The Elementary forms of Religious Life by Durkheim argued that religion serves as a constraint to excessive consumption (Sexton, 2006). Modern Protestants believe that an increasing trend of human, struggling towards material-satisfaction, is an obvious veering in the “path to righteousness”. Subject to this argument of Durkheim, religiosity and sacredness is the primary premise of this long time vexed topic. In a highly industrialized country like America, where capitalism exacerbated the case of atomization and polarization among workers and employers, chaos is inevitable.
This “necessary evil” in the society made us realize that work is the very essence of human beings and we should never be separated from such by means of exploitation. But the trend of this rising desire for material goods is making a detour for such ethos. People work for couple of hours and then spend their “green” stuff for non-essentials. The capitalists thought of the equation –massive consumption equals massive production, which is making things worst. This oblate sphere “ball-of-life” place is now jeopardized by the human footprints that are never driven away by a common wave.
Durkheim thought that this fashion of consumption earned the deference and created solidarity among its constituents. The thing is, the present will become the past and the future will become the present. Every action made by us today will have a marginal propensity to affect the future. A complex and differentiated society places demands upon its members to be able to co-ordinate their activities with other, thereby requiring the individuals to be capable of controlling their conduct in specific ways in order to align closely to other people’s.
We must act together, for we live together. “A number” reducing its consumption is much more significant than “the number” reducing its consumption.
References
Gottdiener, Mark. New Forms of Consumption (n. d. ). Retrieved on April 28, 2008 on http://www. booksearch. com/sociology/76356 Jensen, Robert. A Moral Level of Consumption? ( October 27, 2003). Retrieved on April 28, 2008 on http://www. counterpunch. org/jensen10302003. html Sexton, Timothy. Temples of Consumption (September 1, 2006). Retrieved on April 28, 2008 on http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/56421