The consumption economy of Relationships

Sometimes I really wonder if great minds ever realise the consequences of their discoveries and inventions. Albert Einstein, after the atomic bombing of Japan, wished he had become a watchmaker instead. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I decided to entertain a similar thought. When Adam Smith came up with the theory of Modern Capitalism, did he ever have this thought: "What would happen if people applied the idea of seeking self interest to the way they form relationships?"

"What would happen if people applied the idea of seeking self interest to the way they form relationships?"

With little food for thought available during the weekend after my exams, I could either entertain this thought on my mind or work on my thesis and just like every procrastinating graduate student, I chose to entertain this random thought over my thesis.

The idea of seeking self interest, when implemented, led to the modern capitalist economy. These economies have now transformed into consumption economies wherein the focus is on increasing consumption and utility. Somehow, this need to increase our consumption and utility has also creeped up into how we form relationships.

Look at it this way. How do firms increase make consumers consume more?

1. By lowering the costs of the products they buy so that they can buy more products. For example, moving manufacture of clothes to China and South Asia and coming up with concepts like Fast Fashion to push people to buy more at lower costs. 
2. By lowering the turnaround time for new products (basically coming up with new products  and upgrades quicker) and reducing their lifecycle so that people are subtly pushed to upgrade their things quicker and more often. Consider electronics like Laptops, Mobile phones etc. There was a time when people bought a phone and used it for 4-5 years at least. Now, people replace them every 2 years. There has been a similar reduction in life cycles of refrigerators, ovens, TVs etc. 

We have taken this concept and applied it to relationships as well. The need for relationship, if taken in the context of consumption, is the need to increase one's utility - physical and/or emotional. We have created a whole culture which does exactly the same things as firms do to increase our consumption.

1. We have lowered the cost of achieving physical utility. Transforming from a society where it was considered imperative to be in a long term serious relationship before indulging in sexual activities, we have now developed a culture of one-night stands based on a few drinks and sweet talk. 
2. Exclusive or serious relationships are generally something people indulge in when they seek emotional utility in addition to physical utility. In order to increase our consumption in this department, we have lowered the turnaround time and lifecycle of exclusive relationships. From a time when most relationships would last forever, we have reached a point where most relationships last only a few months or years.  

Please note that I'm not commenting on whether these transformations are good or bad. Nor am I voicing my personal opinions on them. I'm merely mentioning these transformation as examples to support my argument. We have created a consumption economy of relationships by lowering transaction costs and turnaround time the same way as we have been doing with all other possessions in our lives. However, as just another consumer seeking to maximise his utility, am I complaining about the low transaction costs and turnaround times? Absolutely not.