The Commodification of our Souls
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, by Wendell Berry.
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbours and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
Well, its finally time to write this post. I knew that in doing this doctoral program I would be stretched in my thinking and challenged to learn new things. I did not expect it would be in economics. I’ll freely admit that I’ve struggled with the reading this week and the ‘brain pain’ that has ensued of learning new terms and thinking differently about the world and its systems. Polanyi’s work seems from another time and another world. And yet, so much of what he articulates in his book is playing out today that it warrants reflection.
Where I’d like to focus my post is on the “commodification of souls” and how economic drivers and consumeristic society have reduced human beings to mere contributors to the SRM instead of human beings, complex, unpredictable and loved by God for who they are and not what they contribute to a broken economic system.
Polanyi is an Austrio-Hungarian economist who began his work The Great Transformation in between World War I and World War II. He observed major movements in the history and development of nation states and the way that developing economic policies, particularly the SRM, were harming humans and their relationships. Dr. Clark states that, “Central to Polanyi’s thesis is the assertion that society and social relationships are vital to humans, and that the SRM is problematic to that, owing to how the SRM is disembedded from social constraints.”[1] Polanyi’s theories have seemed to prove true as people’s lives have become dictated to the ebbs and flows of economic systems in a global world.
American voters were asked In a Pew Research Center poll from September of 2024 the most important issue to them in the upcoming Presidential election. While there are important issues around immigration and reproductive rights in America, “eight-in-ten registered voters (81%) say the economy will be very important to their vote in the 2024 presidential election.”[2] Economic forces drive most of the policy decisions, and often the personal decisions, of many people in our current world.
But are people happier in this particular system than they were before the SRM? Research suggests they are not. While there are many social and political factors impacting happiness, Annie Leonard in her work on, “The Story of Stuff” states that, “Our” national happiness peaked in the 1950s, the same time this consumption mania exploded.”[3] Her assertion is that the onset of consumerism and the intrinsic felt need for many in the west to buy and consume products and materials has created a harmful cycle of production, consumption and waste that is commodifying humans made in the image of God. Leonard says, “”We have more stuff but less time for the things that really make us happy.”[4]
So what are the things that truly make us happy? How can we “disembed” ourselves from the SRM and harmless cycle of consumption and waste that is commodifying our souls and harming the planet entrusted to our care? Here the work of Wendell Berry proves timely and helpful. Wendell Berry is an agrarian poet and prophet pointing towards a better way in the wake of the harmful patterns of SRM and consumerism. His poetry and essays remind us of the Great Economy of God’s Kingdom that is underneath and around all human made economies and efforts to control and subdue our environments. In one of his greatest works “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front”, Berry speaks about the power of the unpredictable behaviors of a human soul that has disconnected from the predictable patterns of consumption and behavior and has instead reconnected with the rhythms and wild beauty of the Creation of the Creator. Berry invites us to “Practice Resurrection” and embrace the death of ourselves and incessant need to control our environments and instead practice the resurrection of our hope in a better world that is being made in the midst of this dying one.
Knowing that the SRM is the water in which we swim has helped me better understand the hope that following Jesus in a consumer society. Listening to prophets like Berry and Leonard remind us that there is something more than we’re being offered on a daily basis. More is not better, richer is not happier, consumption does not equal meaning. John Kavanaugh in his book, Following Christ in Consumer Culture reminds us, ““Life is slow and subtle. Love takes time to show and grow. In life, little acts count. In fact, that is what a life is all about, a long parade of moments deceptively inconsequential.”[5]
Disembedding ourselves from the SRM and practicing resurrection as Christians means moving slower through our day so that we have eyes to see the people around us in the image of God. It means carrying more about the social issues plaguing our country than the economy. It means critiquing and analyzing the why behind what I buy and consume and the who this pattern of consumption impacts. May we “Practice Resurrection” in a world that desperately needs new life.
[1] Clark, 26
[2] Issues and the 2024 election | Pew Research Center
[3] [The Story of Stuff] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM&t=21s)
[4] [The Story of Stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM&t=21s)
[5] Kavanaugh, John. Following Christ in a Consumer Society.
About the Author
Ryan Thorson
Follower of Jesus. Husband. Father. Pastor. Coach. I am passionate about helping people discover the gift of Sabbath and slow down spirituality in the context of our busy world.8 responses to “The Commodification of our Souls”
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Ryan,
Thanks for the post and the writing of Berry, I’m going hiking shortly to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation through fall colors.
As a pastor, do you feel commodified? Do you feel that you must “perform” in a certain way to keep your church pews filled and giving up?
Thanks Jeff! Hope your hike was magnificent.
I do feel that pressure sometimes from internal pressures or cultural pressures. Thankfully the culture of our church and the our pastoral advisory team continue to remind me that I am human too, loved by God for who I am, not what I do. I am grateful for that reminder.
Hi Ryan, I, too, struggled with the readings this week. Thank you for the “practice resurrection” challenge. What are ways that help you remember to do this in your daily routine?
Thanks kari!
Remembering to laugh. Doing things that don’t make sense in the world’s economy of time equals money. Being present with my kids and family when the yard is full of weeds. Breathing deeply the fresh fall air.
Hi Ryan, Thank you for introducing us to Wendell Berry and reminding us about the Great Economy of God’s Kingdom. I am curious to know how you critique and analyze what you buy and consume. This is an area where I would like to be more intentional. Is there anything you have stopped buying recently because of spiritual conviction or just learning more about a product?
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for your post.
Your post reminded me of one scripture that highlights the contrast between God’s Kingdom and human economies is Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV):
“Do not store up yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”
This verse emphasizes the eternal value of spiritual and moral wealth over material possessions — aligning with the idea of the Great Economy of God’s Kingdom focusing on human dignity and community well-being over mere profit. What are your thoughts on this?
Ryan,
I loved the poem at the beginning. It seems like this comes from someone from the PNW. In grad school, my tag line for my profile was, “Christian tree-hugger.” It shouldn’t be the oxymoron it is. I know that you are focused on sabbath and taking rest. I am wondering if you also pull back from encountering the economic structures of our day when you engage in sabbath keeping or how your NPO might be affected by economics?
Ryan, I appreciated your reflection on this week’s reading and Wendell Berry’s manifesto. In your exploration of Polanyi’s critique of the self-regulating market and its impact on human relationships, how do you view the role of community in countering the “commodification of souls”? What practical steps can individuals and churches take to foster deeper connections and resist the consumerist pressures of today’s economy?