What do you think about the mindset of people who find happiness in buying materialistic things like branded shoes and clothes, justifying it by saying that these purchases motivate them to earn more money, to do more work and to feel good for the job that makes it possible😯?

I find it quite primitive. Only the primitive man finds joy and comfort only in his bodily and vital comforts. The ancient scriptures called it as pashuvat (animal kind centered around food, material security and family), rakshasic (centered around lust and greed) and asuric (centered around ambition and domination, control of others). There are many like that since it is an early stage of human development hence Nature multiplies this kind. True humanity is characterised by true use of reason, development of a discerning intellect and higher thought. It is marked by a quest and seeking for truer and higher things, a nobler life pursuing an ideal, a heart of sympathy and kindness. Beyond it are the godlike humanity centered around the soul and spiritual self.

Affectionately,

Alok Da