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Rise of the Hyper-Consumers

Writer's picture: Christopher RyanChristopher Ryan

In America we are conditioned to be consumers. As a country we went from being a net-exporter of manufactured goods that the world depended on, to being a net importer of cheaply manufactured products that we oftentimes don’t even need.


What is representative of the collective whole is also representative of us as individuals. Compared to previous decades, today we have access to so many goods, services, subscriptions, and forms of entertainment that our need to be productive citizens as a matter of survival has dropped precipitously.


Take for example binge watching your favorite Netflix tv series, ordering Door Dash delivery for dinner, and checking the latest trending topic on Twitter. In this case you are a hyper-consumer taking in all the pleasantries that someone else has toiled to create for your enjoyment. You are able to accomplish all of these things without doing much actual work.


We Are Natural Producers


In the very distant past, our forebearers literally had no option to be hyper-consumers. There was no Spotify, or twitter, no Netflix, no Door Dash. Hell, there weren’t even stores to buy clothes or food. Everything that a person wanted, they needed to get for themselves. If a tribe wanted to eat, then food needed to be foraged or hunted. Rather than outsourcing entertainment, it was instead created by the very people who also enjoyed it. There was no way to outsource adventure stories to the television. Rather one had to use his own imagination to conjure up some of the same dreams and impossibilities that we enjoy while watching the latest Marvel movie.


Humans needed to be fairly self-sufficient. Short of bartering, whatever a person or community wanted to consume, they also needed to produce it for themselves.


The Rise of the Hyper-Consumer


Over the years as civilization took hold, we’ve gradually installed mechanisms that make consumption easier. The advent of money as a medium of exchange, the specialization of skills an division of labor, the creation of banks and credit, farming to supply the masses with food, manufacturing to make tools for everyone, textiles to produce clothes, etc...


Fast forward to today and it is virtually impossible for a person to be self-sufficient short of running off into the wilderness and living off the land completely detached from society. However, if you participate in society to any extent, you absolutely are extraordinarily reliant on many other people for basically everything. Drinking water, electricity, shelter, food, entertainment, education, healthcare, toolmaking, etc. are all things that we enjoy because someone with specific expertise created virtually everything that we use.


What this also means is that we have become hyper-consumers by default. We cannot escape it, nor do I necessarily think we should try. It just is. I’m a big proponent of minimalism and selective frugality, but I think that the big problem with the current state of affairs is less about us being hyper-consumers, and more about the ease that we can now carry on through life without producing anything.


Me Must Also Be Producers


We cannot, and should not, only be consumers. We should also be producers. It is in our nature to be such, and the deterioration of this consumer-producer order over the past 10,000 years or so has not only disrupted the fabric of the human experience, but also leaves most of the population into a world of constantly questioning their purpose and place in society.


One no longer needs to work for his food because he can simply buy it from the farmer who does the work on his behalf. One no longer needs to create his own form of entertainment because the Drakes and Taylor Swifts of the world do it for him. One no longer needs to interact with another human in person because technology bridges the physical gap between people.


This has led to a society in which there are an extraordinarily small handful of producers who supply a world full of consumers. If I had to guess, the split might be along the lines of 1% to 99%, but whatever it is, it’s astonishing.


I’m going to make a semi-provocative statement and say that today’s wealth gap is less a product of greed, and more a product of a society that is complacent with being net-consumers.


The Joy of Producing


As challenging and stressful as it may be at times, producing things, thoughts, ideas, etc. brings us pride, joy, and fulfillment. I believe this is why people with crafts like furniture-making, woodworking, creative expression, and various trade skills find so much satisfaction with their work. Taking the chaos that exists in either the physical world or in our brains and turning it into “order” that others can benefit from gives us a deep sense of purpose.

It is a sort of proof or validation that we have a meaningful place in society.


Unfortunately, because being self-sufficient and producing is no longer a requirement for survival, most of us are living an existence in which we are consuming exponentially more than was ever possible at any other point in human history while also producing virtually nothing in return.


I think this may play a role in the increasing rates of mental health problems that we’re seeing today, as well as the growing trend of escapism into alternate worlds where we want to “get away from it all” by going on vacations, drinking, and turning to other temporary sources of gratification that don’t fundamentally improve our living situation.


People just can’t fully make sense of where or how they fit into society.


I understand that in the past few thousand years, up until the early 2000s, being a producer was hard. It required having connections to bypass industry gatekeepers, or the capital to invest in productive assets. However, the recent proliferation of the internet and social media has created a new dynamic in which almost anyone can connect with others and be a person of value in one way or another.


Are you a net-producer or net-consumer?


Ask yourself how much time do you spend scrolling through social media or watching television? How much time do you spend listening to music or playing video games? How much time do you spend reading and listening to podcasts?


None of these things are inherently bad. But they all do represent forms of consumption.


Now let’s flip these questions upside down. Do you use social media as a platform to educate or motivate others? Do you screen-write, act, or contribute to the creation of film productions? Do you sing or play an instrument? Do you write or publish thought-provoking ideas?


This is what producers do. They create and they put energy back into the world.

We are all consumers. There’s no way around that. However, our culture of hyper-consumption is fundamentally antithetical to the human experience. We all can stand to benefit by balancing out the scales a bit and finding ways to be more productive members of society. Ultimately the ideal is to be a net producer in which our contributions to our society far outweigh what we get in return.


As a side effect of being net producers, we will find more purpose, more fulfillment, and possibly even fatter pockets.

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About 
UNLEASHING
SAVAGE

UNLEASHING SAVAGE is for those who wish to live more intentionally for greater health, quality of life, and fulfillment.

Navigating the modern societal blueprint can make it easy to become disconnected from nature. This is evidenced by rising instances of chronic disease and struggles with mental health, along with lack of a clear sense of purpose.

I created this movement to help busy corporate professionals and entrepreneurs slow down, reconnect with nature, and live in greater alignment with what matters most to them.

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