Reply #180: I think you're mistaking sadness for condescension

[Lorien]

I feel a deep sense of loss when I see how homogenized our culture has become, and a terrible sense of sadness when I see my friends and colleagues gripped by an obsession with consuming. The consumer lifestyle was DESIGNED by the robber barons of the gilded age to lead to a sense of constant unfullfillment; if one feels fulfilled, one will not be driven to consume (read 'your money or your life"). We've all been duped into leading lives that are destroying our families, our planet, and our souls. I don't feel superior to those who are drowning in the culture of consumerism; I feel a terrible sense of futility, loneliness, and loss for us all.