Quotes About Consumerism

Like the old politburos, the new politburo styled itself as the enemy of the elite and the friend of the masses, dedicated to giving consumers what they wanted, but to Andreas (who, admittedly, had never learned how to want stuff) it seemed as if the Internet was governed more by fear: the fear of unpopularity and uncoolness, the fear

Not just the industrial farming but the sprawl, the sprawl, the sprawl. Low-density development is the worst. And SUVs everywhere, snowmobiles everywhere, Jet Skis everywhere, ATVs everywhere, two-acre lawns everywhere. The goddamned green monospecific chemical-drenched lawns.

he remembered how it would feel to be unmoved by the stores, unwanting of anything in them, and how much dimmer the lights

Through constant creation of dissatisfaction, the consumer society is in fact a highly sophisticated mechanism for the production and distribution of unhappiness. That

Menachem's problem was this: he had more money than there were things to buy. Menachem's solution was this: rather than buy more things, he would continue to buy the things he already owned

Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on Thanksgiving to acknowledge that fact. In many ways, Thanksgiving initiates a distinctly American ideal of ethical consumerism. The Thanksgiving meal is America's founding act of conscientious consumption.

To accept the factory farm —to feed the food it produces to my family, to support it with my money —would make me less myself

The Shop City Mall had been closed for over a decade. Stores sat empty the entire time, waiting for a rebirth that was often promised, but never came. My parents had always blamed its demise on Amazon and Target, but I blamed the fact that Cinnabon is fucking gross and not a single living person has ever bought anything from a Brookstone.

You don't realize how much you use your credit card not even to buy things. It's a card you get so you can navigate society.

American long for a closed society in which everything can be bought, where laborers are either hidden away or dressed up as nonhumans, so as not to be disconcerting. This place is called Disney World

They can't expect anyone to actually pay for a shirt that says, 'I (picture of an elephant) the San Diego Zoo.' What does that even mean?

They can also sell the same products in different ways to different groups of consumers (Britain's Viz magazine, with its fat slags and foul-mouthed yobs, is sold as a comic magazine in the south of the country but as an upmarket style guide in the north).

Shopping is better than sex. If you're not satisfied after shopping you can make an exchange for something you really like.

America has been conditioned to think of pasta as the never-ending pasta bowl and Olive Garden.

I don't understand this pathetic need for luxuries.

In contemplating what to do with my life, I felt like I had two possible paths: one was to move to New York and work in a design house; the other was to move to Africa and deliver food aid. That's when the idea of the FEED bag came to me. It's for those who want to put their consumer dollars to good use.

Millions of Americans recognize the right of private businesses to donate to any cause they choose; that if one doesn't want to patronize a chicken sandwich business, one can certainly buy fast food anywhere they want.

I'm not a huge spender. Sometimes when you pay a lot, you're paying for the company's advertising. It feels ridiculous to pay for a name.

We ask for way too much stuff - way too much stuff. You got a job making $100 a year and bought a house for $3 million. Talking about, 'I don't know what happened with the payment.'

At one time my name was on 50 or 60 different items, from dolls to pencil boxes.

Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything.

I'm sure 50 percent of television ads use rhyme.

Don't buy clothes at department stores—just take the clothes into the dressing room, post a photo of yourself on Instagram wearing them, and leave as the likes start accumulating by the hundreds.

The Holy Spirit is God eternally giving himself; like a never-ending spring he pours forth nothing less than himself. In view of this ceaseless gift, we come to see the limitations of all that perishes, the folly of the consumerist mindset. We begin to understand why the quest for novelty leaves us unsatisfied and wanting. Are we not looking for an eternal gift? For the spring that will never run dry?