Consumerism and secularism are squeezing meaning out of life
According to a new survey by Japanese company, Yakult, 89% of British 16-29 year olds believe their lives have no purpose or meaning. The UK wide survey showed a gradual improvement with age, though even 55% of over 60s gave the same answers. Similar polls in other Western countries have shown similar results, and in Europe, we have seen a steady growth in suicide, self-harm and depression – particularly among the young. With political extremism, mass shootings and family breakdown also rising, it now seems certain that Western countries have hit a mental stumbling block. Despite rises in GDP, technological advances and more social liberalism, people are definitively unhappier than they were 20 years ago. Is this a temporary blip?
Many would say yes. Left wing parties point to economic disparities and a lack of investment in mental health services. Yet, by all those measures, things are better than they were 20 years ago. The problem, I would argue, is more deeply rooted.
The mental health crisis in the United Kingdom correlates with the abandonment of Christianity in daily life. Not surprisingly, it is the young, who are the least likely to attend religious service, who seem most at risk. Faith has always been the glue for a successful society. It binds people together into concrete communities, providing objective moral norms and collective solidarity. The indifference towards faith grew not because of theological failings (despite what the new atheists have claimed) but because it provided a barrier to consumerism. In a society where GDP growth and consumption make up core goals, happiness has become a key product to be sold – so spirituality and materialism are direct market competitors.
Ours is a society where happiness and self-worth are defined by temporary pleasures and material wealth. When these fail to provide the relief they promised, is it any wonder we see such growth in far left politics amongst the young? In Yakult’s survey, 45% of people claimed the biggest barrier to purpose or happiness was a lack of finances. Instead of looking elsewhere, they assume that their problem is not enough material wealth, thus comparing themselves to the now (thanks social media) more visible rich and powerful (who are often even less happy). 83% or those polled felt they would achieve greater purpose if they could contribute to their local community. But in a place like London, the closest you will get to community are colourful music festivals or mindless football club tribalism.
Secular consumerism is also the root of drug addiction. Drugs provide temporary pleasure at a long term cost. This is really no different to anything else in our secular consumerist world. As the consumer, you are expected to live permanently seeking temporary pleasures before disappearing from the planet without a trace. People don’t even save their money, thanks to negative interest rates or fractional reserve banking. Everything is geared towards spending instantaneously. Subconsciously, people are beginning to realise the consequences for their future.
In the parable of the young rich man, Jesus famously claims “Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven”. This is often misinterpreted as an attack on the wealthy, but I read it as an attack on attachment. Jesus doesn’t hate material goods, he sees the attachment and lusting over temporary pleasures as a barrier to heaven, or true happiness. The truth is, the reason 9 in 10 young people feel like their lives are meaningless is that their lives are, for the most part, meaningless.
