In Berlin today, Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, reminded us of the importance of the autonomy of the individual for the shaping of humanist societies and of the destructive effects of the prevailing consumerism.
Wolf called for the coming season of winter light festivals to be celebrated in a dignified manner. No one is more of a slave than those who think they are free without being so, Wolf reminded us, referring to the rabid consumerism that still dominates the Christmas season in Western societies today.
Wolf: “Genuine emancipation of the human individual always presupposes being free from externally determined dependencies. However, the state of individual autonomy, which is important from our humanistic point of view, is not primarily reflected in the fact that a need can be fulfilled by one’s own power – for example, by someone simply acting as a buyer and consumer with their own money or money borrowed in their own name.”
Real autonomy rather requires the ability to distinguish one’s own genuine needs from externally imposed desires. This is because the widespread and accepted participation in consumerism not only realizes individual freedom: it often also creates a new dependency on others. The desire to consume is constantly aroused in people by highly developed technologies, until they are finally only able to realize their ever new desires through debt.
Frieder Otto Wolf therefore called for a critical review of all the ways in which festivals are organized: traditional offers of festive forms could be used here, while at the same time deliberately freeing them from unacceptable habits and customs that cause suffering.
Wolf thus called on humanists to reflect anew on their own needs and wishes during the Festival of Lights, both for themselves and in community. This helps the target to escape the pressure of rabid consumerism. It is true that this is prevalent and almost omnipresent today. However, the promised moments of freedom, happiness and contentment are by no means sustainable, even for those who can afford them so far, and in reality are often bought at the price of the great misery of others.
“We must not suppress the consequences that many of the habits that characterize consumerism are actually associated with,” Wolf reminded us. It is necessary not only to abandon the traditional belief in economic growth without regard for social and ecological limits as the basis for real prosperity, but also to free ourselves from those forms of this belief that expect the morally and ecologically flawless product to be an easily available and “cheap” good.
This is because, from a global perspective, rabid consumerism leads to great suffering for humans and animals, “whether through factory farming or mass production, which not only forces billions of people into often humiliating competition with each other, but also into deeply senseless competition with the development of machine production technologies.”
According to Wolf, what happened in the dark eras of modern European history is being repeated all over the world today. The number of those who are “in the dark” is also growing in our own country: “This should not be ignored in our thinking at any time.
The time of the Festival of Lights in particular offers opportunities to remember and reflect together on which things are really important and which needs can be met in a meaningful and sustainable way: “In view of the current and upcoming crises, humanists need to ask themselves even more than before whether what they think they want is what they actually need to achieve satisfaction and happiness – and not just for themselves,” said Wolf.
This kind of thoughtfulness is just as useful for people who suffer from situations that can be characterized as precarious, in order to become self-confident and able to act, as it is for those people who have not yet lived in crisis situations themselves. The major goal must be to ensure that the forms of solidarity that are urgently needed today can be developed again.
“And unfortunately, those who are considered guilty of poverty in the public eye still too often blame themselves. This must be publicly refuted so that, even in these dark weeks, the hearts of the many people who suffer from the lack of success of honest endeavor – and wrongly blame themselves for it – can be lightened.”
Finally, Frieder Otto Wolf emphasized that, in view of reality, the time of the Festival of Lights offers all humanistically-minded people a valuable opportunity to combine personal reflection with dignified festivity in the company of their loved ones.
“Wherever we succeed in combining the ancient and valuable tradition of the festivals of light in winter, which the great religions have appropriated, with a shared awareness of what needs to be done here and now, we will be able to use this time of reflection to celebrate together and at the same time develop our capacity for personal mindfulness and solidarity with people.”
This could also reinforce and spread the insight central to good humanist practice, Wolf said, referring to British philosopher Anthony Grayling’s comments on the prevailing economies, that all the things worth having in life, such as mindfulness, wisdom and human affection, are not on sale in any department store in the world.
