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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Inside the Prison Walls of Consumerism


 The Minimalists


Inside the Prison Walls of Consumerism

 
 
By Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus ·
jail cells

There’s a shopping mall in San Diego that used to be a prison. Restored, repurposed, and redecorated, it’s hard to imagine that this place once imprisoned hundreds of inmates.

One might argue, however, that it’s a different kind of prison now. A voluntary incarceration, caged by the invisible walls of consumption.

This might sound hyperbolic, but it’s an apt analogy. After all, consumption isn’t the problem; compulsory consumption (consumerism) is the problem. We’ve trapped ourselves by thinking that consumerism will make us happy, that buying shit we don’t need will somehow make us whole.

We’ve gotten good at fooling ourselves, too. We’ve overdecorated the jailhouse walls—walls we’ve built around ourselves—and we’ve made our cells so comfortable that we’re terrified to leave. But a prison cell with a view is still a prison cell.
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