I think the first step in curing rabid consumerism is to realize that corporations pay messaging gurus millions to lure us into The American Cult of Consumerism. Learn the difference between advertising, propaganda, lies and reality.
Own less and live more. Psychologists say that people today own more objects than previous generations but many are “deeply unhappy.”
Advertisers spend millions researching how to induce us to purchase, says Vyse, a Connecticut College psychology professor. Their findings often lead to increasingly innovative, and sometimes intrusive, ways to market their products, he adds.
Doesn’t it make you angry to know that you have been manipulated?
Question everything! This is one of the first things I taught my children and they learned it quite well which often made parenting more challenging but also taught me how to say, “Okay, I got that one wrong.” In Texas where children are required to show respect to adults even if they are not deserving of respect, it takes a brave child to face the persecution of questioning. I am proud to say they both have a “very low tolerance for stupid bullshit.”
One of the best solutions toward a sustainable future is to replace the idea of ownership with access. Do you agree or disagree? ~Sustainable Man
Through firsthand experience watching isolated communities become a part of globalization, via industrial agriculture, plastics, etc., the filmmakers have compiled evidence to show that our consumer culture has played a huge role in our loss of general happiness. Before this “Western modernization,” traditional communities had more leisure time, participated in work and labor that had a visible, meaningful impact in their lives, and relied on neighbors and community members for help when it was needed. Economic globalization replaced these qualities with conflict, financial instability, and the idea that nothing was ever quite good enough. Mother Earth News review
10 Steps to Escape Consumerism
An ethical step: If your electricity provider offers the choice to use only 100% wind or solar generated power, please make that choice. The cost is only pennies more but the cost will come down as more people make that choice. Take this small step so you aren’t participating in Sacrifice Zones of Extraction. Thanks!
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Anonymous says
HOW TRUE THIS POST IS! This country (with it’s free enterprise system) of ours is consumer driven, 100%. If you want to do the GasHoles in, just buy less stuff. Buy what you need, enjoy life, just consume less, and go less places–another 10% reduction in U.S. fuel demand will drive ’em bananas. And then we are promoting (with our tax money) this type of system in the other parts of the world where they don’t even want it, nor know how to run and operate it.
FRACKED says
Hi Sharon,
Here’s something for anyone who really wants to begin to understand … new from BBC. Executive producer is Martin Scorsese. Outstanding,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdlDxI7mC-c&feature=related
Best…