What about an anti-consumerism movement?

B. Herry-Priyono, Lecturer, Driyarkara School of Philosophy, Jakarta

During the 2001 French Open, Serena Williams, the American tennis queen, admitted how she had been enslaved by a peculiar compulsion. According to The Guardian (Aug. 10, 2001), she had become a shopaholic, with her favorite purchases being clothes, shoes and things for her dog.

"I wasn't able to stop and I bought, bought, bought... Things I didn't need. I didn't even wear them (the clothes)."

For those who are puzzled by such a phenomenon, this is the sort of compulsion that makes up the core of consumerism. But usually it is worse. For instance, instead of staying at the level of the subconscious, the compulsion works in a more conscious manner. At face value, consumerism may look like a psychological state, the content of which concerns the assertion of individual freedom.

The Oxford Dictionary captures this aspect by defining consumerism as "the protection or promotion of consumers' interests in relation to the producer". And, given our deep- seated trauma about threats to human freedom throughout history, everything that is associated with "freedom" tends to be considered faultless.

Beneath this lofty dream arises a basic instinct that is more mundane than that which can be gleaned at the heights of lexical definition. With the Janus-faced reality of the free market system now being played out in earnest, what has happened is that consumerism has gradually become a game of fabricated status, privilege and self-confidence.

Why do people, amid vast oceans of poverty and misery, buy and hoard opulent branded goods? Because the act of purchasing and possessing these items/services gives them a claim to status, prestige, self-confidence. One not only drives a car, but a Jaguar at that.

If the real issue of consumerism is the possession of status, privilege and self-confidence, then the key to consumerism is what, let's say, a tangible Jaguar car provides in respect of these intangibles. Their sly and slippery nature is precisely what makes consumerism so hard to pin down.

No wonder that the original meaning of consumerism has gradually mutated into the vice of concocted consumption, as distinct from consumption that is caringly necessary for survival in any particular socio-economic-cultural setting.

It is also the subtle working of consumerism that makes it difficult to identify its detrimental impacts on the political economy of this country. In fact, consumerism has spread like an epidemic, corroding the civic fabric of our society.

It is at the heart of the rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism that we are faced with. It is bound up with the daily evictions of the urban poor; it is embedded in the consumerism of space that wipes out many parks and conservation areas. It is also linked to the collapse of public infrastructure, such as roads, school buildings, public transportation, etc.

Consider the following table, taken from the 2003 Jakarta Government Budget.

TABLE

Even for indifferent people, Rp 74 million per month (Rp 887.7 million a year) for preparing speeches is absurd. So are most of the other entries in the 2003 Jakarta budget. The bad news is, instead of being tightened, the agreed total budget for 2003 has swollen by Rp 25 billion. Or, take note of the diversion of budget funds in order to purchase 55 cars for the members of the Jakarta City Council (Kompas, Feb. 24, 2001).

This sort of statecraft consumerism goes in hand-in-hand with day-to-day consumerism, fanned by apologia for a free-market system that is increasingly losing its gloss. How can we explain the following pattern? Americans spent $8 billion a year on cosmetics while the world cannot find the $9 billion the UN reckons is needed to give all people access to clean drinking water and sanitation (Hertz 2001).

The picture in Indonesia is no less appalling. In 1997, a time when consumerist frolics were at their height, 147,000 infants died of malnutrition. In 1998 the trend was bleaker, with 180,000 infants dying of malnutrition (UNICEF), or 59 percent of total infant mortality in 1998.

Indeed, the corrosion of the fabric of our Republic is taking place not only through Leviathan brutalities (such as militarism and violence), but also through the gently seducing wiles of consumerism.

Rachel Bowlby, a female psychoanalyst, may have upset other women with her Carried Away: Hidden Histories of Shopping (2001), in which she was not shy about revealing her findings: The history of shopping is largely a history of women. She is not alone in this view, as the issue has also been part of the reflections contained in much feminist literature. Of course, this is not to exclude men, who are often just as prone to consumerist craziness.

If Bowlby's interpretation is correct, the much needed movement to reveal the corrosive impacts of consumerism may have more weight if it is pioneered by women. This point is pertinent given that the current leadership of this Republic is in the hands of a woman.

So, Ibu Megawati Soekarnoputri, today is International Women's Day. We know you are beset by mounting problems of governance. And you may not be aware that consumerism is one of the most deadly sources of our current predicament. Indeed, the waste from the orgy of consumerism is such that it has drained the financial resources of our Republic. Riches are good, but some riches can be vicious. There is no life without consumption, but some consumption is merely concoction.

If today's women and mothers were to start a movement to reveal and then correct the corrosive heart of consumerism, there would be at least two simple requests.

First, we would hope that you, as commander in chief, and your lieutenants, would not employ any measures, coercive or otherwise, to prevent this movement from taking root and expanding. This would be a peaceful and noble movement for more socially sensitive and just lifestyles. Second, if thou art indeed blessed with thy father's charisma, we would expect thee to rally the citizens of this Republic to support and join the movement.

The rest would then take care of itself.