the.com/consumerism

Buying things you don't need to feel things you can't name.

means The belief system that treats shopping and acquiring goods as a central, even primary, measure of personal satisfaction and social progress.

from Built from 'consume,' which traces back to Latin 'consumere' — 'con-' (entirely) plus 'sumere' (to take up or use) — originally meaning to use up, devour, or destroy. For centuries 'consumption' was mostly grim, a wasting disease or the using-up of resources. The '-ism' suffix, which turns a practice into a doctrine, got bolted on in the 20th century as economies shifted toward mass production and mass marketing, and critics needed a word for the ideology that consuming itself had become a way of life, even a substitute for meaning.

origin
Term entered mainstream criticism in 1960s America
paradox
Promises identity, delivers landfill instead
trick
Sells solutions to problems it invented first
economics
GDP literally depends on your dissatisfaction continuing
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