Western world not very materialistic

By John Phillips

YOGYAKARTA (JP): It is popular and politically correct for the Asian media to complain about how western culture and especially American culture as symbolized by McDonald's is excessively materialistic.

This materialism and mass consumerism is directly blamed for the vast, disruptive changes that have occurred in western countries including the destruction of family values, gang violence, widespread illegal drug use, sexual deviance, and the loss of numerous other traditional cultural values and mores. Also, this materialism is said to have invaded eastern societies, bringing about the near ruin of traditional eastern cultures.

First, it is simply not true that American culture is more materialistic than other cultures. Anyone familiar with the voracious and rapid development in Asian countries would be hard pressed to maintain that Asian cultures were any less materialistic. The dominant cultures in Asia, Chinese and Japanese along with their social and ethnic relatives in North and Southeast Asia have set new world standards for the rapidity and single-mindedness with which they have acquired wealth.

Like America some 100 years ago, the manner in which this wealth has accumulated has been on the basis of traditional values of hard work, thrift, and diligence. No observer I am aware of suggests that these values were learned from America. On the other hand, the excesses in the process of acquiring this wealth have also been a common feature of development in both.

These excesses include ignoring damage to the environment, squeezing labor for the most amount of work for the least cost, and altering traditional social patterns to suit industrialized societies. Again, these practices were not learned from western culture but existed to some degree in all cultures before industrialization. However, western cultures are addressing these issues while most of Asia has not yet reached this point.

At the same time, the question remains "Is materialism the great evil many pundits have labeled it?" Everyone must answer this question for themselves, but in my view materialism or the desire to improve the material conditions under which we live has been the greatest boon to human society of any idea short of religious beliefs.

Examine the record for yourself by taking almost any condition in human life and ask yourself if on the whole things have not improved dramatically. On the material side, the drive to improve life has led to better health, food, housing, education, transportation, communication and many other better conditions than ever existed before except in the Garden of Eden.

On the intellectual and spiritual side, as a result of material improvements in life more people have more leisure time to spend, learning, thinking, and reflecting more than was ever the case in the past.

And we now have the means for spreading our thoughts and beliefs over wider areas of the world and beyond all because of material progress. That damaging cultural changes have occurred in both western and eastern societies as a result of excesses in the pursuit of wealth is undeniable.

In large part, these changes have occurred because increased material wealth has lessened the traditional social controls over people which existed in the past. This has led to rifts in the social fabric of all nations as humankind has yet to fully adjust to the relative freedom while accepting the corresponding increased individual responsibility conferred on them by new freedoms.

At the same time, as all of the modern problems have emerged, there has also been a disappearance of many of the older problems that plagued societies. Institutional slavery, colonialism, and numerous other social-political-economic evils are no longer accepted as the norm, but are condemned and defied as unacceptable aberrations. There is no more divine right of kings to determine life and death of subjects while famine, plagues, and natural disasters continue to occur but on much smaller scale than before and many people voluntarily lend assistance to lessen the impact.

People are better educated and more involved in deciding about matters that effect their daily lives, such as health or nutrition. They have more choices about how to live and how to behave. In most societies they are not forced to be like everyone else on the penalty of death.

In short, humanity is substantially better off in most respects than ever before. This progress can be directly attributed to better material conditions and the accompanying drive for freedom and individual rights.

While no one can say that the material world is perfectly peaceful and harmonious, perhaps this is the task that the Creator has given us in this materially superior world-to seek spiritual peace and harmony now that humankind is able to provide for itself.

The writer is a visiting lecturer at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta..