Our modern lives have become increasingly characterized by consumption. This is not to say that we merely aspire to consume, but that a life of consuming has itself (to varying degrees) become necessary in contemporary Western society.1 Indeed, the everyday consumption of products and services has gained a prominence hitherto unknown. No sooner are the objects of our desire obtained, before others, new and unforeseen, present themselves. The ends of consumer society lure us onward and “upward”, into a sort of Sisyphean cycle.2 In previous essays I have mentioned consumer society, but have yet failed to offer a more comprehensive explanation of what I mean. What exactly I mean, as well as some account of both how it developed and some of its effects, is what I hope to begin exploring in this essay.3
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