‘experience’ the culture, the smells, the tastes and the norms of other people. We
hear again and again the romantic myths about ‘how a new experience opened
my eyes and changed my life’.
Consumerism tells us that in order to be happy
we must consume as many
products and services as possible. If we feel that something is missing or not quite
right, then we probably need to buy a product (a car, new clothes, organic food)
or a service (housekeeping, relationship therapy, yoga classes). Every television
commercial is another little legend about how consuming some product or service
will make life better.
Romanticism,
which encourages variety, meshes perfectly with consumerism.
Their marriage has given birth to the infinite ‘market of experiences’, on which the
modern tourism industry is founded. The tourism industry does not sell ight
tickets and hotel bedrooms. It sells experiences. Paris is not a city,
nor India a
country – they are both experiences, the consumption of which is supposed to
widen
our horizons, ful l our human potential, and make us happier.
Consequently, when the relationship between a millionaire and his wife is going
through a rocky patch, he takes her on an expensive trip to Paris. The trip is not a
re ection of some independent desire, but rather of an ardent belief in the myths
of romantic consumerism. A wealthy man in ancient Egypt would never have
dreamed of solving a relationship crisis by taking his wife on holiday to Babylon.
Instead, he might have built for her the sumptuous tomb she had always wanted.
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