Branded By Society
Having never been ruled by materialistic values,
I find it a sad state of affairs,
That mankind believes happiness is accrued,
By possessions and other worldly wares,
Allowing them to become ensnared,
Pushed and cajoled by a society,
That subliminally promotes despair,
Onto those not seduced by ‘ownership’ beauty,
Constantly are we under the barrage of advertising,
Hurled upon us from all venues and media forms,
Daily our minds are assaulted by others selling,
Items, possessions, desire and other sinful conforms,
That will enrich our lives no end,
And boost our kudos within commercial consumerism,
Failing to comply and actually spend,
Will result in us damning our souls and becoming victims,
And people fall for this, as has been the case for many, many years,
Whereupon in the quest for overall happiness,
They buy into the materialistic systems that will allay their fears,
And we will become wholesome, yet penniless!
But this does not matter, for with all of our goods,
We can lead totally healthy and stress free lives,
Irrelevant again that we are seduced by falsehoods,
Branded by a society that knows not how to forgive,
Those who do not buy into this supposed paradise,
Of possessions of such awesome power and greatness,
And are not driven to open their wallet due to the lies,
Promoted by the advertisers who apparently sell happiness?
Clever and skilful marketers inform us all the time,
We should ‘get a life’ by buying into conspicuous consumption,
For this alone will increase our social status and lifetimes,
Always the promotional tag line from the gifted salesman!
Indeed, it is a critical and well-known fact,
That to own a practical ‘anything’ is simply not enough,
It may do the job required, but lacks…
Panache, je ne sais quoi and is simply too rough,
‘No, no, no’ a vehicle that gets you from A – B,
Might be ideal and worthy of your credit line,
Yet perception by those orientated materistically,
Will simply look upon you as a social waste of time,
You have to ask yourself at least once in your life,
Do l really need all these contraptions of vice,
Spending myself out of pocket and plummeting into credit strife,
Just to keep up with the Jones’s and to look ‘socially nice’?
Does it really matter if l have the latest craze or trend,
Will my life now be so enriched that l will dazzle,
Astound, and genuinely impress my standing and friends,
That to have the newest gadget will improve my lifestyle?
Those that are considered wealthy and richer than most,
Predominantly live modest and humble lives,
Appreciating the little they do own and value the utmost,
Delightful pleasures that require not being captives,
Of a society that is turning itself into a greed nation,
Where expensive wares, latest fashion and highest technology,
Are to be seen as the way forwards to consumer heaven,
Irrelevant to the damning effects it may have on mans’ psychology,
Gone are the days when items of ownership used to last,
For now we live in a truly disposable society,
Newly acquired possessions are burnt up too fast,
Their values, worthless because of advertised variety,
Many are simply not content to be happy with the purchase,
For there may be something better next week,
Disposable items are rubbish, and are not ageless,
Like they were before the consumerism chic,
Now, we see many indulging hotly in commercial desires,
Desperate to keep up with society branding,
And constantly buying into the market of ‘newly acquireds’
Fearful to not comply, will result in a lynching,
I have no time for this foolhardiness, these falsehoods,
Turned my back on society branding, and everything glossy,
All l want is my life to be stress free, and fundamentally good,
Surviving on basics, and enjoying life’s’ beauty,
But for those, who cannot think of a life without,
Thousands of appliances, high tech, fancy gadgetry,
Latest fashion design, performance cars, eating out,
Expensive holidays, new kitchens and all other fantasy,
Think about this, when you are dead and too far away to see,
Your life shortened by the stress of conspicuous consumption,
Materialistic panic buying, and branding by society,
What will your epitaph read … ‘Death by Consumerism?’
© Rory Matier 2011
cool read.
Thank you GrumpyG appreciate it – you have a great day in all that you do 🙂
I definitely agree with this one! I guess one advantage of being cash poor is that I’ve never formed an attachment to, or desire for, stuff.
Nice poem Rory, exzacly I don’t need all that materialistic stuff basic is fine by me.
❤️✌️
BY FOR NOW
Exactly Dawn 🙂
The things that matter can’t be bought. Just ask the Scrappy.
Hey Cage, yep she agrees, totally 🙂
Beautiful reading
Hey Tanvir, hope you are keeping well 🙂
All well Rory !!thank you !! Hope all good at your end
Well Tanvir, it could better, but it could be worse, so on those grounds, it’s great, thanks for asking 🙂
Yes, so much trashed that’s still fine and gobs of packaging from all the new stuff we must have. Mountains of garbage. Oceans full of it. Horrible!
Oh l know – packaging, plastic mountains, disposable marketing, must have, must have – don’t start me on this lol 🙂
This is a big, big, big pain and a much bigger problem our society has developed into.
Spot on. The world is going this way.
Indeed it is sadly – wouldn’t be so bad, but it is going faster digitally than we its people are.
Exactly!
Do l really need all these contraptions of vice? I don’t think so.. Love it.
Hey good morning to you, thanks – aye who needs ’em 🙂
True. And it worries me and saddens me that those who either don’t or can’t buy into it like kids in school get bullied because they are not like the rest. Even to the point of suicide, and permanent psychological damage!
Exactly – very true Lorraine [by the way Good morning to you] we have seen cases like that quite recently 🙂
Goid morning Rory. Yes, it happens a lot. So much pressure on kids and teenagers. Sad.
Yes very very much so.
My personal experience..money cant buy happiness .
Exactly 🙂
This is spot on!
I know, isn’t it just 🙂
Spot on! I live a minimalist life not because I have to but because I want to. I plan on downsizing to an RV in the near future and will enjoy the memories of travel rather than things I’ve collected.
Hey Catherine, yes, Suze and l have plans to downsize even further that we already have – we just don’t need the stuff – we need the life and that is more important 🙂
Very apt description of many ills prevalent in today’s society.
Hey Tanya, many thanks – glad you enjoyed it 🙂