Fujinami 1

Shun Fujinami

Ben Smuin\A10

Paper #2: The Manifesto

November 8, 2016

The Manifesto

The human race as a whole is making progressions in improving the general well-being

of the standard of living. While we make strides in tangible outcomes of people’s lives, the

pursuit of happiness becomes a deeper endeavor than finding sustenance in order to survive.

Finding happiness can be a noble goal in the eyes of a modern day citizen, the expectations of

leading a fulfilling life are straying further from necessary goals. Modern, developed society has

constructed numerous ways for people to strive for objectives way beyond the necessary, and

bordering on the obscene. In order for people to live the “good life” they should cut back on

societal driven expectations, and focus on their own individuality.

A large driving force of society is the need for money. Money plays a large part in

society, mainly as a tool to provide trading of goods to be standardized, and overall more

convenient for both parties involved. Money also holds a more abstract meaning in society. The

idea of money conveys the possibilities that it holds. Since money can be used to buy anything in

the modern world, just the idea of having money motivates people beyond the norm. These

possibilities in which money can be used leads to consumerism. Consumerism is the stem to

many societal expectations that pull people astray from leading a fulfilling life. Companies

market their products to be necessary, despite being absolutely useless the majority of the time.

Buying goods that are unnecessary can seem like a path to happiness, but ultimately it is short-

lived because an unnecessary item has no pragmatic use and falls by the wayside with lack of
 Fujinami 2

use. Items which provide a convenience in necessary tasks can be used for long periods of time

and therefore be a source of long term happiness. The fact that there are necessary items that

must be purchased with money causes unnecessary items to lead to regret. Money spent on

unnecessary items cannot be spent on necessary items.

Another reason consumerism does not lead to long happiness is the desire it creates.

Since consumerism is used by companies to make money, it must be an endless stream of desire.

This desire is created by the companies, and their goal is to keep recreating this desire with every

new product that is released. This endless desire cannot be fulfilled, and therefore happiness

cannot be found in the midst of consumerism. “Not getting what one wants and strives for is

suffering” (25, Strong). Having these desires is a direct result of suffering according to the Four

Noble Truths of Buddhism. New products are constantly being produced with ways of enticing a

buyer to spend their money in search of immediate, short-term happiness. As society progresses,

more problems are solved by useful products, and this leads to less problems to be solved by

creating new products. This leads to more useless products than useful ones, which leads to an

increase in the need for companies to push the consumerism mentality. The desire for more and

more unnecessary products eventually leads to obscene and ostentatious products becoming

desirable. This consumerism mentality must be dropped to find real happiness.

Superficial desires are also pushed onto individuals by society. People are expected to

look a certain way in order to fit into society, and these expectations run deeper than trying to

fulfill your life with goods. Society pushes a popular look onto individuals by picking at a

person’s self-esteem and confidence. Superficial judgements are used to affect the way people

interact with one another, and these superficial expectations are set by mainstream society. Over

time the expectations can change, but the method in which the expectations are set are the same.
 Fujinami 3

Society convinces large amounts of people that if an individual does not fall into a certain look,

they are not considered desirable. This motivates people to try to follow societal norms in terms

of superficial aspects in life. These expectations may be easily achievable for some, but for

others they are another hindrance at achieving happiness. Superficial expectations which are set

by society should be shed in order to lead a fulfilling life.

The first change people must make in order to find happiness is to recognize the role

consumerism plays in our society. Wanting to buy certain goods can lead to fulfilling life, so

long as those goods have a pragmatic purpose. People should learn to distinguish what a products

real life use will be in order to determine whether the item will become useless in the near future.

With disposable income only spent on items that can hold long term use, people will be more

satisfied with the use of their money, and reduce buyers’ remorse. Cutting back on consumerism

will also have larger effects for the human race as a whole. Waste would be significantly

decreased with people only buying products that can have long term use, as well as less products

will be bought overall. With consumerism being evaluated properly, an individual will have one

less expectation that they are trying to live up to. This change in lifestyle can ultimately lead to a

deeper sense of fulfillment and happiness in life.

Along with cutting out consumerism in life, reducing superficial expectations is also

extremely important for an individual to find happiness. Societal pressures can cause people to

change the way they dress as well as what they eat. Weight can become an issue for many people

struggling to fit into the mold, and their eating habits are forced to become uprooted. These

individuals should brace their unique look, and not be affected by what is considered a normal

look in society. Letting go of the desire to fit in will lead to a more fulfilling happiness since the

individual will be ultimately trying to please themselves instead of trying to please others. Also
 Fujinami 4

by removing the superficial expectation that society places on people, will help boost self-

esteem. The individual will no longer be constantly worried about judgements based on their

looks, they can focus on being happy with who they are. This shift of focus away from the

superficial will also turn people in to more genuine, better, kind individuals, since that is what

people will see instead of the superficial qualities.

 Fujinami 5

Works Cited

Strong, John S., ed. “Realizing the Four Nobel Truths,” “The Acceptance of Women in the

Order,” “The Conversion of Patacara,” and “Making and Sharing Merit.” The Experience

of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. Wadsworth Publishing, 1995. 32-34, 52-59,

79-80.