Disengaging From Consumerism During Covid-19
We are flooded with corporate propaganda, everywhere we go or see online we find ads trying to capture our attention. Corporations stimulate and encourage us to buy and spend money on things we may not need; our brains are receiving information from hundreds of commercial ads. One can simply engage in social media, walk on the street or watch T.V. to come in contact with many advertisements. Corporative propaganda floods the internet and it expresses specific products or opinions in different ways, such as through videos, news, etc. Similarly, one may check on the cellphone or any technological device and spend hours on websites such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook Netflix, Tinder, Snapp chat etc. As such, social media and consumerism can extract much of our time, money and energy. This results, especially for people who may be emotionally vulnerable watching or reading information about Covid-19, in heightened levels of anxiety.
Covid-19 has sparked fear on entire populations regardless of race, economic background, or country of origin. This is problematic because fear can trigger and block a person’s ability to think and even function properly. One need not research for too long to discover the negative effects fear has on the body and spirit; it is said that, “[n]o passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear”. Despite all this toxic environment of hate and fear, we may explore different options for our entertainment and education.
Socialization is restricted during Covid-19, therefore we can ignore spending our money on items like wedding gifts, alcohol at the bar, or traveling outside Canada. These resrictions also mean that bill payments are done mostly online, and university is online as well -- almost everything is done online. Rather than see these as negative, the pandemic could help us disengage from the world of mass consumption since we may not socialize as much. Many items and services that corporations offered to consumers before the pandemic may be irrelevant during this time. Afterall, many advertised products and services require socialization for their promotion and consumption, such as tourism, dining in restaurants, concerts, or parties. Moreover, this could be the right time to focus our attention on different activities while ignoring consumerism culture for a while. A variety of activities exist that may disengage us from capitalism consumer culture. Cultivating the practice of mediation may help us disengage from fashion, politics, Covid-19 news, and work stress. Meditation helps to relieve the mind from stress, and it may connect with our inner self. Lockdowns during Covid-19 may provide us with new opportunities to craft new arts. We can master a new field, study new languages -- this is the perfect time to learn what we always wanted to but did not have time for. Human creativity is infinite just like the universe, it knows no limits. Improving ourselves may help alleviate the effects of not socializing much during Covid-19.
By
Eder Leonel Torres, Reporter
