Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
There is an idea floating around: black people worship at the altar of materialism. It also suggests that black people are generally more interested in flashing what they have than other races. We are the first ones to buy the flashiest cars and most expensive watches. We look for that which says: I have arrived. The things that we have must be seen; it must be known that we have them and we must be congratulated for it. If others know we have them, they will envy us a little more than they did yesterday.
In Kanye West's new offering, New Slaves, he raps:
That's that: 'Come here, please buy more'/
What you want a Bentley, fur coat and diamond chain?/
All you blacks want all the same things.
And later says, "I know that we the new slaves."
Kanye may be right. Have we enslaved ourselves to materialism?
In Drake's Successful, Trey Songz sings:
I want the money,
Money and the cars,
Cars and the clothes,
The hoes,
I suppose,
I just wanna be,
I just wanna be,
Successful.
Is this the picture of success for black people? Is this what we have decided it should look like? This is not to say that black people need to have a homogenous view of success. We all know that it means different things to different people, but we should realise that there may be other forms of success worth glorifying.
Studies show that a wealthy person is perceived to be more intelligent, successful and educated, and more in control of their life than a poor person. People want to have high social standing because they believe this gives them more esteem. So, as the thinking goes, a flashy car, big watch or anything that visibly demonstrates that one has money, automatically propels that person to the class of the more intelligent, educated percentile.
Material possessions are the easiest way to say you are all these things without having to say a word.
Black people were oppressed for many years. When we had nothing, we viewed success as having material things. We thought only white people could have expensive things and we were denied what we wanted. Now all we want to do is work towards having those things.
In his Nelson Mandela memorial lecture, then president Thabo Mbeki said: "Individual acquisition of material wealth, produced through the oppression and exploitation of the black majority, became the defining social value in the organisation of white society.
"Because the white minority was the dominant social force in our country, it entrenched in our society as a whole, including among the oppressed, the deep-seated understanding that personal wealth constituted the only true measure of individual and social success."
But this lifestyle is not exclusive to black people. A Tumblr called Rich Kids of Instagram shows off rich American youngsters of all races enjoying their exceedingly wealthy parents' money.
There is nothing inherently wrong with acquiring material possessions, particularly the exclusive ones that not everybody can afford. The problem comes with what we allow material things to mean, other than the fact that they are expensive. "I am because of what I have; I am because of what others can see I have" is a dangerous determination. Material possessions do not determine the person who has them.
Perhaps most of us want to enjoy the bounties now because we feel that we will not be successful like Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani, who have places in history books.
We need to define what success means to us as a society. We stumbled and staggered towards what is generally accepted to be success in the Western sense.
A successful person is one who makes it easier for others to succeed. Our parents' generation achieved this.
The trap of materialism is that it celebrates the mantra, "live for now". The reality is that there is posterity to consider. We must build a society that values making a positive impact for generations. Whether that be in politics or business, and if it means being an industrialist or a scientist.
We need a new idea that will replace the relentless worship of materialism.