The Black Hole of Materialism
One of my direct relatives got married lately, and that got me thinking about a lot of different things. That, and the fact that I go to a university that doesn't really feel like it's in the UAE. It is as if you have gotten a small sample of the world's population and made them live in one location. Sometimes, that makes you reflect on who you are.
Only after I'd finished my last exam of the semester, did I see a non-Emirati student in make up. You cannot tell the difference between relatively rich and poor students, because everyone dresses almost the same. And they dress down, not up, when they go to class. Sometimes you see the random person that is dressed up all nice and formal, but when you start a conversation with them you'd soon discover that they either have an important class presentation, meeting, or interview to attend to.
I love living amongst them, because there's nothing that dictates how a person should dress or act. There is no standard everyone has to follow. There is no hidden rivalry between people. You are free to be you.
In our society, here in the UAE, there are certain things we must do in order not to stand out, in the negative fashion of the phrase. Everyone has their feet in designer heels, they all wear the most elaborate abayas, sport the most expensive watches, drive the latest cars, and carry designer bags everywhere they go. Also, many people don't leave home without make up, wherever they may be going. There is nothing wrong in that, except for the fact that it has become the standard, that everyone must oblige and fall into this black hole of materialism from which a person can hardly ever come out of.
It's human nature to judge a book by its cover. However, we are going to the extreme. Members of our community appear to judge others based on the value of their material items. If your personal value is proportional to the value of the things that are in your possession, then it is not at all alarming to see people act the way they do. They -in a personal perspective- are not to blame; yet, in a greater perspective we are all to blame for what our society has become.
Take, for example, wedding ceremonies. For every man and woman that wed, there are around five different events where the extravagance increases in order up until the final wedding ceremony. In addition to the hundreds of thousands that are spent on the wedding hall itself, potentially much more is spent by the attendees and the bride in terms of their dresses, their hair, and their make up. Wedding abayas are also carefully crafted articles of clothing in their own right. The total amount spent on a certain couple's marriage ceremonies would inevitable exceed a million. There are weddings every weekend, and on weekdays sometimes. So much money is needlessly wasted where there are millions dying of starvation around the world. How is this justifiable?
We are very lucky, and should be very grateful, for the high status of living we have. However, this does not justify the amount of money we recklessly spend. We have all given in to the pressures of society, and our reckless spending doesn't appear so reckless to us anymore. The materialistic lifestyle we all lead may not affect some as much as it affects others; let us not forget that people have different economic status'. To some, it is so easy to follow these materialistic norms; to others, it is much harder to the extent that they may take on debts to appear like they are of equal value as their more financially fortunate peers.
A society built on materialism can never flourish. I, myself, am part of this society and I am also subjected to these norms we have come to embrace and the extravagant lifestyle we lead. It is not a very healthy lifestyle to lead however, and we should make an effort to change that. The only people I see walking around campus with designer bags are us locals. Why do we even carry designer bags to school and university?
Only after I'd finished my last exam of the semester, did I see a non-Emirati student in make up. You cannot tell the difference between relatively rich and poor students, because everyone dresses almost the same. And they dress down, not up, when they go to class. Sometimes you see the random person that is dressed up all nice and formal, but when you start a conversation with them you'd soon discover that they either have an important class presentation, meeting, or interview to attend to.
I love living amongst them, because there's nothing that dictates how a person should dress or act. There is no standard everyone has to follow. There is no hidden rivalry between people. You are free to be you.
In our society, here in the UAE, there are certain things we must do in order not to stand out, in the negative fashion of the phrase. Everyone has their feet in designer heels, they all wear the most elaborate abayas, sport the most expensive watches, drive the latest cars, and carry designer bags everywhere they go. Also, many people don't leave home without make up, wherever they may be going. There is nothing wrong in that, except for the fact that it has become the standard, that everyone must oblige and fall into this black hole of materialism from which a person can hardly ever come out of.
It's human nature to judge a book by its cover. However, we are going to the extreme. Members of our community appear to judge others based on the value of their material items. If your personal value is proportional to the value of the things that are in your possession, then it is not at all alarming to see people act the way they do. They -in a personal perspective- are not to blame; yet, in a greater perspective we are all to blame for what our society has become.
Take, for example, wedding ceremonies. For every man and woman that wed, there are around five different events where the extravagance increases in order up until the final wedding ceremony. In addition to the hundreds of thousands that are spent on the wedding hall itself, potentially much more is spent by the attendees and the bride in terms of their dresses, their hair, and their make up. Wedding abayas are also carefully crafted articles of clothing in their own right. The total amount spent on a certain couple's marriage ceremonies would inevitable exceed a million. There are weddings every weekend, and on weekdays sometimes. So much money is needlessly wasted where there are millions dying of starvation around the world. How is this justifiable?
We are very lucky, and should be very grateful, for the high status of living we have. However, this does not justify the amount of money we recklessly spend. We have all given in to the pressures of society, and our reckless spending doesn't appear so reckless to us anymore. The materialistic lifestyle we all lead may not affect some as much as it affects others; let us not forget that people have different economic status'. To some, it is so easy to follow these materialistic norms; to others, it is much harder to the extent that they may take on debts to appear like they are of equal value as their more financially fortunate peers.
A society built on materialism can never flourish. I, myself, am part of this society and I am also subjected to these norms we have come to embrace and the extravagant lifestyle we lead. It is not a very healthy lifestyle to lead however, and we should make an effort to change that. The only people I see walking around campus with designer bags are us locals. Why do we even carry designer bags to school and university?
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