Is consumerism killing the middle class?

Z

Zellephant

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2023
Messages
2,785
Reaction score
2,822
Following on the previous thread about trying to define the middle class, I have begun wondering if consumerism has also been playing a role in eroding the middle class.

There is no doubt that economics, the failure of the current goverment to ensure growth and keep inflation down and all those things have made middle class life extremely expensive. But, at the same time, I know lots of people who can’t afford to own a house, but pay premium on car instalments and replace their car every 2-3 years, and only buy new (with balloons and all)

People who can’t afford weekends away or a decent annual holiday, but spend a small fortune on fast fashion and Temu hauls and buying all kinds of toys and gadgets, totally obsessed with whatever the latest gimmick to be launched is.

What really got me thinking about this, is over the weekend, I bought myself a new pair of boots. These are high quality, handmade items imported from Australia. These boots cost me R4500.00. I wore them to a braai that evening. A friend commented on them being very good looking boots, but when I told him what I paid, he spent the rest of the evening telling me how crazy that is, how he would never spend that much, and how the R900.00 Chelsea boots he bought at Woolworths do the same job. It actually got a bit annoying toward the end of the evening - especially since I didn’t want to tell him about what they cost, he asked. And the price had nothing to do with why I bought them.

I bought them because I wear Chelsea boots and chinos 6 days a week, and I have another pair of the exact same boots, that I wear at least 3 times a week, have used them for both hunting trips and business meetings alike, and have been doing so for 15 years, and they are still pretty much in perfect shape… I just wanted a slightly shinier pair. To me, those boots seem like a bargain, just like my 10 year old MacBook, my 15 year old paid off car etc. I don’t buy anything unless I have a use case for it, and when I do, I rather save up and buy a quality item once, and use it for years. But everytime I do, people feel the need to tell me how much cheaper I could have gotten a similar product for - but these same people are constantly replacing their cheaper products with newer ones.

So, has a large part of the “middle class” replaced the joy one gets out of middle class experiences, like a good dinner at a nice restaurant once in a while, with daily uber eats deliveries, or the dopamine from weekends away/holidays with endless Temu and Takealot junk hauls.
 
Zellephant said:
To me, those boots seem like a bargain, just like my 10 year old MacBook, my 15 year old paid off car etc. I don’t buy anything unless I have a use case for it, and when I do, I rather save up and buy a quality item once, and use it for years.
Click to expand...
I often see a similar thing with a chefs knife. People will balk at a R4000 (or whatever) knife but then spend close to half that on a pair of shoes. The knife will last me a lifetime (and be passed on) but those shoes will be what - 2 years and they're done?

To the topic - I think consumerism is one of the ways we cover up the fact that our lives are a bit devoid of purpose or meaning, or it's one of the ways we distract ourselves from whatever anxiety/sadness/anger we're feeling but are unwilling to address. We look away from our work and immediately grab our phones to distract ourselves with social media feeds...and the constant buying stuff is maybe just an extension of that (for some people).
 
Last edited:
Zellephant said:
Following on the previous thread about trying to define the middle class, I have begun wondering if consumerism has also been playing a role in eroding the middle class.

There is no doubt that economics, the failure of the current goverment to ensure growth and keep inflation down and all those things have made middle class life extremely expensive. But, at the same time, I know lots of people who can’t afford to own a house, but pay premium on car instalments and replace their car every 2-3 years, and only buy new (with balloons and all)

People who can’t afford weekends away or a decent annual holiday, but spend a small fortune on fast fashion and Temu hauls and buying all kinds of toys and gadgets, totally obsessed with whatever the latest gimmick to be launched is.

What really got me thinking about this, is over the weekend, I bought myself a new pair of boots. These are high quality, handmade items imported from Australia. These boots cost me R4500.00. I wore them to a braai that evening. A friend commented on them being very good looking boots, but when I told him what I paid, he spent the rest of the evening telling me how crazy that is, how he would never spend that much, and how the R900.00 Chelsea boots he bought at Woolworths do the same job. It actually got a bit annoying toward the end of the evening - especially since I didn’t want to tell him about what they cost, he asked. And the price had nothing to do with why I bought them.

I bought them because I wear Chelsea boots and chinos 6 days a week, and I have another pair of the exact same boots, that I wear at least 3 times a week, have used them for both hunting trips and business meetings alike, and have been doing so for 15 years, and they are still pretty much in perfect shape… I just wanted a slightly shinier pair. To me, those boots seem like a bargain, just like my 10 year old MacBook, my 15 year old paid off car etc. I don’t buy anything unless I have a use case for it, and when I do, I rather save up and buy a quality item once, and use it for years. But everytime I do, people feel the need to tell me how much cheaper I could have gotten a similar product for - but these same people are constantly replacing their cheaper products with newer ones.

So, has a large part of the “middle class” replaced the joy one gets out of middle class experiences, like a good dinner at a nice restaurant once in a while, with daily uber eats deliveries, or the dopamine from weekends away/holidays with endless Temu and Takealot junk hauls.
Click to expand...

Starting a thread ...just to brag bout your boots.
:X3:
 
Zellephant said:
Following on the previous thread about trying to define the middle class, I have begun wondering if consumerism has also been playing a role in eroding the middle class.

There is no doubt that economics, the failure of the current goverment to ensure growth and keep inflation down and all those things have made middle class life extremely expensive. But, at the same time, I know lots of people who can’t afford to own a house, but pay premium on car instalments and replace their car every 2-3 years, and only buy new (with balloons and all)

People who can’t afford weekends away or a decent annual holiday, but spend a small fortune on fast fashion and Temu hauls and buying all kinds of toys and gadgets, totally obsessed with whatever the latest gimmick to be launched is.

What really got me thinking about this, is over the weekend, I bought myself a new pair of boots. These are high quality, handmade items imported from Australia. These boots cost me R4500.00. I wore them to a braai that evening. A friend commented on them being very good looking boots, but when I told him what I paid, he spent the rest of the evening telling me how crazy that is, how he would never spend that much, and how the R900.00 Chelsea boots he bought at Woolworths do the same job. It actually got a bit annoying toward the end of the evening - especially since I didn’t want to tell him about what they cost, he asked. And the price had nothing to do with why I bought them.

I bought them because I wear Chelsea boots and chinos 6 days a week, and I have another pair of the exact same boots, that I wear at least 3 times a week, have used them for both hunting trips and business meetings alike, and have been doing so for 15 years, and they are still pretty much in perfect shape… I just wanted a slightly shinier pair. To me, those boots seem like a bargain, just like my 10 year old MacBook, my 15 year old paid off car etc. I don’t buy anything unless I have a use case for it, and when I do, I rather save up and buy a quality item once, and use it for years. But everytime I do, people feel the need to tell me how much cheaper I could have gotten a similar product for - but these same people are constantly replacing their cheaper products with newer ones.

So, has a large part of the “middle class” replaced the joy one gets out of middle class experiences, like a good dinner at a nice restaurant once in a while, with daily uber eats deliveries, or the dopamine from weekends away/holidays with endless Temu and Takealot junk hauls.
Click to expand...
R4500 boots ,thats rookie numbers.

Bought Harley earlier this year at a good price, had aftermarket pipes on that were causing issues, enquired with a local Harley mechanic about changing to stock exhausts, well needless to say things escalated quickly and now i have a custom build Harley sportster LOL

Moral of the story, i dont know, im just bored at work LOL.
 
@Zellephant R4500 for boots that will last well over a decade is a good purchase in my opinion. These days you can easily pay R1000+ for shoes that last a couple of years at most.

You have recent experience with the brand. You know it's a quality item.

The thing in today's world is that brands change owners pretty frequently. Often bought out by some Chinese or Indian manufacturer looking to take advantage of the name. They slap the brand on the same old product they've been making for ages in their local factory at a much lower quality. It's getting harder and harder these days to keep track of what is and isn't a quality product without that direct experience (taking the plunge and trying it so to speak).

I own a Logitech keyboard that I'm guessing is more than 15 years old at this point. It's still going without a single fault. I paid next to nothing for it when I bought it. Probably the equivalent of a couple hundred rands today. One of those cheapo combo deals that came with a mouse. I've heard Logitech cheapo keyboards are no longer the bulletproof beasts they used to be. I didn't know because I haven't needed a new keyboard since Mbeki was president.
 
In what context is consumerism used here? Just like capitalism, its meaning has evolved with new ideas. People who don't want you to own anything generally associate negative terms with consumerism, like materialism.

The other day, not here, I said that I am pro-consumerism, and immediately I was labelled a capitalist. The internet is a strange place, and I don't understand this disruption. Are people misled? Are there agencies behind this? Dunno.

When I talk about consumerism, it is to support the consumers' interests, as it should be.

Everything nowadays has to be politicized, and with that, it gets a good social dose.

Big companies that are moving people into ecosystems via subscription or enclosed marketplaces. They also target the consumers on consumption and materialism.

People shouldn't envy. People should consider what they can spend.

Anyhow, this is a deep discussion.
 
What really got me thinking about this, is over the weekend, I bought myself a new pair of boots. These are high quality, handmade items imported from Australia. These boots cost me R4500.00. I wore them to a braai that evening. A friend commented on them being very good looking boots, but when I told him what I paid, he spent the rest of the evening telling me how crazy that is, how he would never spend that much, and how the R900.00 Chelsea boots he bought at Woolworths do the same job. It actually got a bit annoying toward the end of the evening - especially since I didn’t want to tell him about what they cost, he asked. And the price had nothing to do with why I bought them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't like that. It is people like that who don't get to see my braai.
 
But I thought this how we create the self-sustaining economy we've been looking for. Because we'll re-distribute the money back to the people. Thus ensuring them coming back in, keeping the money moving.
 
Zellephant said:
But everytime I do, people feel the need to tell me how much cheaper I could have gotten a similar product for - but these same people are constantly replacing their cheaper products with newer ones
Click to expand...
When people pull stunts like this, steer into the skid. Mock them for wearing cheap shoes. They'll talk about you for the rest of their lives - how they met an adult who teased them like it was primary school.
 
SeRpEnT said:
Starting a thread ...just to brag bout your boots.
:X3:
Click to expand...
I think you missed the point. I didn’t want to discuss the price of the boots, because I knew how the person would react, and they did.

The fact is, that same person spends a completely silly amount of money on nonsense. They get Takealot and Temu deliveries more than once a week. They also recon spending R900 on boots that need to be replace every year is a better deal than spending R4500 once every 15 years on a pair.
 
Zellephant said:
The fact is, that same person spends a completely silly amount of money on nonsense. They get Takealot and Temu deliveries more than once a week. They also recon spending R900 on boots that need to be replace every year is a better deal than spending R4500 once every 15 years on a pair.
Click to expand...
Did you say this to them?
 
I did, but it didn’t land. They spend their thinking is clearly short term only, and they also reckon they can’t commit to a shoe for 15 years…
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3WA
Zellephant said:
I did, but it didn’t land. They spend their thinking is clearly short term only, and they also reckon they can’t commit to a shoe for 15 years…
Click to expand...
These sound like people to be mocked and ridiculed. Nothing wrong with R4.5k boots that will give you fifteen years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X