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Cru’s Letter

I don’t think we should be finding purpose in buying stuff. It’s that simple.

A huge part of our culture is consumerism but I often think it’s gone a bit too far to where it’s a distraction from what really matters.

People need purpose but to really figure out why you’re on this earth is too much of a can of worms for most folks so instead, it’s become commonplace to find purpose in the low hanging fruit. Here are some examples:

• your next purchase

• hating a person that disagrees with your ideology

• drama

That’s enough of that haha. The point here is that people dedicate their lives to baseless pursuits all because it’s easier to find purpose in them (even though the purpose isn’t real or fulfilling).

Where does consumerism really come from?

I think basically everything is marketing today because we’ve found so many ways to take advantage of human desires to propel financial progress. What’s sad is that so many things are made solely to take advantage of that instead of with a core, genuine intent.

I’d imagine people used to be trying to solve problems but now it seems like the only problem that’s being solved is the “not enough money” one.

Soda companies aren’t out there thinking of better ways to make a product that solves a problem… they’re trying to find better ways to make customers addicted to their drinks so they can make more money.

I believe it’s still up to the consumer to be educated and critical in their decision making but it is pretty sad that we have to work from a societally engrained disadvantage.

As with anything, I think the real “solution” is to simply bring more attention to your habits and thinking. The more awareness you have around what drives your decisions, the less likely you are to be taken advantage of in this consumer-based world.

All there is to do is pay attention.

• look at food labels

• recognize patterns in what you look forward to (is it just the next thing to buy?)

• look a little deeper into how you’re being marketed to

• question the incentives/motives of everyone equally

Consuming/purchasing things is not the devil but it can be problematic when it’s all you care about. The best work you could do on yourself is to figure out what truly matters to you and build a life around that.

Just remember, only you can decide exactly what that looks like for yourself.

-Cru

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