Most people I talk to today understand that humanity is inflicting
harsh damage on the planet’s life support systems of clean air,
water, soil and biodiversity. But they feel so insignificant among
6.2 billion people that whatever they do to lighten our impact on
nature seems trivial. I am often asked "What can I do?"
Well, how about examining our consumption habits. Not long ago, frugality
was a virtue but today two thirds of our economy is built on consumption.
This didn’t happen by accident.
The stock market collapse in 1929 triggered the Great Depression that
engulfed the world in terrible suffering. World War II was the catalyst
for economic recovery. America’s enormous resource base, productivity,
energy and technology were thrown into the war effort and soon its
economy blazed white hot. With victory imminent, the President’s
Council of Economic Advisors was challenged to find a way to convert
a war economy to peace.Shortly after the end of the war, retailing
analyst Victor Lebow expressed the solution: "Our enormously
productive economy . . . demands that we make consumption our way
of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals,
that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in
consumption . . . we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and
discarded at an ever-accelerating rate."
President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors Chairman
stated: "The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to
produce more consumer goods." Not better health care, education,
housing, transportation or recreation or less poverty and hunger,
but providing more stuff to consumers.
When goods are well-made and durable, eventually markets are saturated.
An endless market is created by introducing rapid obsolescence (think
clothing, cars, laptop computers). And with disposability, where an
article is used once and thrown away, the market will never be saturated.
Consumer goods aren’t created by the economy out of nothing,
they come from the earth and when they are used up, they will be returned
to the earth as garbage and toxic waste. It takes energy to extract,
process, manufacture and transport products, while air, water and
soil are often polluted at many points in the life cycle of the product.
In other words, what we consume has direct effects on nature.And then
there are social and spiritual costs. Allen Kanner and Mary Gomes
state in The All-Consuming Self: "The purchase of a new product,
especially a ‘big ticket’ item such as a car or computer,
typically produces an immediate surge of pleasure and achievement,
and often confers status and recognition upon the owner. Yet as the
novelty wears off, the emptiness threatens to return. The standard
consumer solution is to focus on the next promising purchase."
Ultimately, it goes beyond pleasure or status; acquiring stuff becomes
an unquenchable demand. Paul Wachtel says in The Poverty of Affluence:
"Having more and newer things each year has become not just something
we want but something we need. The idea of more, ever-increasing wealth,
has become the centre of our identity and our security, and we are
caught up by it as the addict is by his drugs."
Much of what we purchase is not essential for our survival or even
basic human comfort, but is based on impulse, novelty, a momentary
desire. And there is a hidden price that we, nature and future generations
will pay for it too.
When consumption becomes the very reason economies exist, we never
ask "how much is enough," "why do we need all this
stuff," and "are we any happier?" Our personal consumer
choices have ecological, social and spiritual consequences. It is
time to re-examine some of our deeply held notions that underlie our
lifestyles.
To discuss this topic with others, visit the discussion forum
at davidsuzuki.org. Page not found - Common GroundSkip to content
Oops! That page can’t be found.
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try searching?
