Pride and Contempt - the Values of the World of Consumption

Abstract

Pride (conceit) and contempt for centuries have been classified as faults. For the pope Gregor VI pride is the first cardinal sin. In the world of consumption, values and virtues are subject to far-reaching changes due to the specificity of this world and the subordination of everything to the principles of growth and profit. What matters most is money. The world of consumption makes pride and contempt virtues, because a man who is proud and contemptuous is at home in a world where condescension through ostentatious consumption is considered something good and testifies to the success achieved. Pride and contempt, supported by arrogance and a narcissistic attitude towards oneself, make one an ideal consumer - susceptible to influence, not resistant to advertising, chasing the next "must-haves" of the season, without which the consumer is not high enough in the social hierarchy. In the article I show how pride and contempt are transformed from defects to the virtues of the world of consumption  and what their consequences are once they become recognized as such.