THE FUTILITY OF MATERIALISM

 By Ben Ahanonu

Materialism, which borders on greed and selfishness, is one perennial plague that has bedeviled man from time immemorial.

The dictionary defines it as the belief that money and possessions are more important than art, religion, moral beliefs etc.

A careful examination of the circumstances that culminated in the development and emergence of imperialism will expose the materialistic driving force.

During his last years of captivity, Napoleon, the French imperialist, who dreamt of conquering Europe and the world opined that: “Brute force has never attained anything durable.” This evergreen remark by Napoleon resonates to date.

It should be recalled that it was with brute force, inspired by materialism, that the Romans held sway in the world for five centuries, yet everything they laboured to build disintegrated in the end.

According to historical accounts, the industrial revolution enabled Europe and the United States of America to produce more goods than they could sell in their own markets and with the concomitant improvement in means of transporting these goods from one end of the earth to the other, stiff competition for the control of foreign markets erupted.

Initially, it took the form of massive investment in the development of economic infrastructure like the construction of a railway from Constantinople to Baghdad by the Germans and the Trans-Siberian railway that was constructed with Russian capital.

However, the securing of concessions was not sufficient and given time, the imperial powers concluded that in order to develop the resources of a country and control its products, (quest for materialism), the country, which was prepared to invest its capital, must have some sort of proprietary interest.

This took the form of annexation, sometimes at the behest of the people such as the acquisition of the South Sea Island of Hawaii by the United States. Nevertheless, annexation was often done against the wishes of the inhabitants as in the case of the Japanese annexation of Korea and the annexation of the Baltic republics by the Soviet Union in 1940.

Another class of colony was the protectorate, where native rulers were recognized and where the protecting country agreed to defend the protected from civil wars and from external aggression and to help them in developing their territories. An instance was the British hold over her interests in partitioned Africa.

Nevertheless, with all the material gains from the exploitation of the weaker states (ask Africa and Asia), where are those great empires of this world? – Futility of materialism.

Today, when empires do not exist anymore, materialism in the form of “permanent interests” has taken the centre stage in international diplomacy and economic relations.

The concept of globalization, which seeks to remove protectionism and other impediments to world trade, under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, WTO, in essence, is lopsided and meant to serve the materialistic interests of the rich nations.

How will farmers of cash crops in Africa survive under the conditions of the WTO when their counterparts in the United States are heavily subsidized in such a way that negatively affects the global prices of these cash crops?

The collapse of unregulated capitalism (which underpins materialism), in the form of global economic recession or the much worse depression with huge transnational corporations like those that make up the automobile industry of the United States, Banks with global reaches, Airlines etc going bankrupt; and the ineffectiveness of others like Japanese Sony Corporation, that was once in the driver’s seat of super-economic prosperity, points to the futility of materialism.

Undoubtedly, materialism and the quest for it, which is the love of money, are the root cause of all other abominable acts in our world.

Corruption of any kind is the glory of materialism.

The so-called Church of Jesus Christ nowadays has come under the influence of materialism. The priesthood has been commercialized. It is no longer by divine calling. Many have run into it as a means of escaping the harsh realities of unemployment.

Prayer, “miracle” and deceptive prophecy now have price tag.

In the name of the Lord, many are being exploited. False prophets and “visioners” have robbed many. 

Materialism is never benevolent. It is that spirit called Mammon by Jesus Christ. It is the weapon of the enemy.

Do you know that materialism and the quest for it, cannot guarantee real happiness because the rich also cry?

Everything on earth including materialism is transient.

Where are the Carnegies, Fords, Mc Arthurs, Abiolas  and those other people whose names were synonymous with stupendous wealth some time ago on this earth? Alternatively, you may ask Fortune Magazine.

The bottom line is that materialism is futile.

Hon. Prince Ben Ahanonu, media consultant, editor, author and publisher can be reached via benahanonu@gmail.com

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