I like the activism of Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir. They are an activist group dedicated to getting people to stop shopping. Reverend Billy claims we are in the Shopocalypse, meaning shopping in America has gotten out of control. American consumerism and consumerism in general is detrimental for the environment and not a sustainable form of happiness. However ads and our society in general tell us that the key to happiness is material goods. If you have a nice car, a nice house and a high paying job you will be happy, but this is not true. The truth is that to have emotional well-being you need $75,000 and after about $95,000 a year an individual does not gain any more satisfaction from gaining money. But our society still idealizes people who make more money than they will ever be able to spend in their lives: Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc. Why because ads continue to tell people that if they buy the newest car, the newest iPhone, the newest gadget, they will feel happy and satisfied. But in actuality they will just become poorer and look for the next newest thing.
My idea for the project is to create the enemy of Reverend Billy. A satirical character that is all about consumerism and material goods. I want to create a minister of a type of cult that is 100% for consumerism and capitalism. A man who believes the key to happiness is gaining wealth and keeping it for myself, while also buying the most expensive and newest goods. The cult will follow the Book of Emads, meaning to sound like “them ads.” As someone once told me, “how are you suppose to know what to buy if it weren’t for ads.” The group will listen and purchase items that the commercials tell us to buy. The key to happiness in the cult is based entirely on how much money an individual makes and the material goods that they have. I would like the cult to make fun of our society. Businesses have to constantly be growing in size and people have to constantly be buying newer and nicer products to stay happy and satisfied, instead of people simple caring and helping their neighbors. I would like to use this cult to make fun of our society, our government, and religions that are in place that make people believe that material items is the key to happiness. In our government we have a whole system of people, Republicans and Democrats, that believe the key to happiness and self-fulfillment is individual prosperity. Whether an individual believes in a Republican leader or a Democratic leader, both are capitalists who believe that people will work harder and be more fulfilled by having lots of money. The idea of the American Dream is that you can own a house, fancy car, and a business of your own, and then you will be happy. We also have religious organizations who have holidays that have gotten to a point where the main thing exciting about them is giving and getting material items. Ask any child what they like about Christmas and I doubt their answer is “the time I get to spend with my family” and instead their answer is “presents” or “Santa” the guy who brings material goods.
The point of this satirical cult is to be so outrageous with a love of capitalism and material goods, while also having the tone of a spiritual leader, that it makes people think about what actually makes them happy. Most of which do not cost any money: hanging out with friends, being with family, and just helping people.
I would like to create an elaborate persona and religion around capitalism and consumerism. I want the preacher of the cult to be named something like Cassius Goldworthy or Rich Banks, who is an eccentric self-made billionaire who couldn’t be happier with all the material goods he has. Our equivalent of the pope is the richest man in the world Jeff Bezos, who according to our book has not stopped orgasming from pleasure since he became the richest man in July 2017. Our followers are called Consumelliers, based on the similar names of wine sommeliers. I want to create a set of rules that mimic the 10 commandments, but I’m still figuring the rules out. There are several layer of our after-life that are directly effected by how much money you give to the cult, the lowest level being trailer park after-life which costs a $10,000 donation. The Consumelliers can actually cheat death by donating more than $1 Trillion dollars, but at this time nobody has been able to pay this much in donations. The highest level of after-life is a $1 Billion donation which will give you unlimited access to the after-life, including your own private mansion designed to the individuals tastes and the newest model of whatever car you want that updates to the newest model every year. Of course each house comes with its own staff so that the individual can feel superior to their subordinates. Our cult also comes with a list of what holiday presents are appropriate to show levels of love to your family members, the highest level of love is currently a 2020 Ford F-150. The church costs a yearly subscription of 10% of your income, but do not worry because Consumelliers are tax except because taxes teach people that they are allowed to take a handout, which is against the Book of Emads. Every Consumelliers must maximize their wealth by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, and taking advantage of the working class just like everyone else. Nobody ever became rich by sharing the profits.
Francis Brogan 