I recently read a very intriguing article by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of a popular band called Switchfoot. Not only has he made a name for himself on the stage, he’s also made a name for himself among the modern philosophy community. The best quote, in my opinion, from all of his writings comes from a Huffington Post article titled “The Economy of the Garden” (part one and part two):
“…our unquestioned commoditization of all that we interact with has striking implications for the things that cannot be bought or sold. Greed, envy, sloth, pride and gluttony: these are not vices anymore. No, these are marketing tools. Lust is our way of life. Envy is just a nudge towards another sale. Even in our relationships we consume each other, each of us looking for what we can get out of the other. Our appetites are often satisfied at the expense of those around us.”
Sure does make me question why I went into the field of marketing. I love advertising and I love stuff, who can blame me? Fast cars leave me in awe of their engineering prowess and design character. But why? Is it because I’ve fully bought into the highway just beyond the garden? Is slow growth unattractive to society now? I believe it is and I believe that we’ll continue to ignore what we should really appreciate until we are forced to face the reality of our own destruction, caused by our newly minted, crisp, packaged, and very fake economy.