I recently installed Instagram after more than 18 months.
And I’m thinking to delete it and stay away from it forever.
The same reason why I deleted Facebook in 2012.
The same reason why I deleted so many games on my phone after enjoying them.
The same reason why I do not watch tv news or any news since I was in 12th grade.
The same reason why I was never interested in being dressed up girly or pined after beautiful dresses, or even follow the trends in fashion.
The same reason why I dropped out without finishing my master’s degree and have a problem with the education system.
The same reason why I do not want to monetise my blogs ever.
And the reason isn’t that they are all businesses and sell ads and promote their products or get others to promote by affiliate marketing.
(Well, it’s partly a reason.)
But the actual reason is that they make ads and promote things by portraying that we ABSOLUTELY need their product or service or anything.
My reason is consumerism, which according to Wikipedia is “Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.”
We do not NEED all these things they depict in all the ads.
At the very least, the individual ought to have a choice about whether or not they need it.
If my feet hurt, yes, I’ll go for the comfortable shoes, not the costliest or ‘branded’ shoes.
I’m not saying not to buy anything, I’m saying that we ought to ask ourselves whether we really need it.
What we really need are very basic things.
(This is what I need. Your needs may be different.)
I need food every day. I do not need gold.
I need some comfy clothes. I do not need the latest fashion trends.
I need water every day. I do not need cute bags.
I need a roof over my head. I do not need luxurious penthouse or aesthetic look of my room.
I need a mattress and a blanket and a pillow. I do not need fancy shoes or heels.
I need a phone and an internet. I do not meed to exchange my phone every time a new model comes in.
The list can go on and on with all the things I do not need.
But there is so much overproduction of things that they have to sell it, as it said in the Wikipedia article. And for selling, they need to market it.
I remember how they started making ads using human emotions. It’s a brilliant strategy because it makes you feel something when you watch an ad and then after a few times of watching that ad, if you see their product next time, it will bring the same emotions in you and you’d think that you got to buy it.
If you need a car, any car would do. You don’t necessarily have to buy a BMW or any fancy car. The function of the car is to take you to places. Why do you need a brand or the costliest?
Because it makes you feel that you have a great status in society.
Because it makes you feel approval of others when they see it.
But why do you need approval from others?
Can you not approve your self and your own choice?
The same goes with the brand of colleges and schools. People feel very proud if they get in the prestigious IIT or AIIMS or any other such college. (I don’t know the brand names of schools.)
Education is a learning. It doesn’t matter where you get it from.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the latest things or clothes or gadgets and what not!
The only question to ask yourself before buying anything — whether online or in the shopping mall — is “Can I live without it?” Other questions might help too — “Do I absolutely need it? Why do I need it?”
Why not think, and make our own choices? Instead of just blindly following what they make us believe?
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And now.. look at the simplicity of this.
aditi premankit 