Gimme That...

Materialism is almost too easy to talk about as a corrupting agent.

Every religious text, every philosopher and everybody's momma, has warned about the destructive power of wanton materialistic lust. There are a plethora of scriptures, poems, songs and prose dedicated to warning folks away from materialism. Yet, for some reason people keep falling prey to it.

As someone who grew up in the 80s and 90s, I was raised on Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" commercials and after school specials. Unlike many kids, I was honestly scared to death of the destructive power of crack cocaine and heroin because of these cheesy television programs. The whole "all it takes is one time" campaign, plus my father's apocryphal stories about Len Bias, had me shook.

I remember talking with a friend and wondering how anybody in our age group, or in the generation below us, could possibly get hooked on crack. With all the bad publicity crack received, all the derision crackheads were subjected to, it seemed impossible that someone would pick up that pipe and take a hit. Yet, it happens every single day.

Materialism has that kind of staying power as well. People know it's dangerous, they know it's addictive, yet they can't stop themselves from taking that first hit. And after that initial hit, well there are quite a few materialistic junkies in this world.

Oh, just a reminder, this is the next installment in our six agents of corruption series where we've discussed: secularism, relativism, pragmatism and humanism. Materialism is our second to last corrupting influence to discuss.

Materialism is both a subtle and obvious corrupting agent. It's easy to see how Americans' lust for all things material has contributed to our current economic woes. It's quite obvious that we allowed our desire for "more" to lead us to actions that, in hindsight, were not very bright.

But, it's not the obvious dangers that make materialism scary. There is also the problem of becoming dependent on smaller creature comforts, things that sap your will and desire. Our fear of losing these creature comforts can drive us to heinous actions. Keeping up with the Joneses doesn't have to just be about getting a new house or driving a new car. It can be about which brand names the baby wears, or what kind of pizza y'all order.

Status symbols are everywhere in our lives. We crave more and more things to affirm our self worth because we've lost sight of our ultimate goals. It's not enough to accumulate items or money, what's more important is making a lasting impact on lives and the world. By all accounts, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were not wealthy when they died, but I'm positive their legacies will live on long after Donald Trump and his millions are dirt.

In the black community, we need to reaffirm this message. We have to understand that while capitalism can do a lot of good, it also can lead to greed and excess. We need to teach our children and remind ourselves that there is more to life than the rat race. We need to remember that we are not defined by our possessions, but rather by the inner light we use to illuminate the world. Children need to understand that there is a reward in hard work, in doing things the right way, even if that reward isn't the best car or most beautiful clothes.

So many people have succumbed to the lure of materialism, to the rush of acquiring more things. It's become such a need on our society that there is no value, no standard that we are not willing to sacrifice at the altar of ambition. This has to change.

Life ain't cheap.





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