations/interventions to ensure that)...in support of their consumption, which was assumed to be valuable for them. Consumerism has taken on a second, more prominent meaning that itself is a spectrum: sometimes demanding the pricing/regulation of externality-generating production (not all that different in nature from economics, but unique in the externalities that are identified, oftentimes private costs that consumers simply don’t attend to), sometimes all the way to value judgments about certain kinds of consumption.
It’s such a loaded term I find it best instead to talk about what I actually mean rather than use the term consumerism. Do I want to talk about negative aspects of consumption? Do I want to talk about the consumer information movement? Which one am I about to get into when I say “I’d like to talk about consumerism”?
I also want to add to your bolded comment on substitution, which seems like a really good rule of thumb. But a lot of things cannot be substituted easily because they are timing- or situation-dependent. If I have 15 minutes to kill, it’s not obvious that just sitting there with my thoughts is particularly desirable (for some people, sure!), so I’ll seek to consume something (not non-consumption) - if the park is 2.5 minutes away, I can consume a 10 minute walk at the park, which might dominate my crappy phone game. If the park is 7.5 minutes away, I can consume a walk to the park, but given that menu of options, maybe my phone game is fine. It also provides optionality for when I’m looking for a low-transportation mode of entertainment in a waiting room. But it can shift from working in these initial use cases to being a prioritized activity in itself—maybe when I have 30 minutes, I’ll “default” to that instead of actually evaluating my options. In that case, regret would be a sign that something has gone wrong in my decision-making. It just reinforces the need to use that rule of thumb—be conscious about what you’re consuming and the options that are before you!
The dictionary definition of consumerism is: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consumerism
1: the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable
also : a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods
2 : the promotion of the consumer’s interests
This is also definition 2.1 from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism):
Previously, from context, I believe it’s quite clear that we’re talking about definition 1 b (merriam webster) and 2.1 (wikipedia). The original post talks about how consumption is good even if frivolous, according to the OP; I believe this makes that quite clear. This is why the definitional issue of consumerism isn’t quite relevant, and the definitional issue that is relevant is regarding what’s frivolous. I see this a lot in internet discussion, where discussion revolves around a concept that is encapsulated by a word with multiple meanings, and a different-but-related meaning of the word keeps being brought up. It muddies the conversation. The discussion is about the concept, not the word; words are but the medium.
Regarding your more on-point criticism, I generally agree. I think the key, so to speak, is two-fold:
Sometimes things just can’t be equivalently-substituted not due to the goods/services, but due to the situation. That’s just life.
Sometimes the situation or one’s mindset, both of which are malleable, are the issue. The situation of amenities being too far away is one borne of bad urban planning. 2.5 mins, your benchmark, is quite short and good, however I do notice myself going out a lot less since I came to the US (almost a decade ago) because cities are extremely not walkable, so just going to the park is a whole thing. This is something you live with, but also fight to change. Thus, in the near-term, maybe consumption beats just utilising local amenities, but that is not necessarily the case, and once again is a semi-conscious choice made by the local communities and governments and can be changed. There is also a mindset aspect, which is that many things appear significantly less enjoyable than consumption, but that is something that we can change. For example, ‘sitting there with your thoughts for 15 minutes’ sounds quite fine to me! I strongly believe that isn’t because I’m special, it’s merely because many of my family who were part of my upbringing are buddhist and hence I was taught to find value in mindfulness. In other words, I think my rule-of-thumb holds, but one needs to look deeper, not at what is substitutable, but what could be, and what it would take to change that. That sounds like a lot, but a bit of incremental change every day or week adds up very quickly, and I think relaxing consumerist (by the contextual definition here) attitudes and stepping off of the treadmill a bit makes life a lot more fulfilling.