Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Consumerism isn’t the answer


I am confused. When, precisely, did Americans stop being "citizens" and become "consumers"? Do you like being referred to as "the consumer"? I don't. I looked up "to consume" in the Oxford English Dictionary, and now I like it even less. I read: "To consume: destroy; use up; waste."

And another thing. Why are we always being told "growth is good"? That we must "grow the economy"? Does that refer only to America? If 6 billion people were to start growing their economies and consuming as much as we've been doing lately, I understand we would need three or four extra planets just to provide the raw materials needed for two cars in every garage and a microwave in every kitchen and a flat-screen TV in every living room. Surely there is something wrong with this picture, even though it would of course be very nice if millions of women in the so-called Third World no longer had to carry pots of dubious drinking water on their heads for miles back to their earth-floored shacks swarming with flies and hungry children every day.

And lastly, for all this growth and consumption we've been indulging in, have you noticed how low we have sunk in surveys trying to measure that elusive thing called "happiness"? We are way down below, for example, Ireland and Costa Rica.

Is there something to be learned here? Something about priorities and values perhaps? How about putting our own house in order (those of us lucky enough still to have one), and rebuilding fragmenting families, and maybe going to the mall less and the library more? There's so much to be done if we would like to reclaim the honorable title of "citizen."

Diana Fassino

Ketchum




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