While conceding that materialism causes inequity and encourages superficiality, Twitchell shows how consumerism is part of human nature. Nevertheless, the issue of using material things to create an identity is a two sided coin and there are circumstances where this reasoning would not apply. In addition, to take his claim to be fully logical, one must assume that indeed all acquisitions of property are driven by the desire to create an identity; this assumption would however be quite fallacious. When one buys a car for instance, they may consider it ostentatious value but the main reason they buy it is for the functional vehicular role. This also applies to the purchase of big houses and extensive property. For some people, property and wealth are not by itself an end but a means. One could extend the same reason and claim that consumerism is not behind Bill Gates’ enormous wealth. According to popular opinion he is most notable because of being the richest in the world. However it is quite possible that he did not set out to make money but to create computer products such as Windows which came to be greatly demanded globally and as such, for him to meet the needs of billion users. He makes his billions too, but as a by-product and a necessary part of his business. In addition, wealth is used to make distinctions in achievements and it can be viewed as a scale through which human beings can distinguish achievements for effective competition. Thus the more successful one is, say in business, the more money they make and this increases their potential to spend on things that may seem to others as luxuries but with more money one’s definition of necessities changes.
Support for Twitchell’s central thesis is found in the article by Randall Patterson for the New York Times. Titled ‘Profiles in Splurging’, the article is a composite sketch of four individuals whose stories serve as testimony to consumerism. Dispelling conventional wisdom that ‘money cannot buy happiness’ the author narrates stories of four Americans who found meaningful happiness through consumption. Whether it is buying a versatile lawn-mower or a Mercedes car or a grand picturesque house, these are profiles of individuals who achieved their American Dream through consumerism. Hence the claim made in the working thesis is not merely true but also leads to benign consequences.
Ultimately the statement “We live through things, we create ourselves through things and we change ourselves by changing our things” in a sense is incomplete by itself since there can be two opposing sides depending on the context. It would be impossible to reconcile both sides of the argument considering that each side provides logical arguments. As such one can conclude that the extent to which materialism defines or does not define individuals or society is dependent on the circumstances under which one acquires or fails to acquire wealth. Evidently some pursue consumerism in pursuit of material objects so they may use them to give their lives meaning. On the other hand others require these things simply so their lives may progress smoothly or they just acquire them as a means to a greater none-material end.
James Twitchell, ‘Two Cheers for Materialism‘ Adapted from Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, 1999, retrieved from <https://files.nyu.edu/gmp1/public/twitch.htm> on 12th September 2013
Randall Patterson, Profiles in Splurging, The New York Times Magazine, October 2000, retrieved from < http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20001015mag-patterson.html> on 12th September 2013