In Part 1, I explained why I believe we can understand consumerism—habitual and ever-increasing consumption—more completely by looking at it in the general sense of value consumption rather than the specific sense of monetary spending. In this post, I’ll describe a response to consumerism that is informed by this way of thinking.

The problems of general consumerism can’t be answered with a simple “Stop consuming value,” because some consumption activities are necessary in our daily lives, and many more bring joy and fulfillment when done in their proper place. Still, they can cause problems when we expect too much of them, and they can take up time that may be better spent elsewhere. I propose that general consumption is not an evil that must be eliminated or reduced to a certain level, but is just an action that needs to be balanced with its opposite: production. I believe the issues outlined in Part 1 aren’t caused by a particular amount of consumption, but rather arise when consumption occupies too large a role in our lives in relation to production.

General productivity

Before going further, I want to emphasize that just as there is more to general consumerism than the amount of money we spend on goods and services (as I hope I demonstrated), general productivity is more than the production of goods or services to be sold. General productivity is the habitual creation of value of any kind—that is, anything that we or others would find valuable. So, improving our physical abilities through exercise is productive. Getting better at playing an instrument is productive. A conversation that deepens a friendship is productive. A joke that gets a laugh is productive.

I admit however that value is hard to measure when we look at these “priceless” forms of it. When we look at valuable things that are not bought and sold with money—things like health, humor, affection, entertainment, ability, etc.—we can only really measure their value by how much we desire them or how we feel when we experience them. Value is subjective, and this is clear in light of the wide variety of things that people choose to consume and produce. However, the distinction between the production and consumption thereof is not subjective—actions that produce value for an intended audience (regardless of what that value is) are productive, and actions that consume value (again, regardless) are consumptive. And so the ratio of value consumed to value produced is a knowable figure, even if it can only be known by each individual person. It does help, though, that people tend to hold many values in common.

It’s also worth noting that some kinds of consumption naturally come coupled with productivity, and as a result we often innately (and rightfully) see these activities as harmless. For example, education is the consumption of certain kinds of knowledge, but at the same time it entails, on the part of the student, the production of critical thinking skills, more accurate models of reality, and overall a more effective mind. Similarly, experiencing art is a kind of consumption of value, but when it makes us exercise our minds in new ways and form new perspectives, this makes it feel fulfilling. The most fundamental example is eating. We consume and use up value in the form of food, but with it we produce new cells for our bodies and the energy to do future work.

Creation begins with curation. Everything you consume shapes your sense for quality. Books. Movies. Music. All of it. No matter the craft, improving your inputs will pull you towards excellence.

— David Perell (@david_perell) March 5, 2023

Fixing the personal maladies of general consumerism

If we feel we’re suffering from the issues mentioned in Part 1, I believe we can better address them by focusing on increasing our productivity. We don’t need to attach guilt to the practice of consumption, and we shouldn’t try to solve these issues by focusing on cutting our monetary spending (if, however, we’re spending more than we can afford, then yeah we should make and keep budgets, and that’s a separate issue). When we increase the importance of productive habits in our lives, they naturally start to take over some of the roles that consumerism was expected (and failing) to fulfill.

Regarding self-worth: I can’t see any way to maintain a strong, positive self-image in a community of peers without being confident in having some kind of value-creation ability. This may sound cynical, but I would reiterate that value, in the broad sense I’m using, includes things like loyalty, compassion, civility, honesty, etc.—anything that we or other people would enjoy or appreciate. When we believe we can create human value, we can then reason that if we need something we can’t create, at least we have something to trade for it. And another belief follows: that we trade value fairly, and therefore we aren’t a burden to anyone—at worst decent strangers, and at best cherished companions. I don’t claim that a certain amount of productivity will ever make these beliefs completely true, but I’d say the appreciation of our own value-creating abilities enables us to consider and hold these beliefs, which themselves appear to be necessary for a positive self-image in everyday life.

Regarding personal expression: Productivity has vastly more potential for expressing the true uniqueness of the individual than consumption does, because when we create something of value we are demonstrating precisely which things or ideas are uniquely valuable to each of us. When we consume, we must settle for the thing that’s most in line with our values. Our productivity is the direct expression of those values. And so, one original song says more about an artist than the entire list of their favorite bands, and a well-formed worldview says more about a thinker than the list of philosophers they’ve read.

Regarding time management: Consumerism comes with a time cost, but of course productivity does as well. Do I claim that productivity is by nature more more time-worthy/fulfilling than consumption? No, because either action will bring diminishing satisfaction when done in excess. People who consume too predominantly will start to suffer from the conditions described in Part 1, but people who are too productive will eventually “burn out” in some way, such as making mistakes due to exhaustion, getting irritated by the demands of relationships, or missing valuable consumption experiences due to an obsession with self-improvement (and then resenting themselves for it). I expect the ideal balance varies from person to person, as many things do. At the very least I can say that in my own First World 21^st Century lifestyle, I find that feelings of dissatisfaction or disappointment more often come from too little productivity than too much.

Broader implications for society

When people choose to look at the ratio of general consumption to general productivity as the important metric for managing consumerism, this starts affecting the things I brought up at the beginning of Part 1. I highlighted some of the problems that material consumerism poses for societies, and I described the popular solution of the day which addresses these issues directly: there is a cultural pressure to shop more “intentionally” and “responsibly.” This counteracts the constant pressure to consume, in the hopes of reducing wasteful or unsustainable consumption. What becomes of these societal issues when we think of consumption in terms of value and shift our focus toward seeking fulfillment by keeping it in balance with production?

This way of thinking suggests we could be justified in making more and larger purchases to facilitate more productive activities—after all, the ratio of value could remain the same. Or, if we happen to be “overproducers,” we’d now feel justified in consuming more value (which probably entails some material value) to preserve our own well-being. Will this exacerbate society’s problem of material consumerism? I don’t think so, and I have few more points to make on this.

First, I find that in most cases, consumption for the sake of production is quite affordable compared to consumption for its own sake. This makes economic sense, because when material goods are meant to be used to produce something else, then the cost of the experience is only partially paid in money, and the other part must be paid in effort on the part of the “producer.” So the costs of things like art supplies, sporting equipment, programming tools, and musical instruments are much lower per-hour-of-use than, say, theater tickets, gourmet food, and designer clothes. An increased appreciation for consumption that enables production may very well have us spending less money-per-value overall.

Additionally, the fact that some value is being produced at all tends to be good for societies on the whole. Sometimes the value we produce is one that others would pay for, and a healthy economy depends on such activity. But even if the value we produce is non-material—things like good relationships and security—this is often still worth the resources it consumes. Let’s remember that the only reason we care about economic issues in the first place is because they affect human well-being, so it’s hard to denounce, from any perspective, consumption activities that result in our direct production of well-being.

As for those of us who would decide to consume more value because we feel we’re already producing too much, this is still a good thing for societies. Besides the obvious effect of individuals being happier and healthier, an intent to keep the right balance will result in an increased examination of our consumption activities—are they really providing the relaxation and pleasure we need them to? Ad campaigns make consumption tantalizing and immediate, and they are so pervasive that once we’ve bought something we scarcely have time to reflect on what it does for us before we’re approached by ads for the next thing. Therefore any scrutiny applied to our consumption habits tends to have us buying less of what we realize we don’t want or need and getting more of what we actually value.

All these societal benefits aside, this is a system primarily for the good of the individual, and we can imagine cases in which we happily consume goods and produce value for ourselves while society views it differently. One example could be the hunting of endangered species. The hunter values the animal more on his wall or in his kitchen than alive in the wild, so he is actually producing value, in his eyes, by putting in the effort to kill and clean it. He may well be happy and fulfilled, with his consumption and production in balance, but meanwhile society values the animal more alive (unconsumed) than dead and sees the hunter as a problem. We must address scenarios like this by deciding for ourselves which “values” we’ll produce. Specifically, to what degree should we let the values of those around us influence our own? This is the very complicated endeavor of balancing self-interest with pro-social behavior, and I won’t get into it here. Truly, I think the ideas I’m putting forward can make an individual feel more fulfilled whether he or she is committed to being a hero of the community, a nuisance, or something in between. But if the average person’s regular (decent) behavior is any indication, I’d expect that the benefits to society of more people thinking this way far outweigh the detriments.

Conclusion

So, that’s my answer to the problem of consumerism. When I feel like I may be spending too much time or energy consuming things, my thoughts go to the balance of consumption and production in my life. I consider how the two compare (in terms of value) over the past few days and weeks, and I ask myself whether I need more of one or the other.

The result of this thinking in my own life is that creative projects are a regular part of my schedule, and really I need them to be. When I fit them into my week, I find that I can appreciate the passing days as progress toward something great and new and satisfying, rather than a blur of fleeting pleasures. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I retroactively put consumption activities into balance by considering how I could use the experience at hand to produce something. For example, if I’m drinking an expensive cocktail, and I like it, I’m going to try to remember the recipe—maybe I’ll make it at home for myself or guests. If I watch a good film, I try to pay attention to where it can take me philosophically (and generally, this goes for anything that can be approached as art). I find that this only increases my enjoyment of these things. These are my productive habits, and working them into my life provides me with a greater sense of fulfillment than I could ever get through consumption alone.

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