Istg no matter how educated I am about all the evil shit does I still find myself yearning for the new shiny thing like drake when he smells a fresh pie on a window sill.
So how do you Deprogram® yourself from this? I literally have a pristine condition never leased iPhone 17 Pro Max that could easily last me a decade, and yet I feel as if I’m just a little left-communist and Alex Karp is jingling keys in front of me
Half shitpost half serious
That’s not commodity fetishism.
It’s when we mask the human relations (especially classes) embodied by an object (tangible or not) and prioritise the latter’s “agency” in explaining processes and phenomena.
So you’re good (well from that perspective. Shopping therapy as an ephemeral solution to alienation, however, is whole different ball game. This is a liberal answer but may help: Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (ie stoicism))
Yeah I know I just used the term because I couldn’t think of anything else, but in some ways is it not commodity fetishism? Like when they announced the iPhone duo I was immediately unconsciously trying to justify it to myself thinking of all the things it would be useful for as if I don’t already have an iPad as well, they’re selling the ideal version of yourself, so idk to me that still feels like commodity fetishism to some degree.
But regardless of what you call it my whole point is about how it’s annoying that marketing works on me to that degree, I know it’s literally what it’s designed for and they spend millions for it but still… I feel like I should be better then that
Hope this helps:
Well yeah basically all the work of advertising is done on the part of the consumer rather than the marketing itself, but that is a really good resource thank you comrade
Research and discover what aspect of our nature might give us the perception to tick that way, and then harness that knowledge as a tool we can use to better ourselves and against those whose yoke we want to be free from.
Commodity fetishism isn’t lusting for a particular commodity. Commodity fetishism is the mystifying aspect of commodity production that sees laborers ceasing to recognize themselves in the product of their labor. They begin to see values as inherent properties of commodities, rather than as a product of social relations.
In other words, someone sees an iPhone 17 Pro Max and believes the value to be inherent to that product, and not based on the socially necessary labor time that went into producing it.
👍 but I think it’s a bit confusing to say “believes the value to be inherent”.
There are three distinct concepts:
- use value
- exchange value
- price (price form of the exchange value)
The exchange value is indeed dependent on the labour, and the price is linked to it (but it oscillates up and down).
The use value is indeed inherent in the object, but the markets/capitalists wouldn’t want (or be able to extract profits) if use value was the only thing determining prices
You’re a tiny bit off. There’s use-value, exchange-value, and value, which is what price orbits around based on supply and demand. It isn’t the Marxist law of price, it’s the law of value. I mean value as in the socially necessary abstract labor time needed to produce/reproduce a commodity, but this isn’t inherently price.
Exchange-value is a ratio by which one commodity trades for another. It isn’t explicitly SNALT, Marx ascribes that to Value.
- pray to be protected from extravagant behavior.
- avoid ads.
- avoid tech youtubers.
- avoid online marketplaces.
- compare with your needs. if it does not fit your needs or your needs have been met then do not buy.
- get used to living with cheap and old things.
- compare yourself to the poor.
I am the poor lol, well relatively… certainly not poor in the global context
I would like to add, you should know how to sew buttons, so in case one falls off you can sew it back on.
Buy used electronics. Something that will be genuinely be helpful to you. Or just have hobbies that involves material things like 3d printing, cars, biking, guns, etc. Obviously some are much more expensive and/or time consuming than others.
Just this other day I bought a used pixel to flash graphene on it. Been amazing so far. It genuinely provided me a security advantage in organizing while not succumbing to the caveman shiny object trap. Drool over the practical application, not the aesthetic itself.
the other person has already said block the ads making you want it, so ill do one better:
customize and build your own stuff whenever possible, tailored to your own preferences and needs. will make you value your own stuff over the new stuff.
might not be possible/practical for you with phones like in your example, but applies to a lot of what we use consume and crave.
When you notice it happening, try to take a moment to ask yourself what you’re after. For example, some people get a sense of semi-community from sharing in marketing hype for a new product. Or sometimes it’s about status; wanting to feel like you’re ahead of the curve, up to date, “with it”. Or it can be about fear of missing out (FOMO) and/or a fear of being left behind; if others around you are getting the new thing and you aren’t, it may feel like it’s harder to connect with them because you’re not sharing in the experience. Or maybe you enjoy the exploration of it; the new has new things to learn and new features to offer, and that can be interesting and engaging.
Once you have an idea of the why (or multiple why’s), you can further ask whether it’s a reason that is healthy and normal such as wanting to be a part of something (and it’s just the behavior that may be unhealthy, or kind of shallow as fulfillment). Or a reason that is unhealthy and largely cultural, such as chasing a high of playing with new features while never really being satisfied with what they are.
Whatever you find in asking yourself about it, try not to be too hard on yourself. If you live under capitalism, you’re basically pushing up against buying and selling as a religion.
Also, you have money? To actually spend on the iPhone Duo? Keep that shit! Or spend it on something that lasts, like hardy clothes. Go to a thrift shop and see what they can give you. Go to a board game store; they usually have neat board games that you can play. Get yourself cooking equipment so you can cook.
i have no idea, i have somewhat the same problem, i just wanted to say i absolutely adore the image you put in the post and i will try to carve out a rubber stamp with it
Look for free stuff that is cool. You are probably just curious to find new things. I downloaded this voxel game engine called Luanti and it is fucking amazing. You can find all sorts of cool shit at the Internet Archive.
You can find some videos on a PeerTube server. GOG (Good Old Games) has tons of neat games for cheap. Go out into the city, there’s probably some thespians having a blast. Get yourself some potted plants to take care of; a good idea is a succulent. There is so much out there that isn’t consumerism.
You cannot prevent commodity fetishism that’d be like preventing money from having value.
