Consumerism Figuratively Like A Drug

Consumerism is something that is inevitable for every individual including myself, as we are encouraged and peer pressured into buying the latest commercial goods. This is something which various individuals such as environmental activist David Suzuki, (Suzuki et al, 2007) mentioning the rise of a consumerism worldview. Other fellow thinkers like, Victor mentions how the unprecedented economic growth leads to rapid changes in benefits and costs with respect to the environment or in general the planet. (Victor, 2010) This thought of a consumerism worldview in my personnel opinion is something that is already present in our society today, and isn’t something that will ever go away. In a situation like this it is better to think of possible solutions …show more content…
Just like going into rehabilitation for fixing an individual’s drug problem, how can our society minimize or escape excessive consumerism? First, we have to address the two different types of consumerism. The first type of consumerism is when the society is just obtaining what is needed, but the second type of consumerism is when we extended beyond what is needed and start buying and demanding things because we selfishly desire it. This selfish desire of wanting more things isn’t helped by the media as the advertisements for various products are reshaped such that we become more desired around material possession. Government institutions that provide personal credit for people to get what they want without worrying about if they have enough money further increase this excessive consumption. Eventually leading to excessive consumption being a norm and/or natural as a result of the consumerism view by society. Excessive consumption plays a huge part in the progression of different products, which starts to drain our planet’s limited resources. Our planet only produces resources that is enough to meet our needs but not enough to meet our desires. Therefore as more and more resources are depleted ( Suzuki et al, 2007) by increasing population and/or demands, environmental problems; like greenhouse gas emissions, lack of habitats for species to live in due to recreational facilities, water pollution and many more other environmental problems will inevitably arise. There are also financial and emotional problems that will also arise with excessive consumption due to an accumulation of debt. By taking into account these likely side effects of excessive consumerism we should as a society be more keen on our desires and judge if it’s a necessity to own something because if not it will be a part of your life in a way you don’t want it to