The Price of Materialism and the Need for a New Dream

This is a great new video from the guys at New American Dream. It features powerful research about the way media exposure and materialistic values affect our life satisfaction and shape us as hyper-consumers.

What about the suggestions the video makes? Can better coping strategies and different economic models save the world? On their own, no. We need a better ‘dream’ than just a renewed american dream. Jesus called it the kingdom of God. But though the kingdom is bigger than the ‘nice’ life of psychological balance and economic sustainability, it certainly includes much of what new american dreamers are striving for. To truly know God is a great antedote to the anxiety that drives our consumer habits, if only we could experience this more in our churches and homes. And the revisioned economics of the kingdom should certainly cause us to question our devotion to current ways of measuring growth.

The kingdom is God’s dream for the world he made and loves. One day it will become reality. Today though, God is still looking for dreamers to join him…