What I've been seeing going on -- and it's exciting that it might be changing even though it will be painful -- is this whole culture driven by consumption on every level. Not just monetary consumption, but consumption of experiences and time. I feel that as a culture that most of us are incapable of slowing down and having a real experience. You keep thinking that if you get another house or take another vacation or that if you make more money, that it will free you up. But it becomes a larger and larger web of entrapment.

The consuming desire of most human beings is deliberately to place their entire life in the hands of some other person. For this purpose they frequently choose someone who doesn’t even want the beastly thing.

We are a consumer society, and the danger of being a consumer society is that we begin to define our walk with God, or our Christianity, in terms of what we consume rather than what we do. The danger is that we can get to a place where our faith is made up of consuming faith (not living it). If someone asks you, “Are you Catholic,” and you respond, “Yes. I go to Bible study. I watch EWTN, I listen to Catholic radio, I’m always on the Catholic news sites …” that has nothing to do with being a disciple. It can be part of it, but I think right now there’s a need to go from theory and understanding to action, and to relationship. If we busy ourselves so much with the consumption of the Faith, we can trick ourselves and our faith becomes a hobby.

No production without a need. But consumption reproduces the need.

The entertainment industry makes this [phantasmagoria of distraction] easier by elevating the person to the level of the commodity. He surrenders to its manipulations while enjoying his alienation from himself and others. The enthronement of the commodity, with its lustre of distraction…is consistent with the split between utopian and cynical elements.

What you consume consumes you; what
consumes you controls your life.

Whenever we engage in consumption or production patterns which take more than we need, we are engaging in violence. (p116)

To paraphrase Atomic Habits author James Clear, everything you create is downstream from something you consume.[12] Consumption Time focuses on quality upstream to ensure quality downstream.

What you consume consumes you; what consumes you controls your life.

We live, and move, and have our being in a consumer cosmos. The global economy and interconnection of markets and resources means every time we eat a meal, listen to music, put on clothing, or read a book, we are being consumers.

Consumption causes the commodification of the sacred, the natural world, cultures, children, and women. And unless we speak and take meaningful action to address the high levels of consumption, we will never have any security for our individual human rights as women.

Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.

"The consumer society hungers for the deviant and unexpected. What else can drive the bizarre shifts in the entertainment landscape that will keep us "buying"? Psychopathy is the only engine powerful enough to light our imaginations, to drive the arts, sciences and industries of the world."

Curiosity is gluttony. To see is to devour.