HISTORY OF IDEAS - The Consumer Impulse episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 27, 2026 · 13 MIN

HISTORY OF IDEAS - The Consumer Impulse

from The School of Life · host tscol

It’s only very recently in history that we’ve been able to buy more than the bare necessities. Can the history of consumption guide us to a wiser future? Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/a-Zw7 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/ZBufr FURTHER READING “Society takes the business of making money very seriously indeed. Much of our education system is geared towards giving people the skills to get a good job and a steady income. By contrast, very little attention is given to how to spend money well – by which we mean, in ways that stand a chance of properly increasing our sense of well-being and therefore justifying the sacrifices that went into earning the cash. The very subject sounds slightly absurd. Surely there is no challenge here, other than making sure we have enough (by which we mean, ever more) in our wallets....” You can read more on this and other topics here: https://goo.gl/RIjF6W MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on CAPITALISM in our playlist: http://bit.ly/2dmGWsp SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Mike Booth http://www.youtube.com/somegreybloke #TheSchoolOfLife ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s only very recently in history that we’ve been able to buy more than the bare necessities. Can the history of consumption guide us to a wiser future? Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/a-Zw7 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/ZBufr FURTHER READING “Society takes the business of making money very seriously indeed. Much of our education system is geared towards giving people the skills to get a good job and a steady income. By contrast, very little attention is given to how to spend money well – by which we mean, in ways that stand a chance of properly increasing our sense of well-being and therefore justifying the sacrifices that went into earning the cash. The very subject sounds slightly absurd. Surely there is no challenge here, other than making sure we have enough (by which we mean, ever more) in our wallets....” You can read more on this and other topics here: https://goo.gl/RIjF6W MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on CAPITALISM in our playlist: http://bit.ly/2dmGWsp SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Mike Booth http://www.youtube.com/somegreybloke #TheSchoolOfLife ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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HISTORY OF IDEAS - The Consumer Impulse

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This episode was published on June 27, 2026.

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It’s only very recently in history that we’ve been able to buy more than the bare necessities. Can the history of consumption guide us to a wiser future? Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and...

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