…And another thing

CNN reported (on July 9, 2007) a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that the most frequently prescribed drugs are those used to fight depression. More than headache drugs, more than high blood pressure drugs. No doubt there are many reasons for this, but consider…

 Since the 1920′s – the start of the modern marketing and advertising era – many of the smartest, most creative and insightful people our culture produces have gone to work in advertising and marketing. They sit up at night, these bright, often very witty people, trying to think of ways to get us to Buy More Stuff, and they’ve been doing this for a few generations now. Technology has helped them do it and the promise of huge ad revenues encourages the development of technologies that support more advertising.  Sociology and psychology are mined to convince you that you need…everything.

 Well, it works. Ads really do get you to think you need more stuff.

One effect of so many smart people working so hard for so many decades is a $14 trillion US Gross Domestic Product, of which 60 to 70 percent is consumer spending. Not F-16s. Not machine tools or servers. Stuff. Stuff that, all too often, we buy because on some level we think we’ll be better, cooler people if we do. And every day, there’s something else.

Unfortunately, having so many ways to look cool means having that many ways NOT to look cool. There is no way to keep up, and here’s the main thing: even if you did, you wouldn’t feel better for long, because that isn’t where happiness comes from and you know it. But we all live in this culture, in the relentless floodlit aisles of stuff, and advertising works. And all those smart people are doing their best to make it work better.

You’ll have to excuse me now. I have to get this prescription filled.