tom_thinks

Here's a very interesting post from Deconsumption

So perhaps we might, for the sake of argument, entertain the idea that “the American Dream” is not simply a cultural Ideal—that it might be a brilliant study in propaganda: in maintaining authority over the society at large while allowing them to keep an individual sense of progress and hope. This would seem to be precisely what the American Dream—which is predicated in its roots on a lifestyle of steady “consumption”—has provided. As generally stated, the American Dream tells us that if we work hard we can expect to achieve a better life. The “trick of the devil” is that the definition of “better” was implied to be Material Acquisitions and a Consumption Lifestyle, instead of “more family time” or “enlightened understanding” or “dedication to civic and personal purpose” or some such….

and it goes on to say

It’s been said that “the trick of the devil is that he tempts us with small choices, and then blinds us to their consequences”. Maybe the American Dream is not the conspiracy of some Illuminati group. Maybe it’s just the result of our collective desire to envision an ever more glamorous life for ourselves and then immediately rush out to buy it on credit. In actual fact, the truth is probably somewhere in between. But when we’ve come to live the American Dream without compassion, to justify ourselves as wholly deserving our good fortune, when we can no longer remember the feeling of suffering under a tyrannical authority or even find the fire within to take up the banner and march against one…then as a society we have to ask ourselves the question: “Do we have any real feelings left at all?”

I recommend reading the full post.