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Ukonkivi Over 10,000 dead.:< Since: Aug, 2009
Over 10,000 dead.:<
#1: Jan 19th 2011 at 1:57:49 PM

A sort of word that has become popular in recent time, with the advent of Industrial society, is "consumerism". It's kind of a concept that could be confusing, considering how you look upon it and the morals of Copyright Infringement and the like. It can also mean something about the rights of consumers.

Anyway, I had thought for a lot of my life, since I liked group ownership and sharing, and didn't so much like buying for the sake of buying much of times, but rather simply using, I wasn't much of a consumerist. For instance, for much of my life, I've had a goal of reading everything, watching everything, listening to everything, and playing nearly everything in existence. And continue re-playing and using them to their maximum enjoyment, for years and years and however much I can squeeze enjoyment and contemplation on them. Such is the look of my bucket list.

I don't ever want to die. Most people don't believe that to be true, because the "concept of forever is so unfathomable". But I can't imagine ever becoming bored with existence, even reminiscing over fun memories is enjoying life. But in any case, if I were to have a bucket list, the sorts of things that would be on that list are "listen to every Heavy Metal song in existence" or "Play every sort of video game that remotely interests me in existence". The whole word is my backloggery, or at least, large parts of it. An amount of books and games and music and so forth, that is overwhelming and I likely couldn't even do with 150 years of dedication. I can guarantee I won't even remotely accept death before several hundred years of doing these things.

Is this incredibly consumerist of me? I often thought, "hey, for the most part, this isn't consumerist at all! I'm so interested in these things, that I don't care if I pirate them first! Clearly I'm not a huge consumerist, because they're not a status symbol to me, that I don't even care if I own them. I just want to use more and more of them. For ages and ages!". But then my image of the concept was tainted by the idea of "wanting to buy", and "status symbols". But then there's the whole "piracy morality" thing. If I "play without asking" sort of thing, I'm essentially stealing(what many people say). I wanted to buy just to have something and not be "immoral" about it as well, having a nice box art to look at as a wonder and beauty. There's just something about also actually buying and having it, even if you can get it free. But not enough so that I felt I was being consumerist for it. In the end I felt my desire to buy was enough to be moral and support the creators, but not enough to be consumerist. Because my first priority was the ability to read, watch, listen, and play more. Not have more possessions.

When does something become "consumerist"? Is my desire to Backlog and read nearly every remotely interesting book, every website, every publication, every picture, listen to every song, watch every movie and show, anything less than Consumerist?

Genkidama for Japan, even if you don't have money, you can help![1]
Tzetze DUMB from a converted church in Venice, Italy Since: Jan, 2001
DUMB
#2: Jan 19th 2011 at 2:37:46 PM

Well, here's a definition:

Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts.

So if you don't care about actually purchasing them, I suppose not.

With a broader definition, your desire might be consumerist, I guess.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.
RalphCrown Short Hair from Next Door to Nowhere Since: Oct, 2010
Short Hair
#3: Jan 20th 2011 at 11:59:31 AM

To my mind, consumerism is the unthinking urge to buy stuff regardless of what it is or whether you need it. I'm like you, I want to read the books, watch the movies, play the games. It doesn't get old. I remember feeling fascinated the first time I saw Pong, a tabletop version in a bar, and I felt the same fascination last month when I unpacked my new Wii.

For me, it's about the experience of using the product, and if possible, learning something from it. For others, it's about buying the product, and what comes afterward doesn't really matter.

Under World. It rocks!
Karmakin Moar and Moar and Moar Since: Aug, 2009
Moar and Moar and Moar
#4: Jan 20th 2011 at 12:10:41 PM

^

What's said there. I think what you're talking about is something different, when one wants to basically immerse themselves entirely into various forms of culture and you simply can't get enough.

I also think that copyright infringement scales pretty cleanly with how difficult it is for various mediums to scratch that itch. I don't think e-book piracy will every be really huge due to the existence of libraries, for example.

Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserve
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