There's no limit to the stuff we buy, there will always be something new, something better than the last. The craving for it will last forever. No matter how much we buy we will never fill the void with these things. We will continue to purchase the next product hoping that finally our life will be complete. “No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man”. Is there no limit to the amount of product they feed us?
The more we take the more we need. “Consuming becomes pathological because its importance grows larger and larger in direct proportion to our decreasing satisfaction”. Food is an excellent example. We eat more and more than we need and still are not filled. If we ate just to fill our belly, we wouldn't have such a high obesity rate in America. We eat to fill an emotional gap in our lives, and this gap is more prevalent in the United States because we have all the food and product we could ever need. But these things are merely a substitute that can not fill us. We don't realize that food is a poor sustenance for our emotional troubles; we consume such more than our bodies can handle. All the advertisements tell us that we need food's help to feel complete. What a misguided people we are.
What are we really losing though? If ignorance is bliss, then why not let people ignorantly buy more stuff? We are not running out. “There was a presumption that America would keep on booming, if not forever, then at least longer than it made sense to worry about” . Our supply is so enormous that we won't have to deal with any drawbacks for a long time. It's our emotional fulfillments that are diminishing, while our hunger is increasing. “Something more durable will have to replace that fat but fragile bubble that has been getting frailer these past two decades”.
The problem is that we're not filling our emotional needs. The process of growth, expansion, leaning, developing, and maturing into greater human beings is essential to a quality life. Building new skills should be a constant in life, not something you do until a certain age. It's nature; when you break down and crumble; you build yourself back up, bigger and better than before. Instead, we find solace in the constant consuming of product. When traits like character, discipline, and overall quality of being fade away, we're left with nothing but cold, unthinking, bland units. Our life's purpose has become the pursuit of more nothing. This is the problem, not our ridiculous fear of running out of product.
It's amazing that throughout our lives we strive for happiness, yet in the end, our entire life was a constant struggle for a fulfillment that we never found. There are so many of us are trapped in our nearsighted selfishness for more. We're so consumed that we can't tell the difference between fulfillment and an obvious substitute. More fake, more emptiness, more nothing damages our well-being. However; some of us still develop and aren't lost in the hole of more. Some go to the gym instead of sitting on the sofa watching television. Some study new cultures instead of going to the mall and fantasizing about how this new product will finally make them happy.
Some people just don't stop improving their mind and body. These people are the ones who are happy about themselves, happy about the world around them. These people accomplish so much more than the majority of us that find it easier to complain, blame, and give excuses. These outstanding individuals are worthy of what they have, and their vitality earns them the reward of a fulfilled life. Those who choose the complicated path of ambition find a life of completeness. Those who take the simpler path of false satisfaction with material thing will find a life consumed.
