Yes, advertising creates needs that are not needed. We all know that. But what about information?
I stand by my mud-caked suggestion that more information is a bad thing in almost every commercial context. It takes hours and leaves you agonising over decisions that might just as well be left to the people who were going to con you anyway.
You call that freedom?
Sellers are pretending to give you choice, but only within a narrow framework that they have defined. You get to choose between A, B, C, and D - but they are all subsets of the big X - promoted by guess who. And you'll be so busy with that, you'll never hear about Y or Z.
These days, you have to learn about compression locks and nip-in hinges to buy some double-glazing. And it takes a two hour tutorial in the stock exchange to get a mortgage. You may not understand it after that, but you'll know just enough to sign on the dotted line and then lie awake at night terrified that you missed something. "It's your decision." they will tell you. "I'm just giving you the facts," as though it is an honour to have your head crammed full of details best left to an independent specialist.
But there are no independent specialists. Every profit-making organisation is out for itself and can only pretend to be independent because there is no point of contrast. Would it not be safer to follow the recommendation of a friend and ask, "would you do my windows too?"
Friends of mine from Cyprus or Italy would never dream of relying on the anoymity of a business directory. They use each other's experience, and put friends of friends in touch with other friends of friends. And they have a nice chat while they're at it.
I'll give the salesmen credit for responding to demand - but the demand is from people who need professional advice for every decision they make, because no-one they know can provide it. It comes down to the breakdown of community over here. If social development were more a priority for the government, or if the voluntary sector were stronger, there would not be that need. But no, we get pure profit-driven, knee-jerk demand and supply, which strikes me as like the bad parenting of a screaming kid.
And just think what all the day-to-day mud dwellers would talk about if not the increasing complexity of day-to-day life. I would really love to find out.
Advisors and agencies will grow and grow, as we network up and trade uncategorised details. Middlemen structure the information for us and they make a profit - not just from you but from people who want their information known. It's commerce, and it works against the consumer because you never get to explore the real options.
So free yourself from the details, raise your heads high and look for Y and Z. Or any other letter that takes your fancy. If you enjoy treating life like the consumer edition of Trivial Pursuit, then at least don't add to the complexity. Instead, try amusing yourself by imagining a world where social bonds are strengthened by big business, not starved and left in chains.
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Whoa!
- down I go for another headfull, as the voice of Advanced Capitalism booms out,