On Consumerism by David Wells

In fact, in America anything and everything can be "commmodified" and sold, from style to sex, from ideas to religion. In towns and cities are churches, mosques, and synagogues; in the Yellow Pages there are choices for worship on Sunday morning ranging from the Episcopalians to the Baptists to the Assemblies of God; at the local bookstore, shelf after shelf is filled with books on New Age, self-help, witchcraft, holism, and Buddhism. This is Western freedom and Western commercialized culture. Here, we have the ability to hope for what we want, shop where we want, buy what we want, study where we want, think what we want, believe what we want, and treat religion as just another commodity, a product to be consumed. [...] In a decentered culture, eclecticism is the coin of the realm. This is what excessive choice has come to us. There is simply too much to choose between, ranging from products, to beliefs, to lifestyles, so choice becomes almost random. And the sheer weight of all of the information – the knowledge of other religions, belief systems, products, and services – blurs everything so that one idea seems no truer than another. In this video-commercial context, and in this personal mindset, everything begins to seem familiar and equal. Judgments become not only offensive but, for so many, virtually impossible. (On Consumerism by David Wells)