In today’s world, the centrality of the individual has become one of the most prominent features of society.
The individual is constantly trying to construct his or her own existential path. The so-called “liquid society” described by sociologist Zygmunt Bauman is characterized precisely by flexibility, mobility and the disintegration of traditional social ties. In such a context, where everything seems to escape stable and permanent definitions, the individual seeks in immediate pleasure an answer to his condition of uncertainty and precariousness.
People seek new stimulation and satisfaction. For this very reason, there is much discussion about the concept of hedonism.
Today, hedonism also becomes a form of response to loneliness and lack of emotional stability. In this scenario, consumerist society plays a crucial role in nurturing the return to hedonism. Advanced capitalism, as Bauman describes it, has driven an ongoing process of “consumption” not only of material goods, but also of experiences, relationships and identity. The invitation to “enjoy” becomes the engine of the economy, and the consumption of pleasures and temporary goods is presented as the only valid purpose for the individual.
Researcher Enzo Risso has written an article, published in Il Domani, in which he reports on research data showing Italians’ desire for fun and enjoyment.
In fact, “having fun and taking off vices is the ambition of 72 percent of Italians, just as 79 percent try at every opportunity to have a good time and do pleasant things. So many like to dine out (76), and almost half the country (48) identifies going to restaurants often as one of the factors for saying they are satisfied with life. Large is the share of people looking for products that offer lightness (76) and tell about the ability to enjoy life (61).” In addition, “52 percent of Italians are looking for strong emotions, 54 percent like to organize dinners and parties, while 6 percent (10 in Generation Z) want to lead a mundane life full of parties.”
It is striking, and should make us think, that “44 percent of Italians want to feel free without constraints.”
Risso points out that these dynamics are related to hedonistic hypermodernity. “A hedonism that goes beyond mere pleasure to become an existential imperative, an ethos of perpetual enjoyment.” Moreover, the excessive desire to “dine out, to experience moments of collective emotionality, underscores the dimension of a fluctuating sociality, in which social affiliations become fluid and based on shared interests and emotions.” Thus, a “collective consumption of pleasurable experiences” takes place. But not only that. Risso highlights that “the consumer becomes a scenographer of himself, a storyteller of his own life who buys and chooses according to the spectacle, the story he wants to tell about himself. Life itself becomes a spectacle to be consumed.”
Consumers are seen as major players in a world that seems to have renounced any other ideal than pleasure and instant gratification. Pleasure is sold, but at the same time it is imposed as a necessity, as a requirement from which there is no escape.
Achieving happiness involves a series of consumerist practices, sensations and quick thrills. Every product, from fashion to food, from travel to technology, is presented as a promise of joy, a way to obtain pleasure that can no longer be postponed or delayed.
We expose our bodies on social networks to seek approval and consent from our followers. This means that we are no longer just consumers of objects, but also consumers of ourselves.
The relentless pursuit of personal satisfaction leads to an “eclipse” of authentic and profound experiences, which are replaced by fleeting moments, often devoid of real meaning. Everything becomes ephemeral, elusive and temporary. The price to be paid for this illusory pursuit of well-being is really too high.
Recovering values and feelings in an individualistic and consumerist age requires a substantial change, involving not only reflection on our relationship with pleasure, but also a rediscovery of social ties, self-discipline and an ethic of responsibility. Bauman’s liquid society offers us an important cue: we can still choose to return to the importance of authentic experiences, deep reasoning and solidarity, in order to build a life that is not based only on immediate “enjoyment,” but on conscious and meaningful “living.”
The article Living to Enjoy: hedonism and the crisis of ties in liquid society comes from TheNewyorker.
