We are told that if we stop buying, the world will fall apart. The shelves will empty, the jobs will vanish, the system will collapse. Perhaps it would, if the only thing keeping the system in place is our willingness to keep acquiring things we don’t need.

Consumerism is not simply about shopping. It is about shaping lives around performative purchases, as if our primary duty is to keep the economy moving by tapping, clicking and, with ever-diminishing regularity, opening and closing our wallets. But we rarely stop to ask why we do this and who benefits.

The modern economy is no longer designed to meet our needs. Instead, it is designed to meet quarterly targets and sales goals by delivering an ever-increasing market share. That is why perfectly good phones are made to feel outdated. It is why fashion cycles now run in weeks, not seasons. It is why razor blades are endlessly reissued with microscopic changes and outlandish marketing.

But on peeling back the packaging, what you find is not innovation, but repetition. It is the same product repurposed, rebranded and resold.

This is not necessary. It is not even efficient. It is exhaustion.

The things we truly need, such as education, clean water, stable infrastructure and functioning health systems, are chronically underfunded. This is not because we lack the resources, but because these things are not capable of being endlessly repackaged and resold. There is no upgrade to a clean river. No premium version of basic decency.

Instead of investment in public goods, we get investment in persuasion. Vast sums are spent convincing people to buy what they don’t want, to solve problems they don’t have and to aspire to lifestyles that leave them feeling empty and dissatisfied. This is not progress. It is performance.

Refusing to buy can be a form of resistance, but in isolation, it is only self-denial. It produces no structural change and risks punishing the very people who are already the most squeezed. The issue is not how much we buy, but who decides what gets made, and why.

Those decisions predominantly lie in private hands. Boards, shareholders and executive teams steer the economy not toward shared well-being, but short-term gain. They do not answer to the public, yet their choices shape and direct our daily lives.

To change this, the goal should not be to spend less, but to think more. To see through the glitter, question the need and understand the machinery behind the message. The problem is not that we buy, but that we’ve been taught our only power lies in purchasing.