The World Revolves Around Us! How Modern Mankind Forgot the Lesson Copernicus Taught Us 400 Years Ago
Chapter 1 Why Now: Consumerism: Our Twenty-First Century Religion
Today the global religion that exerts the most influence over our lives is neither Christianity or Islam, Buddhism or Judaism, but “Consumerism.” That is, the religion of materialism. This “religion” puts Self on the throne. In so doing, it creates gods of those of us who, consciously or unconsciously, worship Her. Uncomfortably mortal gods who are constantly vying to improve our position in the pantheon by acquiring the fame and fortune Society says we must have.
In this age of income inequality where we’re Keeping up with the Kardashians as well as the Joneses, Society has us asking ourselves two basic questions: “What can I get out of life – and am I getting enough?” and its kissing cousin “What do other people think of me?” These two questions lead to the self-centeredness that plagues modern Humankind, and are responsible for much of the misery in the world today.
The first question — “What can I get out of life – and am I getting enough?” — is the root cause of all selfishness, and leads to war, crime, gluttony, greed, hate and adultery. The second question — “What do other people think of me?” — is the root of our self-consciousness, and leads to anxiety, pride, envy and depression.
These two questions are constantly running through our minds whether we realize it or not. Old as society, they have taken on new meaning in modern times where our “self”-obsession has reached epidemic proportions.
Why does Society do this to us?
I’m not suggesting some grand conspiracy hatched in a D.C. boardroom by a cadre of old white men smoking Cubans, swigging Jack Daniels and plotting our ultimate demise. No, I envision something much simpler. Something that comes about as a matter of course. Consider: Two-thirds of our economy is driven by consumer spending. Consumerism’s goal is to get us to buy new things. In order to do this, Society must convince us that we need more than we have. Advertisers “create a need” by a) making their products seem appealing (“What can I get out of life – and am I getting enough?”) and b) making you feel inadequate with what you have (“What do other people think of me?”). Thus Society turns life into a competition where it’s all about us.
Humility to the Rescue
Thankfully, humility cures both selfishness and self-consciousness, attacking the root cause of both: The pre-Copernican notion that the world revolves around us. As you’ll recall from world history class, Nicolaus Copernicus broke the news that the Earth revolves around the Sun (and not vice-versa) back in 1616 when he published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. This news was not received well by the Catholic Church, which banned it for the next two centuries.
Today no one would argue that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Yet when it comes to how we live our lives, we act as if Copernicus was a dolt, ignoring a lesson so obvious it screams: “If the Sun does not revolve around the Earth, THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND US!”
So how have we moderns, who pride ourselves on being so “rational,” not only failed to grasp this basic principle but now find ourselves farther from it than ever before?
Why Now?
When I was growing up, Capitalism (i.e. “Consumerism”) and Communism went toe-to-toe to see who would rule the world. Today it’s clear who won. Excluding anomalies such as North Korea, the rest of the world has followed our lead. Even Eastern societies, which should know better, are saying “We want as much cool new stuff as we can get, too!” creating a new world-religion I call “Consumerism.” A religion whose basic tenets are reflected in the following adaptation of the 23rd Psalm’s “The Lord is My Shepherd.”
THE WORLD IS MY SHEPHERD
The World is my shepherd
I Shall want
It maketh me to lie down with green dollars
It leadeth me beside polluted waters
It restoreth nothing
It leadeth me in the paths of lust and desire for Name Brand’s sake
Yeah, though I walk through the mall with a thousand credit cards
And shop ’till I drop
I shall not be satisfied
For the desire to consume consumeth me
And the earthly goods I worship must be thrown away before their time, lest they fall out of fashion
“Thou shalt not let the Joneses pass you by”
Thou preparest a table before me
That only my eyes can eat
Buy this, buy that
So many necessities
So little time
Thou anointest my head with bill collectors
My credit cards runneth over
Surely my credit history will follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in the house of Lack forever.
So what does this have to do with our inability to see what Nicolaus Copernicus made plain 400 years ago? Simple: Consumerism has created a world where it’s all about us. A world where the men who earn the most money get the hottest women, who must look young and attractive to get the most successful men (and vice-versa). This applies to Donald Trump and his trophy wives – as well as many other power couples.
Beyonce shakes her tail in our collective face saying:
If you don’t make as much money as Jay-Z
You won’t be getting my boot-y!
Jay-Z’s swagger – and bank account – say it all.