Behind Consumption and Consumerism

And consider the following, reflecting world priorities:

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:

Data from the World Bank for 2003 suggests that these numbers have only very slightly changed in those 5 years; people in the world’s high income countries account for 81.5% of total private consumption expenditures — people in the world’s low income countries account for just 3.6%. (The World Bank data does not include the type of breakdown that the 1998 Human Development Report indicates, and while those numbers will of course be different now, they still reveal the stark inequalities in consumption.)

We consume a variety of resources and products today having moved beyond basic needs to include luxury items and technological innovations to try to improve efficiency. Such consumption beyond minimal and basic needs is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, as throughout history we have always sought to find ways to make our lives a bit easier to live. However, increasingly, there are important issues around consumerism that need to be understood. For example:

• How are the products and resources we consume actually produced?
• What are the impacts of that process of production on the environment, society, on individuals?
• What are the impacts of certain forms of consumption on the environment, on society, on individuals?
• Which actors influence our choices of consumption?
• Which actors influence how and why things are produced or not?
• What is a necessity and what is a luxury?
• How do demands on items affect the requirements placed upon the environment?
• How do consumption habits change as societies change?
• Businesses and advertising are major engines in promoting the consumption of products so that they may survive. How much of what we consume is influenced by their needs versus our needs?
• Also influential is the very culture of today in many countries, as well as the media and the political institutions themselves. What is the impact on poorer nations and people on the demands of the wealthier nations and people that are able to afford to consume more?
• How do material values influence our relationships with other people?
• What impact does that have on our personal values?
• And so on.

Just from these questions, we can likely think of numerous others as well. We can additionally, see that consumerism and consumption are at the core of many, if not most societies. The impacts of consumerism, positive and negative are very significant to all aspects of our lives, as well as our planet. But equally important to bear in mind in discussing consumption patterns is the underlying system that promotes certain types of consumption and not other types.

Inherent in today’s global economic system is the wasteful use of resources, labor and capital. These need to be addressed. Waste is not only things like via not recycling etc; it is deep within the system.

The U.N. statistics above are hard hitting, highlight one of the major impacts of today’s form of corporate-led globalization.

“Over” population is usually blamed as the major cause of environmental degradation, but the above statistics strongly suggests otherwise. As we will see, consumption patterns today are not to meet everyone’s needs. The system that drives these consumption patterns also contribute to inequality of consumption patterns too.

This section of the globalissues.org web site will attempt to provide an introductory look at various aspects of what we consume and how.

• We will see possible “hidden” costs of convenient items to society, the environment and individuals, as well as the relationship with various sociopolitical and economic effects on those who do consume, and those who are unable to consume as much (due to poverty and so on).
• We will look at how some luxuries were turned into necessities in order to increase profits.
• This section goes beyond the “don’t buy this product” type of conclusion to the deeper issues and ramifications.
• We will see just a hint at how wasteful all this is on resources, society and capital. The roots of such disparities in consumption are inextricably linked to the roots of poverty. There is such enormous waste in the way we consume that an incredible amount of resources is wasted as well. Furthermore, the processes that lead to such disparities in unequal consumption are themselves wasteful and is structured deep into the system itself. Economic efficiency is for making profits, not necessarily for social good (which is treated as a side effect). The waste in the economic system is, as a result, deep. Eliminating the causes of this type of waste are related to the elimination of poverty and bringing rights to all. Eliminating the waste also allows for further equitable consumption for all, as well as a decent standard of consumption.
• So these issues go beyond just consumption, and this section only begins to highlight the enormous waste in our economy which is not measured as such.
• A further bold conclusion is also made that elimination of so much wasted capital would actually require a reduction of people’s workweek. This is because the elimination of such waste means entire industries are halved in size in some cases. So much labor redundancy cannot be tolerated, and hence the answer is therefore to share the remaining productive jobs, which means reducing the workweek!
• We will see therefore, that political causes of poverty are very much related to political issues and roots of consumerism. Hence solutions to things like hunger, environmental degradation, poverty and other problems have many commonalities that would need to be addressed.

Entire volumes of research can be written on this topic so these pages provide just an insight to these issues!

Creating the Consumer

This section looks at the rise of the consumer and the development of the mass consumer society. While consumption has of course been a part of our history, in the last 100 years or so, the level of mass consumption beyond basics has been exponential and is now a fundamental part of many economies. Luxuries that had to be turned into necessities and how entire cultural habits had to be transformed for this consumption is introduced here. Last updated Wednesday, May 14, 2003.

Read article: Creating the Consumer

Children as Consumers

A stark example of this increasing consumption and its associated impacts is the use and promotion of consumption by children. Kid’s markets are enormous and there are many products and foods geared towards children. Parents on the one hand have a hard time raising children; while on the other hand, kids are being increasingly influenced by commercialism. Last updated Tuesday, October 28, 2003.

Read article: Children as Consumers

Effects of Consumerism

Because consumption is so central to many economies, and even to the current forms of globalization, its effects therefore are also seen around the world. How we consume, and for what purposes drives how we extract resources, create products and produce pollution and waste. Issues relating to consumption hence also affect environmental degradation, poverty, hunger, and even the rise in obesity that is nearing levels similar to the “official” global poverty levels. Political and economic systems that are currently promoted and pushed around the world in part to increase consumption also lead to immense poverty and exploitation. Much of the world cannot and do not consume at the levels that the wealthier in the world do. Indeed, the above U.N. statistics highlight that very sharply. In fact, the inequality structured within the system is such that as Richard Robbins says, “some one has to pay” for the way the wealthier in the world consume. Last updated Wednesday, August 10, 2005.

Read article: Effects of Consumerism

In this section, we look at the example of tobacco consumption. Smoking kills millions. Furthermore, it exacerbates poverty, damages the environment, and (through diversion of land resources away from food production) contributes to world hunger. This wastes our wealth such as capital, labor, and resources. Last updated Saturday, June 10, 2006.

Read article: Tobacco

Obesity