Becoming a Consumer Society

Consuming is a necessary action for humans. It's part of the natural flow of life. We consume the food we eat, the objects we use, and even time. When consumption became a purpose of life and we started to define ourselves with consumption, that's when the structure of society changed. The next phase of the capitalist production system was the strategies developed for the consumption of surplus objects.

In the past, we did not feel the need to consume more than we needed. With the modern social order, needs took shape and gained a new appearance. As in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the psychological category that includes basic food, drink, and shelter forms the basis of the pyramid. Health, family, and work are in the second category, safety, and security. Friendship and a sense of connection are included in the third category, love and belonging. Confidence and achievement find their place in the self-esteem category. Finally, values such as morality and creativity position themselves in the last category, self-actualization. ,

In this context, the meals we eat to survive have become a service with easily accessible options. Food varieties increased, branded, registered, and presented globally. Which food, where, and how we consume it has gained importance and prestige. The kind of house we live in, our economic and social situation, what education and work we have received, and who we meet with began to be expressed with various classes and degrees. After the Industrial Revolution, societies gained meaning not by how much they produced or earned, but by what they consumed, as consumption became daily. The age of services has made consumption the new rising star. 

Being a consumer society is exactly like how we live nowadays. You tell me what you consume and I'll tell you who you are. Those who remain outside this spiral feel excluded and alienated.