When I was reading the most recent article for my consumer
behavior class called "Can consumers escape the market?" I had an
overwhelming sensitivity horror and hope. Horror, that there are people living
in this country and breathing the same air as I am, that prove to be so thick
and comically ignorant to believe that the consumer is the downfall of society
and that focusing hard on a giant burning statue will cleanse the world of
these “mindless drones”. Hope, that the bonfire will go tragically awry one of
these years and cleanse society of these moronic haters in one fail swoop.
I could be a diehard capitalist; a ruthless businessman
that, if were I inclined, would pray to the market like a deity and evangelize
on its behalf. The invisible hand of economics may as well be the hand of God
striking down the nonbelievers and lifting the wealthy by their golden
parachutes. That isn’t really how I feel but it is much closer to actuality
than the idea of destroying consumerism and markets.
Markets are what make society function. They have created a
human race capable of just about anything. Man has been on the Moon. He has
journeyed outside his realm of existence and prevailed. Man has discovered
every corner of the world and made it possible for anyone to see it. None of
this would have been possible without markets and people willing to trade one
thing for another. Which is why I don’t understand the ideology of living
without it. A brand label is only what you make it. How can a name on a shirt
affect you in any way unless you let it? What is the point of covering your RV’s
logo with tape? Who are you saving? The company that made your RV still has
your money.
The most ironic aspect I find about the Burning Man Festival is that none of these people are free of consumption. Though they are not allowed to wear logos or brand labels the festival has its own logo. From large ticket prices to excessive amounts of resources and materials for elaborate costumes, the participants of Burning Man are just consuming just as much, if not more, merely hidden behind a different brand; the brand of Burning Man.
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