![]() ![]() That a critique of consumer culture has been warped into an endorsement of mindless consumption should come as no surprise: consuming is the West’s greatest vice and most universal culture. “If everything we consume is at least a little bit wrong,” it whispers, “then why care about what we consume at all?” Now, though, it’s been bastardised into an ad campaign for apathy – a call for shrugging your shoulders and adding-to-cart. Interpreted one way, it’s a call to dismantle the system that makes us all complicit in imperialism, labour exploitation and environmental destruction. “No ethical consumption under capitalism” has become a buzz term, sprinkled into discourse to justify everything from fast-fashion hauls and instant food delivery to “problematic” art. These 21 st-century sins can be understood in much the same way. In fact, each can be understood as exaggerated versions of fundamental human experiences: hunger, sexuality, anger, self-confidence, desire and the need to rest. Perhaps the original seven deadly sins have left such an indelible mark on humanity precisely because we’ve all, at some point or another, seen ourselves in every one. It means you, like all of us, were raised in a society built on greed, exploitation and insincerity. Momentarily participating in overconsumption or performativity doesn’t mean you ought to be damned to hell. To be numbed by an increasingly chaotic and meaningless culture, for instance, is certainly not a crime. I consider most of the new “sins” I’ve created here to be cultural rather than individual failings. Six decades on, we think an update is in order. He suggested a new set: snobbery, moral cowardice, hypocrisy, cruelty, self-righteousness, avarice and malice. ![]() Fleming proposed that the classics – pride, greed, wrath, lust, envy, gluttony and sloth – were insufficient to describe the failings of a supposedly brave new world. In 1962, James Bond creator Ian Fleming published a collection of essays by British writers called Seven Deadlier Sins. Of course, we’re hardly the first generation to be obsessed with sin. The sins of the world are more visible than ever, broadcast live to your iPhone, and nobody knows how to deal with it. If previous generations were worried about going to hell, we’re worried that we’re already there. Social media platforms are “hellsites”. These days, everyone’s thinking about hell. Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE.
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