To the extent consumerism reflects the struggle for relative social status, it is collectively an expensive zero-sum game from a society-wide perspective. In the future maybe status will derive more from being well connected and plugged-in, and less from having material possessions. An iphone is now an important status symbol, as were simpler mobile phones previously and pagers before mobile phones became widely adopted beginning in the 1990’s
*Consumption evolves from serving material needs to needs of status. Status evolves from being derived from material possessions to being derived from human connections and electronic connectivity, being “plugged in”. Consumption evolves from assembling material possessions to collecting experiences.
*Reference The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899 by Thorstein Veblen: “conspicuous consumption”.
Fundamentally, consumerism is less than satisfactory as purpose and to give meaning to human life because it is self-serving. And to the extent it is motivated by status seeking, it is a relational good in a zero-sum game that collectively adds nothing to society’s well being.