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People are self-serving. This doesn’t necessarily mean everybody is inherently and fundamentally selfish. Rather, it is a natural manifestation of how people are self-interested utility maximizers. They seek to do things that benefit them, a characteristic that helps them survive and thrive in life.
Regardless of how everyone desires to belong and can be naturally inclined to please others because of this, they still tend to prioritize themselves over everything else. There’s nothing wrong with this character. After all, the behavior of finding personal satisfaction and making sure personal happiness is sought comes with the natural result of thriving.
However, there comes a point when individualism and satisfaction-chasing become more detrimental than beneficial. There’s also a side where materialism affects happiness.
The System Eating Humanity Inside Out
In his book Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature and in his essays, Chet Shupe discusses materialism and how it pulls humanity away from authentic satisfaction. He highlights how civilization and people’s constant desire to enhance their lives have driven them toward madness.
In hopes of satiating their desire for happiness, people have led their lives away from it.
Chet Shupe firmly believes and has written about how civilization has crippled humanity. Such has existed to serve a contradictory purpose. But its aspects, such as technology and materialism, have pulled people away from the best parts of themselves. His sentiments illustrate how evolution has led humanity astray, away from what they ought to do and truly seek to have.
In a way, Chet Shupe supports the ideology that macro-forces of evolution, such as materialism, affect happiness and what this means to humanity.
Is humanity truly driving itself to madness with how it’s drawn its path toward improvement?
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The belief that materialism affects happiness is reasonable. How it’s made to become a cycle of uncontrollable desires is an expected result. After all, the more people seek, the deeper their desire becomes until it bottoms out to unsatiable grounds. Humanity’s perception of it, where their happiness lies and what they need to fulfill it, is what’s made this detrimental cycle exist.
Why Did Materialism Fail to Result in Happiness?
If it satisfies people’s needs and demands, why doesn’t it lead to happiness? Instead, materialism leads to unhappier people, who become worse than those around them.
Defined as a value that preoccupies people with possessions and a social image they uphold and hold dear to themselves, materialism affects happiness as it’s socially and self-destructive. It smashes their happiness and peace of mind as they’re riddled with anxiety and broken relationships due to desires they’re unable to quench. There has been a proven correlation between unhappiness and materialism. However, recently, the latter has also been found to be connected to a lack of empathy and social relationships.
There are a number of other factors this concept is linked to, and none of these are ever positive or beneficial to individuals. With their inability to find what truly satisfies their happiness, these people rely on materials and temporary outlets of joy. They’ll never arrive at what really makes them happy. Instead, they settle with what they can physically flaunt.
People are trapped in the shallow sense of happiness derived from materialism. It’s intoxicating. The pleasure they get from piled-up receipts and emptied-out boxes is momentarily insurmountable, they fail to see the endless cycle they’ve succumbed to. Materialism affects happiness by equating it to money-grubbing affairs instead of what truly matters.
Materialism Affects Happiness, Distorting What This Truly Means
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Materialism clutters life. It gives people too much of everything, an influx of stimuli that distracts them from what they should be focused on. In a life where people are being fed consumeristic views, there’s a new materialistic craze now and then, and people are often shamed when they’re unable to comply. Materialism affects happiness in a worrying manner.
It sucks genuineness from humanity, reducing it to worldly desires and shallow means of connection. Instead of abiding by its dangerous rules and superficial notions of contentment, people should dig deeper. As humanity is created with a purpose beyond mundane routines and pleasures, they should learn to look into themselves and seek what true happiness means.
It’s not about what to buy and which new trend to ride. It’s more than the accumulation of things and likes. Instead, it’s about life’s experiences, heartwarming moments, and boisterous laughter.
Happiness isn’t about looking forward to the next purchase and additions on shelves. Instead, it’s discovering what truly matters: a more genuine and lasting sense of fulfillment and contentment. It’s seeking authentic relationships with people around, not with materials and replaceable things.
Humanity is meant to adhere to its moral values and not fall prey to the dangers of the material world. It’s meant to maintain relationships with others and prosper in life through authentic connections, not with an isolated sense of satisfaction. Hence, to be happy means appreciating life’s richness that goes beyond worldly materials. It’s about seeking more meaningful journeys and living with purpose.
If you’re interested in reading more about how Chet Shupe defines humanity’s journey toward improvement, read more of his book Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature.