Commercialism - what is it, what does mercantile mean?

Mercantility is a human trait that expresses petty prudence, an excessive and unreasonable desire to get a profit at any cost, vain stinginess, self-interest and excessive practicality. Synonyms for the concept under consideration are love of money, love of greed, money-grubbing, profiteering, selfishness.

The original meaning of commercialism did not carry a negative meaning. This word has French roots. Previously, it carried exclusively economic meaning. The mercantile system of the 16-17 centuries implied the expansion of the scope of foreign trade activities at the expense of other states. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the concept in question acquired a different meaning. Individuals prone to stinginess, penny-pinching, tight-fistedness, excessive practicality, prudence, and selfishness began to be called mercantile.

What is commercialism

Let's look at the concept of commercialism and the meaning of the word in simple words. Commercialism is a synonym for self-interest. What does it mean? The name is derived from the Italian word mercantile, which translates as “mercantile, selfish.” According to other sources, the word “mercantilism” is derived from the Latin word mercari, which means “to trade.”

Most people believe that commercialism is only associated with money. In fact, it can be connected to anything. Benefit is any material or intangible benefit.

Initially, the word “mercantilism” did not have a negative connotation. It has been used in Russian since the beginning of the 19th century. At one time, the word “commercialism” was synonymous with the concepts of “commercial” and “merchant”. Nowadays it is more often used as an adjective, describing a person. However, goals, actions, conversations, motives, actions, etc. can also be mercantile.

Money needs to be spent2

Our materialistic girl loves money with all her soul. And she loves to spend it. Shopping is her main (if not only) hobby.

She doesn't have to be a shopaholic. Although she still has a certain inclination towards this. Running around boutiques gives her incomparable pleasure. It is unlikely that she cares about the family budget. Even if her man cannot boast of a high level of income, she will find a thousand and one reasons why she simply needed to buy this or that thing.

Signs

This is what distinguishes a mercantile person:

prudence;
excessive practicality and rationality;
prudence;
selfishness;
pettiness;
stinginess;
unemotionality (unless feigned for manipulation in order to get what you want).

A mercantile person is a person who never gives in to feelings and emotions. A mercantile person is always guided by cunning and precise calculations. And all relationships in the life of a mercantile person, be it friendship, love or work, have hidden benefits for him. He does not know how to give his attention, time and other resources just like that, to give gifts from the bottom of his heart - only to “invest”. Moral satisfaction from realizing one’s own value and significance is not enough for a mercantile person.

Important! A mercantile person is distinguished by an excessive and groundless desire to obtain personal gain in any situation and at any cost.

Friends to match8

Can she make friends? Big question. Of course, she wouldn’t want to have overly attractive friends around her with whom she would have to compete. But communication with socialites can be very useful, and therefore you have to make sacrifices.

It is likely that her environment consists of girls similar to her. Who else is able to endure this machine-gun fire from pretentious photographs on Instagram and endless discussion of the material side of our lives?

By the way, this is another reason why she invests so much time and money in her appearance - she has to match her surroundings.

Causes

Why do people become mercantile? From a lack of self-love, an undeveloped sense of self-worth and significance. Everything comes from childhood. Examples of what could trigger the development of commercialism:

The parents rejected the child. For example, he gave them some gifts from the bottom of his heart, gave them compliments, hugged them, but he was pushed away, criticized, scolded.
The parents themselves were mercantile and taught their child to be mercantile from an early age. They themselves did nothing for him just like that and taught him to look for personal gain in everything. For example, some parents force their children to be friends with children of “advantageous matches” (other parents who may be useful in some way to the former). And it doesn’t matter that the children don’t get along with each other at all and don’t like each other.
The parents paid off the child. For example, many mothers and fathers who do not have enough time or energy for a child express their “love” with gifts. They are the ones who apologize. In this case, the child develops the attitude that “love is something material.”
The child was raised as the idol of the family. All his desires were satisfied, nothing was demanded of him, his abilities were exaggerated. The child was not taught to share, help, give, but he was taught to take.
The family lived poorly, the parents instilled in the child that he should achieve better, more. From an early age it was hammered into his head that the most important thing was the material aspects of life. It doesn’t matter what you really want or how you feel – create a good life for your parents, and for yourself.

Interesting! A materialistic person does not know how to take care of others, because he does not know how to truly take care of himself and does not love himself. The internal mental resources of a mercantile person are not enough to share, or they do not exist at all.

It is also worth considering commercialism in relationships. Some parents instill in their daughters that they need to choose wealthy men as husbands, and in their sons that they need to choose economical women. And it doesn’t matter whether your interests coincide, whether you are attractive to each other externally and spiritually. The main thing is profit. The rest “for the soul” can be obtained on the side, or you can completely suppress your true desires and needs.

Some people become mercantile in adulthood. This happens after betrayal at work, in your personal life or in friendships. For example, a person realized that he had been used for many years, that he as a person is not really needed or interesting, that they are not ready to help and support him, that someone else is with him only in good moments, when the subject has any resources to give. If a person has been badly burned by someone once or twice, then there is a possibility that he will harbor a grudge against the whole world. He decides to use everyone around him the same way he was once used.

Society also plays its part. There is a noticeable tendency towards the elevation of material values over spiritual ones. This is especially noticeable on social networks. People dependent on public opinion develop a fear of falling out of this race, so they try to meet the imposed standards. Our society is mired in consumption. It is generally becoming mercantile.

Luxury on display4

Perhaps one of the main signs of a mercantile girl is the desire to flaunt her wealth. This is how they differ from wealthy women who have made themselves.

Self-made women do not need to prove anything to anyone - they are too busy with their personal affairs. Companions of wealthy men (companions, not kept women) treat their wealth the same way they treat themselves and their partners - with dignity. They will not hide their level of wealth from the eyes of envious people, since they do not consider it necessary. But they won’t shout about their wealth either - why? To whom and what to prove?

Mercantile girls are literally obsessed with the desire to demonstrate to everyone the luxury in which they live. Or would like to live. Numerous (often staged) photographs on Instagram and intimate conversations with friends, acquaintances and everyone who comes to hand are used.

The whole world should know that she lives in luxury.

Advantages and disadvantages

Is commercialism good or bad? Commercialism has both pros and cons.

Advantages of commercialism:

punctuality and responsibility - mercantile people value their own and other people’s time;
purposefulness and rapid advancement at work, in life - whatever one may say, useful connections play their role, mercantile people know exactly what they want and go for it;
the ability to say “no” without remorse - the psychological stability of a mercantile person can be envied.

A mercantile person cannot be used. Of course, unless he himself agrees to this in order to use the other person even more.

Disadvantages of commercialism:

a narrow range of interests - the desire for profit dictates to a mercantile person where to live, with whom to be friends, where to work, what to hobbies, etc.;
dissatisfaction with life - by choosing something that is supposedly profitable, but uninteresting, a mercantile person dooms himself to an unhappy life, suppresses true needs and desires;
lack of true friendship and love - a mercantile person does not know how much happiness and pleasure sincere help to others brings, a reward in the form of a person’s smile, warm words from him;
joyless old age, loneliness - at the end of life, the wrong prioritization is especially acute.

All the tricks are for appearance

A mercantile girl pays almost all her attention to her appearance. Just don’t think that all well-groomed ladies are empty-headed beauties who only dream of becoming someone’s kept woman!

Mercantile girls put their appearance above all else. They are often terrified of old age, because they subconsciously perceive themselves not as a self-sufficient person, but as a beautiful addition to a man. They realize that relationships with the male sex are not of a partnership nature for them. Therefore, they accept the rules of the game and do everything so that, no matter how rude it may sound, they do not lose their value.

Most of the wardrobe consists of branded items that literally ooze luxury. By the way, such girls do not always have good taste and sometimes look very caricatured.

How to recognize a mercantile person

Signs by which one can suspect commercialism in a person:

He looks for personal gain in everything. A mercantile person will never say: “I am friends with this person because I am interested in communicating with him, listening to him,” “I help the shelter: when I deposit money into their account, when I bring food myself, and sometimes I just come to help with cleaning. In general, I help as much as I can.”
He has no hobby, interest, or passion. A mercantile person will never become a volunteer, and he tries to immediately transform any of his hobbies into a profitable business. If it doesn’t work out, he quits.
The quality of his work directly depends on the payment: “Well, what did you want for that kind of money. Pay more - it will be better."
A person gets married for convenience. A simple example of what commercialism is in marriage is a young girl marrying a wealthy, high-status old man.
There are many references to benefits in human conversations. He can reduce almost any conversation to commercialism: money, apartments, cars, gifts, help in finding a job, etc.
It measures success and happiness in material achievements. By the same criterion he compares people. In his understanding, the earlier a person acquires a material safety net, the more successful he is: “You’re 30 and still don’t have an apartment or a car? You're a loser". This also includes materialism - craving for brands.
His social circle of friends consists only of useful connections. There are no people in it who can only help with a warm word and cheerful conversation. It contains only those who have already taken place in their profession and life. For example, surrounded by a mercantile person, there will not be a young talented artist who cannot sell his first painting. But as soon as he becomes famous, the mercantile type will immediately ask to be his best friend. But the artist as a person has not changed, only his income and status have changed.

A mercantile person does not necessarily have all these signs. But if you notice most of this, then there is a high probability that you are faced with commercialism.

Note! It is difficult to define commercialism from the outside. It is often confused with healthy assertion of personal boundaries or healthy pragmatism. Some people demand sacrifice and submission from others - this is also wrong.

Examples from literature

We all remember “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” by A. S. Pushkin and we know what the old woman’s greed led to. But there are many other works about human greed, greed and commercialism.

The most striking example of a mercantile personality is the old money-lender from F. M. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, whom Raskolnikov himself openly calls a mercantile creature.

Boris Drubetskoy, the hero of the epic novel “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy, exhibits mercantile character traits. Initially, he sympathizes with Natasha Rostova, but when the time comes to get married, he makes a choice in favor of Julie Kuragina. She is very rich, but much older than Boris. He hopes that her finances will help him improve his financial situation and achieve career heights.

Almost all the heroes of N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls” display commercialism. The most exaggerated image is Plyushkin.

Sometimes the theme of commercialism is raised in Ostrovsky’s works.

The heroines of Jane Corrie's novel “My Husband's Wife” display commercialism. The main character Carla's mother slept with a rich, married man for money. She raised her daughter the same way.

What are the consequences of commercialism in relationships?

Reducing any relationship only to material benefits leads to spiritual degradation. A materialistic person will never know what unconditional love and acceptance is. What will happen if a person loses what he is given benefits for and how he benefits others? For example, will a mercantile girl lose her beauty, youth, and attractiveness? And nothing will remain - emptiness and loneliness.

Equality doesn't work here3

When going on a date with a man, she expects the gentleman to pay all expenses. Although it is worth noting here that non-mercantile girls also expect this from a man if they adhere to traditional views on courtship. A proposal to split the bill in half may cause them both surprise and a completely calm reaction - “what can we do, these are modern realities.”

But the materialistic girl generally does not consider relationships in which she will have to pay for something. The earnings of a potential boyfriend worries her much more than his personal qualities. If you are not ready to pamper her with expensive gifts and fully provide for her, you will quickly be shown the door. And your subtle mental organization and ability to conduct interesting conversations will not help you here.

Psychologist's advice

Behind commercialism is the desire to assert oneself, increase self-esteem, become happy, and be better than other people. Commercialism is also closely related to selfishness. Accordingly, in order to get rid of commercialism (or at least reduce the intensity of its manifestation), you need to do the following:

Do some self-reflection. Force yourself to do something selfless right now. For example, transfer at least 100 rubles to a shelter or listen to a friend and sympathize with him. Then analyze how you felt at that moment. You can write it down on paper. What was it: anger, resentment, envy, fear or something else? Think about what this feeling is associated with. Think back to the first time you experienced it. What made you close yourself off from people?
Develop empathy. Consider the problem from your own angle: by doing good to one person, you are doing good to yourself, even if it is not immediately obvious. For example, if a psychologist helps a friend or people on forums with professional advice, then he contributes to the general psychological state of society. And he, as another member of society, also benefits from this.
Learn to appreciate and love yourself. Then gradually you will be able to accept compliments and learn to enjoy emotional interactions with people and exchange positive things. Remember: to share something with ease and pleasure without harming yourself, you need to have it in abundance. Why is it so hard for you to give love, attention, care?

To put it very roughly and generally, commercialism is needed for survival. Yes, you may have once had to protect yourself and survive, but is that still the case now? Isn't it time to find the ghosts of the past, get rid of them and start living?

My experience

There are no such women in my circle. And it wasn't. Probably, if we met, I immediately excluded them. In professional terms, too, there was no need for this. I myself am selfless in different areas of life, so let’s turn to women’s forums.

A typical example of commercialism:

Yeah, he owes you all this, but what do you owe him? Judging by the request and message - nothing. Why don’t you find another job if the income here is not satisfactory? Or reduce requests. Better yet, learn to take care not only of yourself, but also of others. Maybe you can buy him boots? And he will give you something if he wants.

There are many similar requests on forums, and people also come to psychologists with such requests.

Note! A healthy relationship is a partnership of two independent people, psychologically, physically and financially, who support each other. Such relationships are based on mutual assistance, trust and are not associated with commercialism.

Gifts10

A mercantile girl loves gifts. Dear ones, of course. She accepts gifts without false modesty - the identity of the donor does not matter. If the offering is to her taste, she will gladly accept it.

But keep in mind that you won’t be able to win her heart with just one nice gift.

Neutral side

Now let’s discuss the “moderately mercantile” lady. This woman wants to have a lot, she is smart enough to serve it to her chosen one with the right sauce.

Let him himself wish to give her money, buy her a fur coat, and take her to the sea. A typical modern girl who, for such merits, will cook dinner and treat her to evening tenderness, but she does not want to strain to create a common family capital, nor does she want to work. If she works, then, so to speak, for the soul, so as not to sit at home. Her interests lie in many things - to relax, dress up, have fun, sleep, throw a scandal a couple of times to warm up the relationship. She invariably looks at those who offered her more. Each of you has such an example from life.