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One definition of consumerism is the obsession with acquiring more and more things. For most of us, consumerism or the practice of acquiring things is just a part of life, just trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses,’ so to speak. After all, why shouldn’t we have the things we want in the amounts that we want them? Also from an economic standpoint, many believe that consumerism is a good thing. Those who are in favor of consumerism believe the practice provides jobs and keeps the economy purring like a kitten. But do we need all that stuff, and is continuing the cycle of consumerism good for us and the planet in the long run?
Our Health
Believe it or not, consumerism is bad for our health. Just because we can eat anything and everything in whatever quantity we want, including healthy foods, does not mean it’s good for us. Consumerism has led society to high rates of obesity, not just in the US but around the world.
’20 years ago, there was not a single state in America that had an obesity rate over 15%. Nowadays there are 41 states with obesity rates above 25%’
With the increasing number of people around the world adopting the practice of consumerism, it stands to reason that the number of obese people will increase as well. The cost of health care for obese individuals compared to healthy ones was $2,500 more per person in 2015.
So clearly, higher rates of obesity due to overconsumption of both healthy and non-healthy foods are going to drastically increase the costs of healthcare for many if something doesn’t change.
Natural Resources
The higher the demand for more things around the world, the higher the supply of things will be as well to meet this demand. This is just a fact of basic economics in a capitalistic society. Consumerism creates a drain on water and base resources, it also causes an overuse of energy and encourages the use of chemicals that are not friendly to the environment.² If we want our planet to be viable for many generations to come far into the future, then we as a people will need to rethink our ideas around consumerism and the collection of things simply for the short-term pleasure of consuming/having them.
The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor
As more countries countries join the practice of consumerism, and more individuals become wealthier, these wealthier individuals consume more. This in turn widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots to a drastic degree. While this may not bother some, if you look at this from a global environmental standpoint we are going to be consuming our natural resources even faster, possibly making our world less able to support its growing populations.
As of 2005, ‘Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%.’
The capitalism that spawned the practice of consumerism seems on the surface like it gives everyone a shot at having all the things they want, but if you look at the statistics, the rich are getting richer and the poor, well they’re staying poor. Also, when you look at what the people in the wealthiest countries are consuming and spending their money on, it’s clear that with some careful reduction of what we spend our money on, we could make the gap significantly smaller. For example, people in Europe spend 11 billion a year on ice cream, and those same Europeans spend 50 billion on cigarettes. Finally, worldwide 400 billion is spent on narcotics. When just 6 billion would give basic education to every child in the world, and when it would only take 22 billion to give access to clean water, basic healthcare, and adequate nutrition, it’s easy to see that consumerism is not the best practice for not just the planet but humans.
So What Can You Do?
In my humble opinion, the takeaway from this is that we must consume less. If we continue to consume things at the rate we currently are, while our planet will probably survive, people may not. The best question we can ask ourselves is, ‘Do I need this?’ If we already have a computer that works and does what we need it to do, do we need that super fast, brand new just off the production belt computer? Probably not. Just because we can get another new supposedly better computer and give away, throw away, or recycle our old one doesn’t necessarily mean we should. Our ancestors had a habit of fixing things. If something broke they fixed it. They only threw something away if it couldn’t be fixed. I can remember stories about my great-grandmother making dresses out of feed sacks. By the 1940s and as early as the 1920’s the feed bag manufacturers were turning out feed sacks that had beautiful bright colors and designs. What I think we can learn from this is to use what we have until it can no longer be used and then to recycle the parts. The less we buy when it’s not necessary and the more we recycle the better chance we have of not using up our natural resources before it’s too late. Consumerism in and of itself doesn’t appear on the surface to be a bad thing, but when we scratch the surface of consumerism, there is a monster beneath. After all, do we need all those things? Probably not.
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