You still seem to be under the impression I don't understand what you are saying, am I supposed to use more sesquipedalians?
To be clear, here is the part you have not proven to be true....
Quote:"While this critical self-conciousness is possible I think it is very unusual"
I think critical self-consciousness is common in varying degrees from extreme navel-gazers like yourself to village idiots (and most likely proportional to intelligence) I would expect poorer intellects would find the complete abandonment of all ideology to be very difficult and I doubt it would always be a good thing either for them, or for others.
As for capitalism, I hear this kind of thing a lot from the more socialist idealists. That people should want their lives to be more comfortable is not hard to understand. Even "fashion" clearly serves a purpose when viewed as a mechanism of sexual competition. The idea of someone who has something they don't need trading it for something they do is also pretty simple. Capitalism is governed by the laws of supply and demand. I don't see anyone worshipping anything, and I think most people do see "shopping" for what it really is, and run their budgets according to Maslow's hierarchy even if they don't know it as such.
I just think you have judged humanity rather harshly, although if you live in the USA perhaps it's understandable given your disproportionate religious population.
