Worship the Altar of Consumerism
Worship the altar of consumerism.
Bask in the illusion of freedom as you ignore the violence beneath you.
Scroll on your mineral infested smartphone delivered to you by the labour of a six year old Congolese child.
Savour the Spanish strawberries picked by malnourished women.
Flex the clothes you bought with your hard earned money engrained with bloody memories of Rana Plaza.
Delight in your trip to Dubai and do not forget to wipe away Sudanese tears as you purchase your shiny gold watch.
Worship the altar of consumerism. Consume dates & avocados from the ethnostate, while listening to your favourite song ad free on Spotify premium while further military advancement.
Worship the altar of consumerism. Wake up tomorrow and distract yourself from how numb you have been feeling lately. Buy another piece of clothing that you’ll wear once just to feel something after another week of clocking in 40 hours a week for £12.21.
Taste the sweetness of the chocolate in your mouth facilitated by yet another child. Repeat to yourself that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Wake up tomorrow and repeat it to yourself enough times until you believe it.
Worship the altar of consumerism. Offer it burnt sacrifices of children’s labour. Use their tears to bless the ritual. Do not forget to thank the Divine for being born in the imperial core so you could take your rightful place as oppressor. As you utter your daily prayers, do not forget to conjure excuses for your worship. End your ritual by posting another infographic to the gram while you delight in the exploitation of Black and Brown bodies abroad.
Worship the altar of consumerism. This time, I pray that the guilt haunts you. As you are haunted, may you help bring this altar to its knees.
I recently watched a YouTube video by Prof Jiang Xueqin discussing how consumerism is the perfection of slavery because you are not aware that you are enslaved. As a result, I’ve been reflecting on consumer culture in the West and how much of our comforts and pleasures require the oppression of people abroad. This includes our clothes, food, smartphones, amongst other things. When we purchase these items we do not directly see, or perhaps we refuse to see, all the labour and violence behind it. I was on a walk when the sentence ‘Worship the altar of consumerism’ came to mind and I knew I had to write about it. This poem is directed at people who live in the imperial core, or in other words, people who live in the West or ex colonial powers. It is an invitation to reflect on your habits as a consumer and how to find ways to reduce any harm you may be contributing to.