It is unintelligent to devote yourself to consumerism, to strive for fancy apartments and clothes and expensive vacations. We don’t need them. The pleasure we derive from them is momentary. What we need is adequate and healthy food and drink, protection, safety and shelter, solitude, friendship, and boundaries – just simple needs.
I absolutely agree, but to get most of the things you describe, you need money. When people say ‘money doesn’t lead to happiness’, they only say that to make poor people feel better about themselves. It is only true in the context of a consumerist lifestyle. But I know a lot of fairly rich people, and almost none of them are consumerists. They don’t want anything because they already have everything they need. It tends to be poor people who are consumerists- they want things they don’t have. Money buys you the luxury of no longer worrying or caring about material possessions, because of the security that you will never face hardship.