Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times

by Soong-Chan Rah

Consumer culture is able to draw from religious traditions and co-opt what would otherwise be altruistic values to further its own aims. It has the capacity to absorb challenges, even direct challenges to its values. For example, the RED campaign attempted to combat the AIDS pandemic in Africa by asking individuals to purchase as many RED products as possible. $100 million was spent on a marketing campaign to promote increased consumerism in support of combating HIV/AIDS. In the first year, only about $18 million had been raised.15 The campaign ultimately yielded the most benefit to the companies that garnered positive publicity for their products (as well as increased sales revenue) and to the pharmaceutical companies that increased sales of a product that could have been distributed at a much lower cost. The RED campaign raises the question of whether one can fight injustice while continuing to swim in its waters. How we seek justice in a materialistic culture may actually result in a deeper commitment to the consumerism of the times. The documentary Pink Ribbons reveals that the important cause of breast cancer research has been commodified so that a significant percentage of the funds raised end up in corporate coffers. “Justice” becomes yet another expression of the injustices of consumer culture. Consumer culture is able to devour even the most noble efforts of justice.