Humanity's tendency towards commodification of things ought to be resisted.

Introduction Commodification of goods, services and labor are part of capitalistic economic functions. However, recently there has been a trend to commoditize of just about everything, even the air we breathe. Commoditization can alter, strip away or supplant cultures, social mores, and monetizes human life. Commodification has been imposed by dominant economic cultures upon weaker ones. It also occurs within advanced capitalistic societies, which negatively homogenizes the populous to a consumer driven ego-centrically based society. Continued commodification ought to be resisted. Indigenous Cultures and Tourism Assigning economic value to indigenous cultures for the purpose of tourism has negative impacts. Artwork and cultural traditions are turned into a commodity. Religious rituals are reduced to performance art. Traditions, beliefs and artifact creation are staged to fit tourist’s preconceived notions. Often the profits are not realized by the indigenous people, but by a second party who created the industry’s infrastructure of hotels, restaurants and performance spaces. The natural environment in which the heritage is based is altered or destroyed for tourist comforts; ecological destruction to a point that indigenous people are no longer capable of independence outside of the industry. Native youth emulate behaviors of the tourist favoring modernization and their affluent lifestyle. The formerly modest lifestyle of the culture shifts to acquisition of modern goods and becomes a representation of the lifestyle of the tourist themselves. Commodification of culture is destructive; a heritage and it meanings are lost for the almighty dollar [1. http://tinyurl.com..., 2. http://tinyurl.com.... http://tinyurl.com... ] Emotions are Commodified Love is a commodity. A non-custodial parent makes purchases for a child that is equated as love compensation for the adult’s “care deficit.” Dating applications and groups like Match.com charge to find you love. The “girl friend experience” is a prostitute’s special packaged performance for a fee to make you “feel loved.” Avoidance off emotional distress, a trophy or award for every participant in a competition; good feelings have a price. Our judicial systems commodifies emotions with pain and suffering awards. It is not sufficient to reimburse for loss or damage of personal property, wages or medical care, but for grief, worry, fright, nervousness, temporary emotional shock, humiliation, indignity, and embarrassment, even after an individual has emotionally and physically recovered to his/her pre-incident state [4. http://tinyurl.com... ]. We Commodify Ourselves We have commodifized self identity through media driven idealized standards of physical beauty and presentation. It creates consumer desire to be either “the perceived normal” or as a person who breaks the mold; all carefully crafted by advertizing. To be fashionable, thin, and attractive are fed to us as prescriptions to remake ourselves to fit in, or appear to stand out from the crowd. Molding one’s sense of self induces some individuals to undergo cosmetic alterations or suffer from anorexia. Others put themselves in debt with purchases of non-essentials to show that they have meet a standard or have created an authentic - although manufactured self; a branded identity. We are lead to believe this will lead to self-fulfillment. Our appearance has an exchange value that enables us entry into the desired social sphere; the gift wrap has greater value than the contents of the box [5. http://tinyurl.com..., 6. http://tinyurl.com...]. Religious Beliefs Religion has been commodified as a spiritual consumable. Bishop Kenneth L. Carder stated “the myths, rituals, and methods of the consumerist driven market have now invaded the church, been baptized by the church, ritualized by the church until the message of the gospel is so filtered through the consumerism of the global market that the Gospel of Jesus Christ itself has become another commodity to be exchanged for self - fulfillment, personal success, institutional advancement, and now even national security. ”[7. http://tinyurl.com... ] The US Protestant market place with its charismatic TV evangelist in their mega churches spreading popular religiosity. There are religious tourist attractions with amulets and trinket that have undergone a ritual to confirm their spiritual power. Being religiously affiliated is fodder for media attention and moments of fame much like a reality TV; the likes of Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggarts, Kim Davis, anti-gay bakery owners and the like. There’s a social cache in public displays of religiosity that was unheard of 40 years ago. Religion has been turned in to a commercial culture of group identity; where politicians express sentiment to sway large blocks of voters their way. A commercialized faith vote rather than rational analysis of economic self-interest. The new slogan “Trump God’s Choice for President” has become popular with white Christian Nationalist, further proof of religious commodification. Patriotism and religion are fused and is used as a veneer for those who wear religion like fashionable clothing [7., 8. http://tinyurl.com..., 9. http://tinyurl.com..., 10. http://tinyurl.com..., 11. http://tinyurl.com...; Health is a Commodity US health care is reserved to those who can pay, the affluent. It has moved from its intended nature described in the Hippocratic Oath of dedication to healing and serving the sick. Institutions market themselves with products, services and procedures that differentiate lending cache for the purpose of status differential. Essential drugs are too expensive for many. The significant increase in cost of the Epipen is a recent example. Reimbursement for medical procedures is exponentially more profitable than physician-patient talk time, which has been time allotted and highly scheduled. Behavior deviations from the norm are label as diseases and drugs are made to correct; ADD, ADHD. R&D for affordable solutions for drugs for the under privileged, such as malaria in 3rd world nations, are not undertaken due to profits over people mentality. Commodification has striped the social fabric of community and values of citizenship. It has reduced society to the haves and have nots. Money establishes the worthiness for care and release from suffering [12. http://tinyurl.com..., 13. http://tinyurl.com.... http://tinyurl.com.... http://tinyurl.com..., 16, http://tinyurl.com.... Air We Breath/Carbon Tax Kyoto Protocol As an effort to reduce harmful emission The Kyoto Protocol was put in place. On the surface appeared beneficial in capping pollution, but instead resulted in the commodification of the very air we breathe through emissions trading. Carbon credits are permits to pollute; one credit equals one ton of carbon dioxide or other green house gas. Credits are issued free to industries that are the biggest polluters. Credits issued are equal to the amount they are allowed to pollute in a year. If they do not use all their credits they can be sold on the stock market to other polluters who have exhausted their credits. Carbon credits can be earned through tree planting projects, which has given rise to a whole new industry; monoculture reforestation of cash crops tree via plantations. Carbon Credits are issued for the trees planted which are sold on the markets. The trees are later harvested for profit. Undeveloped countries come under agreement to use their lands as carbon dumps to generate credits or corporations purchase large swaths of land for the purpose. It has resulted in eviction of indigenous and subsistence peoples from their lands. Commodification of the air we breathe at the expense of those who do not benefit from the comforts of industrialized societies, but pay dearly for other to pollute for profit. [17. http://tinyurl.com... 18. http://tinyurl.com... 19. http://tinyurl.com... 20. http://tinyurl.com...; 21. http://tinyurl.com... ] Media Commodification Media’s primary role is to distribute commodities and to develop our desire for products. It extends itself further as a means of molding our social role within the economy. It is an anti-democratic force. Media mega corps construct what we see and molds our opinions turning economic power into political force. It shapes our thinking to formulate a like minded view which in turn becomes a political ideology. Have a conversation with two people, one that is a daily CNN news watcher, the other of FOX news. It will become quickly evident the diametrical difference between political view points of each viewer. Both are ideologically align with their respective media outlets. [17. http://tinyurl.com... ] Ads associate a product with social status and value beyond its function, creating derisiveness between the social classes. The purchase of Air Jordon shoes connotes elevated status and athletic ability verses mere feet coverings that offer functional protection. A plain white toilet is a functional item, but we are told a gold plated one is so much better [18. http://tinyurl.com... ] Summary: Continued commodification of everyday life breaks the ties of social connectiveness and sense of what it is to be human as a collective. It forms our motivations and opinions, as well as places greater value on individuality and social status. Acquisition of things becomes more relevant than family, culture and community ties. The very institution that purports community, brethren and salvation is served up as a spiritual commodity that is shown off like a shinny bangle. We have become a social factory. We are sold the very goods that we produce, not for their value of function, but for some imagined tool to gain self-worth. It has a price and often it’s our very humanity as the expense of those deemed less than worthy.