As a nation are we getting increasingly greedy?

The Times of India reports of a survey which presents some stark truths.
We are buying more, and often buying unnecessary things. We are eating out more, never mind the cholesterol or the diabetes. We cannot stay without air-conditioning. We need the latest geeky gadgets. We are increasingly seeing movies in multiplexes, even if the tickets are exorbitant. We have made necessities out of what our parents thought of as ill-affordable luxuries. And we are paying through credit cards and loans. We are getting into endless debts to live the good life. Robert Kiyosaki in his bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad points out our eagerness to appear wealthy on borrowed, high-interest loan money. This will destroy us as a nation and has sinister implications for both the individual consumer and for the country as a whole.

The media is constantly bombarding us with advertisements which working subconsciously, compel us to keep on buying. Credit card companies are badgering us with lucrative deals. We may not have any use for a larger car but we feel forced to buy it. Sometimes this is to keep up with our neighbours or to pretend a certain social standing. This endless cycle of buying and then discarding can destroy an individual. India is putting in more work-hours to earn that extra something for that coveted latest mobile. This has devastating physical and psychological results. We are sleeping less and are slowly dying from lifestyle-diseases. Also such alienating competition has been seen to increase anti-social behaviour. Maninder Singh Pandher and his servant, the cannibalistic Kohli are a result of this increased consumption. Their greed for objects transgressed into the realm of literary consuming children for pleasure.

The survey goes into statistical nitty-gritty. What interests us is the alarming fact that rural India is no longer immune to this cloying consumerism. In fact, Tier II towns are often more consumerist than metropolises. We are always ranting against the West. Yet we have not delayed in embracing the evil of living on credit-card money, and always beyond what we can afford.

At the national level we are heading towards a situation similar to the US sub-prime crisis. This entire loan cannot possibly be paid off. The lending institutions will have to finally declare bankruptcy. We have lost the economic battle.

I must end here for my cell rings. A loan agent from a private bank has called to offer me the best deal for an upscale apartment...

Source: Times of India

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