Portrait of a Lonely Individual in Tremendous Abundance
The era we live in appears richer than ever, overflowing with technology and goods. Yet behind the dazzling forest of urban skyscrapers and sweeping waves of consumption, individual bank accounts remain meager, and the future stays painfully uncertain.
Confronted by sky-rocketing housing costs and severed ladders of social mobility, individuals feel a deep sense of helplessness, alienated from structural prosperity.
Yet something strange happens. Even amidst a harsh reality where the immediate future cannot be guaranteed, people skip meals to buy a hat from a hip brand, clutch a small niche perfume in their hands, and wear clothes imprinted with a specific logo. Is this bizarre phenomenon—less affluent individuals pursuing brands—childish vanity, or is it another expression of humanity?
A Small, Immediate Autonomy Found Amid Uncontrollable Despair
When grand, distant future happiness—like owning a home or enjoying a peaceful retirement—becomes uncontrollable, humans fall into a state of profound powerlessness. Instead of chasing a massive target out of reach, purchasing a hundred-dollar branded item acts as a deeply human defense mechanism to reclaim agency over one’s life.
It is a small yet powerful affirmation of autonomy: "Though my life may be powerless before a vast world, I can at least gift myself this level of beauty and taste." Rather than surrendering to overwhelming despair, it is a mournfully honest reaction—choosing happiness and dignity within a payable budget in this present moment.
An Intangible Armor Against Cold Social Rankings
Modern society outwardly sings of equality, yet as the economic gap widens, the gaze directed at the individual grows endlessly cold. To protect oneself from the alienation and shabbiness brought by material poverty, an individual dons the "intangible armor" of a brand.
Even if one lives in a tiny single room, declaring through the philosophy and aesthetics of a worn brand signals to the world: "I am a dignified individual with my own definite taste and values." This attempt to define oneself by the values of a chosen brand—rather than the cold class system measured by bank balances—is a tragic yet sole resistance to protect one’s dignity against the world.
The Lipstick Effect and the Refusal of Animalistic Survival
During the Great Depression of the 1930s in the United States, amidst severe economic hardship where buying bread to eat was a struggle, sales of lipstick actually surged. This is because no matter how poor humans become, we instinctively refuse to degenerate into a state of mere animalistic survival—eating and sleeping.
No matter how harsh life gets, it is a struggle to groom one’s own beauty, pursue meaning, and refuse to abandon cultural nobility. The fact that we are creatures who cannot live by bread alone, needing confessions, poetry, and symbols, is the clearest proof distinguishing humans from animals. Craving brands amidst scarcity is not mere material greed, but an instinctive struggle to retain humanity.
The Most Beautiful and Sorrowful Price of Admission for Life
The phenomenon of less prosperous individuals pursuing brands cannot be dismissed merely as "fake desire" or "childish luxury." Beneath those dazzling logos and sensory shells lies the most sorrowful yet beautiful price of admission paid by individuals to defend their dignity and taste without being crushed by a harsh reality.
A brand, perhaps, is a small yet warm stove that individuals light in a cold world to keep their souls from freezing over.
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