Modern day consumerism is multi-faceted as it pertains to the motivations for it. I believe a very important is how it often times becomes interwoven into the fabric of a sibling rivalry. Sibling rivalries have been around as long as there have been siblings to rival. The classic sibling rivalry consist of siblings wanting to outdo one another other in a game of one-upmanship. This game may manifest itself in the form of academic or sports achievements. The motivation is usually often times bragging rights. The type of rivalry that I would like to discuss though manifest itself in the form of consumerism and is often times fueled by a desire to gain approval and attention from the parents and other family members. Children have always sought the approval of their parents. It is when you add a sibling or siblings to the equation, that is take on an entirely new look. I am of the belief that unfortunately parents contribute in large part to the sibling rivalry manifesting itself in consumerism.
Our society as a whole passes judgment on folks that do not have lots of worldly possessions. Parents are no exception when it comes to their children. The picture above is a good depiction of sibling vying for their parents love and attention. The bear represents the parents. Many parents view their children as extensions of themselves, even as it pertains to consumerism. Parents are able to brag about what type of car or house their son or daughter has or trips and vacations they have gone on. It is this bragging that fuels siblings to become rivals for that attention. The parents view the child with the most "stuff" as the more successful one. They will often look down on the children with less materialistic stuff. This breeds a never-ending competition between siblings to acquire and amass more and more things. The sad part is that this behavior is far too often counterproductive to what actually brings happiness to the children. The consumerism of a sibling rivalry may also take the form of gift giving to parents. The bigger the gift, the more admired the child is. Children fool themselves into believing the notion that it is out of gratitude that they give the particular gifts that they do. I submit that if they took time to really analyze their motives, they would discover that a fairly large portion of the motivation comes from a desire to gain points against their siblings. Consumerism is a mainstay of American pop culture and that fact will not change anytime soon. I would like to propose though that parent an children a take a hard look at how consumerism is involved in the family dynamic and if they are happy with what they see.
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