Consumerism and Sustainability
Frequent commenter MarcoPolo responds to my suggestion that unbridled consumerism is unsustainable, and that it’s particularly atrocious that so much of it is focused on items that serve little if any practical value. He writes:
Consumerism is the basis of civilization; it’s the bedrock of every advanced economy. Once societies begin to reject the expansion of consumer goods, they begin to lose momentum and decay. Every consumer item, no matter how seemingly frivolous, is tangible evidence of individual creativity, inspiration and diligence. No great advances can be made without the sort of society that produces a myriad of small, seemingly useless or unnecessary innovations.
I recall your suggesting this many times over the years, i.e., that buying useless things is the fuel that powers society.
I can’t imagine that’s true. Can’t society improve itself by cutting out the spending on garbage and focusing it on the myriad of things that actually mean something? Here are a few suggestions: locally grown produce and other goods that promote health, aeroponics, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, better education, travel, outdoor adventure equipment, etc.
At a certain point, I predict it’s going to be uncool to have dog polishers and sponge sharpeners, and cool to have things that forward the sustainability of our environment and civilization.
Craig,
Craig,
Oh Dear, I seem to have awoken your Puritanical instinct.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with consumers preferring
” health, aeroponics, renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, better education, travel, outdoor adventure equipment, etc”.
Indeed I’ve spent most of my life promoting many of these choices, but that’s missing the point.
The real point is it must be the consumers choice. Their own choice, not one arbitrarily thrust upon them by self righteous, politically correct zealots.
A lot of consumerism is driven by fashion. People buy certain items to identify with certain social groups or the image they wish to project. Others may wish to express their personal philosophies, rebel against society, parents, whatever.
Consumerism is the basis of “civilization”. You may not value a dog polisher’s prized sponge sharpener, but then he may not rate a Jackson Pollock painting as valuable.
When I was young, youth rebelled by wearing long hair, listening to outlandish music etc, today’s kids wear shave their hair and cover themselves in tattoos.
These are expressions of creativity and freedom, tolerated, even celebrated in a free society . That’s the point of “freedom” it allows the consumer the freedom to make unwise choices.
But, in a free society the individual citizen must freely decide what’s valuable for themselves as individuals, without having to put up with a bunch of sanctimonious Puritans using any excuse to force conformity.
History abounds with societies that restricted individual creativity, all ended badly.
The basis of civilized economics is consumerism. Consumerism makes no distinction regarding the inherent value of manufactured item. Value is determined solely by fashion and perspective.
Your desire for sensible, organic, long wearing footwear, creates less economic activity (and employment) than my high fashion, short life, absurdly expensive, blue suede shoes. Both serve a purpose, both tell the world who we are, our philosophies and serve to identify our social clan.
As long as fashion remains free and harmless, the economic and social benefits remain a source of free expression and social variety.
Conformist puritans will always bemoan free expression in the name of some invented necessity, whether religious, moral or environmental.
As the great social reformer Lord Macaulay wrote;
“The puritan hates the cruel sport of bear baiting, not because of the pain and suffering inflicted on the poor animal, but because it may give pleasure to the spectators.”
My nieghbour recently offered me a ride to my office in his new Rolls-Royce Phantom. This huge automobile with it’s 12 cylinder, 6.8 litre engine and luxurious appointments costs nearly $1 million dollars and takes an army of highly skilled craftsman to build.
In practical terms it performs the same function as any 5 seat car for $30,000 and took more time through the traffic to reach our destination, than my normal Train.
However, the vehicle is certainly a marvel of human creativity, crammed with a treasure trove of astonishing creature comforts, requiring a vast number of artisans, engineers, designers, craftsmen of all sorts to produce and service the enormous list of features and accessories the vehicle boosts.
Doubtless all these highly paid professionals and workers, are extremely proud and derive considerable satisfaction from producing this mobile work of art.
Unlike the worker’s once employed in miserable conditions in now abolished GDR’s Sachsenring factory in Zwickau.
Those unhappy workers (those who lived long enough to survive the working conditions and lead paint).once wasted their lives in drudgery making that symbol of socialist pride, the defunct and truly horrible little Trabant automobile.
So a sponge sharpener may not be to your taste, but no one is stopping you knitting your own yoghurt, balancing the yin and yang of your Zen macrobiotic cookware, while happily Rolfing 🙂
I’m afraid from the moment an ancient potter learned that a pot with a stripe, sold better than a plain pot, the world of consumerism was born.