verging_on_random

Commodification continues apace

June 6, 2007 on 10:05 pm | In Uncategorized |

I’ve written before about the relentless commodification of so many aspects of our lives. People no longer find it unusual or objectionable to buy all sorts of things that until quite recently were regarded as things we did for ourselves. Taking care of pre-school kids, washing the dog, staying in shape, all these and more used to be part of our personal lives … responsibilities even.

Nowadays, however, they are just commodities to be purchased in the market, provided you have enough money. And more and more people do have the money of course. Never since the late 1980s have I witnessed so many people with so much wealth they are busting to get rid of in new and improved ways.

It’s hard to find anything wrong with this when people are just buying things. Sure we can laugh at their extravagance and mutter about the starving children in Africa as they lug a second plasma TV into the house for the family room, just in case their kid doesn’t feel like using the home theatre room, but apart from the rapid depletion of non-renewable resources on stupid possessions it’s hard to see any moral dimensions to this conspicuous consumption.

The story is different when it comes to buying services. Paying someone to do domestic chores brings a whiff of the old days of master and servant, even if it’s just slipping Jim’s Mowing $50 to do your lawn while you watch the footie. A bit too redolent of a caste system for my liking, with unpleasant implications for society if it becomes widespread and involves paying somebody to do your shopping for you or keep your old mum company because you’ve got better things to do.

I came across another instance of creeping commodification the other day which struck me as more than a bit creepy. It goes beyond selling personal services; The Pathways Foundation offers to create a deeply significant life experience for you and your son (for a healthy fee, of course). What does The Pathways Foundation do? Well, it provides a synthetic ‘coming of age’ experience:

Since 1995, Pathways to Manhood has been providing a community based, contemporary Rite of Passage for boys into manhood.

What does this involve?

A Rite of Passage is an experience or event that marks the transformation from one life stage to another. Other contemporary examples of Rites of Passage include graduations and marriage. In traditional societies, Rites of Passage have played a critical role in the healthy transition from boy to young man for thousands of years.

Well yeah, I guess. Aboriginal initiation rites, bar mitzvahs, 21st birthday parties. Isn’t the key word though ‘traditional’? As in the rite of passage is significant because of the cultural meaning that it has acquired over generations? Yet The Pathways Foundation seem to think they can replicate the experience (for money) by treating it as some kind of budget reality TV episode. And the snide mention of ‘healthy transition’ is a nice marketing touch, intended to make anyone feel guilty who hadn’t spent years stressing about the missing rites of passage in their kids’ lives:

The program is a fun, safe, and always interesting bush camp that is designed to acknowledge and honour the change from boy to young man. The boys have the opportunity to hear the stories of older men and ask questions in a sharing environment. They are exposed to a series of safe yet demanding ordeals to test and challenge them physically, mentally, emotionally and on a personal development level. Fun processes such as sharing of personal experiences, story telling, adventure and relationship building activities are also part of the program. It is a guided journey towards a deeper understanding of what it means to live a balanced adult male life in today’s world.

Sounds like some of the weirder programs offered by social science departments. I hope customers insist on a written money-back-unless-completely-satisfied guarantee for the ‘fun and always interesting’ bit.

Maybe I’m just showing my age but when I read a passage like that my spontaneous response is to get the giggles and mutter “What wankers.” It also makes me think that if a father needs this kind of bullshit exercise to form a relationship with his son then one weekend’s not gunna do the trick. Most of all, it makes me ponder on the mentality of people who believe that they can get a designed-to-order emotional ‘event’ and buy it with money.

The best advice I could give to any kid whose dad suggests taking him to a Pathway to Manhood weekend would be: run away son! Or at least tell him you’re busy that weekend can’t he take your brother instead.