The development of civilisation has always been associated with the desire to change the living conditions, so as to raise it to the highest level known as prosperity. Today, the basie terms of the occurrence of that State in society is to protect citizens with incomes at a high level, the absence of overt or hidden un- employment, universally accessible health care and education at all levels as well as social security (Łopatka, 1971, p. 82). Besides, it is also combined with satisfaction in the cultural sphere. Phe- nomenon of striving to gain social prestige is now increasingly associated with prosperity. It is understood, however, first and foremost, as the ability of the single person to consume (Sroczyński, 2013, p. 2). While consumption is, essen- tially, a natural human instinct, in order to meet the vital needs, in some situa- tions it can tum into consumptionism. It stands for, in tum, excessive consumption ("ostentatious"), based on the blurred boundaries between "real" and "made-up" needs (Sroczyński, 2013, pp. 3-4). From the economic point of view, consumptionism is a symptom of the high evaluation of present goods in relation to futurę goods in limited time horizon. Such consumption of the greater part of the goods nowadays and the Iow level of savings does not lead to prosperity, but economic stagnation. Consumptionism is not only a perversion of the natural need of consumption, which is one of the catalysts for económic development, but actuałly it is its antagonist(fragment of text)