Bingo, this hits the nail on the head. We live in a capitalist, market oriented society and we've allowed marketers to run the show by letting them define and influence our sense of self. The eventual outcome of this has been a self-image entirely based on the specific goods and services we consume.

It took a lot of introspection for me to realize that my core essence and sense of self couldn't really be distilled down to much more than what I did for a living and my consumption patterns. It's quite scary and I've been searching for ways to balance myself out and get more meaning out of life.