This blog post explores why material values are still negatively valued. It explores their relationship to spiritual values and analyzes how social biases are formed.
If you look at the news, there are certain staples that are consistently reported, even if they don’t suddenly become bestsellers. They are stories about the endless competition. Whether it’s getting into a good high school, a good college, or a good job, we spend time studying more, learning more skills, and building up more credentials than others to survive the constant competition. In the capitalist society we live in, this is a matter of survival. This is why we often see tragic choices made by people who have lost the race in the news.
As such, our society is closely tied to material values. However, as the saying goes, “If you like free stuff, you’ll go bald.” Our society has negatively valued the pursuit of material values.
A direct example of this is an experiment conducted by an entertainment program. In this experiment, a group of people waiting for a bus at a bus stop were asked to form an impression of a lady. The key to the experiment was that the woman would appear at the stop with an expressionless face, changing only her clothing. The first time, the woman was dressed in simple clothes and carrying a shopping cart, and the second time, she was dressed in luxury clothes, with luxury shoes and a luxury bag. When she was dressed in ordinary clothes, the majority of people thought she looked like a friendly and welcoming girl next door, but when she was dressed in luxury clothes, many people thought she looked cold and demanding, like a wife. Some people even said that the clothes and bags were fake and that she was just putting on a show. While it was somewhat expected that the impression of a person would change depending on how they were dressed, it was shocking to see the negative change in how they felt about the person.
Why do people view material values negatively? I believe it can be traced back to social conditioning and education over the years. Humans are social animals, and our character and values are formed through learning, which means that our values are determined by the kind of education we receive and the social atmosphere we grow up in. However, in our education, material and spiritual values are often described as opposites. Most middle and high school moral textbooks explain material values and spiritual values as follows.
What are material values?
Material values are values that are limited to material things that are valued and followed. Many of the things we need to live and the satisfaction we get from them are material values. Examples include clothes, food, a house, a car, and money. Most people pursue material values because they provide greater satisfaction, but there’s a danger that pursuing them too much can lead to mental devastation.
What are spiritual values?
Spiritual values are the pursuit of things of a spiritual nature, such as the true and the beautiful, and can be categorized into intellectual, moral, aesthetic, and religious values. Intellectual values are the pursuit and exploration of what is true, the truth. Moral values are values that serve as a standard for judging what is good, right, and just. Aesthetic values are the pursuit of the beautiful and the joy we feel when we see something beautiful.
As you can see, spiritual values are described with positive words such as beautiful, true, and good, while material values are described with negative words such as “excessive pursuit of them leads to mental devastation.” Based on the choice of words alone, it’s natural to associate material values with negativity.
But is materialism really a negative value? I don’t think so. As mentioned above, our capitalist society is inextricably linked to material values. It’s only natural to pursue material values that are directly related to survival. To provide a comfortable life for yourself and your offspring, or as a means to fulfill your dreams, pursuing material values can be a way to achieve happiness.
Of course, I’m not advocating for extreme materialism or materialism as in the case of the recent “gap year” controversy. However, it’s important to remember that it’s up to you to decide what you value and what you think is important, and not to wear colored glasses when judging people who pursue material values.
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