"The materially obsessed consumer behaviour we see today is really less about a given item's purpose and more about what that item means in terms of societal bonding. In effect, mere wants have been artificially turned into emotionally demanded needs by the drive for social inclusion. While many economists have argued that this insatiable desire is simply part of our shared human nature, it appears this tendency is only human nature in the sense of a shared social reflex, not some uncontrollable compulsion for material gain."

Excerpt from THE NEW HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT [Reinventing the Economy to End Opression] by Peter Joseph

[Thoughts on socially driven consumerism]