I walked into the drugstore and instead of feeling empowered by options; I felt consumed by choice. Staring into the sea of makeup primer and fancy boxes, left me disoriented. Under the fluorescent light, I became less sure of which to choose with each promising to outperform its competitor; which always makes me suspicious.
There were different brands, of course, that all pretty much do the same thing. It dawned on me, that choice is an illusion that distracts us from our own rational sense of what is truly enough. This is an unhealthy practice. After all, more options aren’t necessarily synonymous with greater freedom or a greater stake in democracy.
We often fail to consider how consumption affects our sense of well being. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz argues that having too many options can lead to anxiety and dissatisfaction, as individuals feel pressure to make the right choice and then second-guess their decisions (Schwartz). This suggests that we put ourselves through significant emotional strain when making purchases.
Making a buying decision can be serious business, since we are raised to believe that what you buy says a lot about who you are. It becomes apparent that having more expensive items in our home gives us a greater sense of upward mobility, while buying cheaper items can reduce us to the lower echelons.
We are led to believe that selection is synonymous with social progress, but this isn’t always true. Schwartz reminds us, “The fact that some choice is good doesn’t necessarily mean that more choice is better” (Schwartz 2). This highlights the need for a balance between having choices and being overwhelmed by them, especially as consumers
What we learn is that having options can be effective, until we start spending too much time trying to make a decision. There is a point I reach where I stop reading front labels; reducing the marketing efforts of corporations to a less complicated approach. I often find myself choosing randomly; which does a disservice to informed decision making.
It becomes apparent that options can diminish our sense of who we are by overwhelming us. While having a selection can be an indicator of our economic health, it can also impair our normal senses. All of these products bidding for us to purchase, made me realize that we are being eroded by the onslaught of materiality.