Homo consumer
These days the consumer-style of living has reached such a level that consuming (with a doze of irony of course) can be treated as a new religion. The religion with displacement of eternal truths by temporary things, which gives rise to the fundamental virtue of modern times – consumerism, and the conversion of illusions into reality. In other words “you are what you appeared to be”. It is also the exaggerated cult of youth and fetishism of material values.
Analysis of rituals and cults reveals one more peculiarity of the New Religion: total substitution of sacrum with profanum. This is well illustrated by blood, which in traditional religions was a symbol of the vital forces of the spirit. Now blood is a taboo. Blood means diseases, AIDS, death. Moreover, any mixture of human fluids with those of other person is a taboo. Be safe! Use condoms!
A taboo is also applied in using such magic marks as ©, ® or TM. Any illegal usage of products, texts, ideas bearing this taboo market is subjected to strict sanctions. But money sacrifice to prophets responsible for burdening with such taboos helps to take away the prohibition.
Different diets are a modern form of asceticism. Some supporters of the New Religion manage to achieve such a level of asceticism, that they fell sick with a holy disease – bulimia.
Piligrimism is travelling of believers into holy places. In the New Religion, this is a sport hall, sauna, beauty saloon, receptions, etc. If Muslims need Chadja at least for once in their lives, supporters of the New Religion needs this at least once per week.
Theophagy is community though eating of the God’s body. All members of the totem clan contain true, mysterious substance, energy, which is a main compound of the member’s being. That’s why it is of vital importance to them to preserve it untouched and maintain forever young. This energy is called FAST FOOD! Members of the clan are eating not Big Macks and drinking not Coca-Colas: they are eating the mysterious body and drinking mysterious blood of Ronald McDonald.
Let’s make a list of basic principles of the New Religion:
1. Total substitution of sacrum with profanum (if compared to the old religions).
2. “Ever-lasting” valuables have been replaced with single-usage followed by a principal virtue – consumption.
3. Neglecting one’s authenticity, one’s ego – transformation into identity.
4. An illusion is reality. You are the one you look like. You are an image.
5. Hypertrophied cult of youth. Making a fetish of material values.
During this lecture Buddhist analogues were applied for a number of times. However, it is not true to think that the New Religion is similar to the Buddhism. The new Religion is Anti-Buddhism is a square value. For comparison, let’s formulate four “ala Buddhist” truths of the new Religion:
1. Life is an illusion. Illusion if life. Suffering is living not in an illusion.
2. Reasons of suffering are hidden in a person himself/herself. It is his/her wish to be himself/herself, instead of becoming an identity.
3. One can be saved of suffering by refusing one’s own ego.
4. The noble way of eight types includes: correct views, correct achieving, correct speaking, correct conduct, correct life, correct learning, correct observing, correct thinking.
… Unfortunately, word “correct” has an absolutely other meaning in the New Religion, religion of Homo consumer…
Back to the times when a primitive man killed a beast and put its teeth on a string and strung them round the neck jewellery was born. We might call it a form of magic or maybe a fetish but one thing is obvious: it was inseparable from religious belief. It has survived in the form of amulet and talisman.
Therefore, that kind of works reflecting the spirit of homo consumer religion we are introducing in this part.