After a visit to the beach, it’s hard to believe that we live in a material world.
~Pam Shaw

Unfortunately the simple beauty of beaches does not compare to the significance of a single brand name bag or bracelet in such a world. “The Best Brand? No Brand” manages to recognize how our society has created a bond between who we are and how many things we own. We let our possessions possess us and thus our identity is composed of things rather than values and experiences.

We embrace tangible assets as if it was the only source of happiness, power and self-worth; as if possessions defined our being. Materialism has become adopted as a value and when people are engrossed in the practice of consumerism, they do not know how to escape it.

The conclusion of the article reasons that millennial consumers purchase brand name possessions to convey their “cultural selves.” Though the interesting thing is that brand names do not emphasize individuality, in fact, brand names drive you to conform with the “cultural” dimensions of your friends or favorite models in magazines. The reasoning behind materialism and consumerism is entirely at odds. Hence my conclusion: consumerism cannot be justified.