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Consumerism and Sustainability

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717eb57375a971986c3d1e98292644b043Frequent 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.


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