Consumerism

[Boof-head]

"Western consumerism is a culture of exploitation and greed, with little or no regard for the consequences, such as those which short-term gains have on the environment: whaling, overfishing, forest destruction, deterioration of water catchments, greenhouse gases ... or that they have on indigenous societies with little available means to exploit local resources.

 

It is solely a culture of Imperialism, in which the richest gain the most immediate access to exploitation of resources regardless. The only visible dynamic, is the creation of extreme wealth for a few individuals, and of many societies who are thereby impoverished eventually and denied access to those resources."

 

--discuss.

[freeztar]

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with consuming. It is the way in which we consume that is suspect.

 

Of course, this practice of expanding our consumerism beyond our needs has obvious consequences. It's obvious to some and not others.

[Buffy]

As a friend of mine once said,

 

"Crass generalizations may be justified by admitting at least ten exceptions..."

 

I think you owe us more than ten there. :eek2:

 

If this thread is going to go any further, I'd suggest you do better than the pejorative and indirect definition of the word "Consumerism" given above...

 

Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before, ;)

Buffy

[Boof-head]

If this thread is going to go any further, I'd suggest you do better than the pejorative and indirect definition of the word "Consumerism" given above...

If you are going to discuss the paragraphs inside the quotes in the OP, you might do better than a shallow interpretation, and another somewhat meaningless quote, my dear.

 

All I contributed was one word: "discuss", as in "discuss the quoted text".

 

You might also want (or otherwise) to expand your friend's quote somewhat; it looks a little pejorative.

Can you supply a more meaningful analysis of your friend's implication, or are you happy with as general a meaning as I can see in it - which so far goes: "ten exceptions to a crass generalisation may or may not exist, but who cares?"

 

Do you have a personally applied definition of "consumerism", at all? Does it correspond to a generally accepted meaning, or would you say there is no such meaning?

 

I'm sort of curious (but since I'm a dedicated consumer, what do I care?)

[Buffy]

...what do I care?

Hmmm....do you?

 

Outside of any context, the OP can be taken as inflammatory, and it might be taken as a purposeful attempt to incite a riot...but you're new here, so we'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

 

So, why don't you tell us: what do *you* think of the OP?

 

Fear not those who argue but those who dodge, :eek2:

Buffy

[Boof-head]

it might be taken as a purposeful attempt to incite a riot..

Ah, you mean like that store in the US that advertised a sale; the one where the worker was trampled by the eager consumers?

 

Why don't you tell us, what you think of the OP? Is there a danger you will accept some of it, as self-evident?

Or, you think we should take all the whales and all the fish, cut down all the trees, etc?

After all, consumerism is the only thing to believe in and identify with isn't it?

You absolutely must buy those things that companies tell you to buy, right? Like a dutiful consumer.

 

P.S. You appear to want me to discuss the OP I made, without waiting to see if anyone else has anything? Isn't that a bit pointless?

 

Then again, if it says something that's only a crass generalisation, then it's probably pointless to invite discussion of it.

So, let us consume, I suppose - who cares?

[sanctus]

Just like freez said and like globalization: it is not something bad by definition it just depends on how it is implemented.

I do not see the OP as pejorative, it is just the description on how it goes nowadays...we would have enough resources to feed the world today, consumerism (as it is nowadays) is one of the main reasons why we don't do it, because distributing the resources woul make our standard of living go down, since there wouldn't be any more things at the low price we are used to.

[Buffy]

That's what I thought....oh well, *someone* has to keep you on your toes, so here we go! :shrug:

 

con·sum·er·ism (kən-sōō'mə-rĭz'əm) n.

 

1. The movement seeking to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards.

2. The theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial.

3. Attachment to materialistic values or possessions: deplored the rampant consumerism of contemporary society.

 

Source:

American Heritage Dictionary

 

Now lets look again at your original post:

Originally Posted by

Boof-head

:

Western consumerism

is

a culture of

exploitation and greed

, with little or

no regard for the consequences

,

such as those which short-term gains have on the environment: whaling, overfishing, forest destruction, deterioration of water catchments, greenhouse gases ... or that they have on indigenous societies with little available means to

exploit

local resources

.

 

It is

solely

a culture of

Imperialism

, in which the richest gain the most immediate access to exploitation of resources regardless. The

only

visible dynamic, is the

creation of extreme wealth

for a few individuals, and of many societies who are thereby

impoverished

eventually and

denied access

to those resources.

[/i]

 

First and foremost, at the highest level this definition clearly aligns solely with the third definition given by the dictionary. As a result it can be considered "less that the truth" since it defines the term without acknowledgment of the other definitions, which by virtue of their order are indicated by the dictionary as being *more common*.

 

Next, note the underlined words: these are all stative verbs/adverbs, that are declarative and absolute, allowing only the exact interpretation and no other. You know, rigid in a Maoist sorta way!

 

Then note the underlined words: these are all superlative adjectives that have either very explicit negative definitions or "dog-whistle" connotations. Pejorative? Well, that's probably dependent on your point of view on the topic!

 

Lastly there's that lovely italicized part which is a somewhat hackneyed update of Gen. Jack D. Ripper's screed on Communist Subversion....which of course is either elegantly ironic indicating that the author intends exactly the opposite of the surface meaning of the statement, or clear proof of how cluelessly blind the author is to the embarrassing extremity of the opinions expressed!

 

I know, I know, you're gonna complain about it being about "Western Consumerism," but before you go down that route too far, think: You're saying the "west" has some sort of franchise on greed? That pretty much blows apart any argument that the statement isn't intended to be accusatory or inflammatory.

 

Now to be complete, my opinion about "consumerism" is concentrated on the first definition above: I've actually been quite active in initiatives that promote the interests of the consumer over the interests of business.

 

So to those who might agree with the sense of the original post, I'd ask, is it really "greedy" to be involved in ensuring that the food you buy isn't polluted or the cars you drive are safe?

 

See? Not so bad! Now you go! :cheer:

 

It is a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money, :phones:

Buffy

[Boof-head]

So to those who might agree with the sense of the original post, I'd ask, is it really "greedy" to be involved in ensuring that the food you buy isn't polluted or the cars you drive are safe?

 

And I would counter with: Is it not really greedy, to be involved in ensuring the whale meat you buy is from a sustainable resource, or the cars driven around, in mostly Western countries, aren't going to make the icecaps melt?

[Buffy]

And I would counter with: Is it not really greedy, to be involved in ensuring the whale meat you buy is from a sustainable resource, or the cars driven around, in mostly Western countries, aren't going to make the icecaps melt?

And so you would simplistically assign those attributes to all who do not demand the end to the use of cars and insist that we all go back to living in caves?

 

Obviously we can talk in extremes endlessly, so if that's your point, it's, well, pointless!

 

Those who don’t build must burn. It’s as old as history and juvenile delinquence, :shrug:

Buffy

[Boof-head]

And so you would simplistically assign those attributes to all who do not demand the end to the use of cars and insist that we all go back to living in caves?

Sorry, I don't really follow. What attributes are you meaning?

The attributes of seafood? The attributes of vehicle exhaust? Or the attributes of people who "ensure the seafood is safe to eat, and the cars are safe to drive"?

 

Why have you jumped to "all who do not demand the end of the use of cars" what does that have to do with greed and consumerism? The end of it, or what?

Have you perhaps simplistically assigned this meaning to the OP, so you're actually doing what you appear to be saying I'm doing or the author of the quoted part of my OP is doing?

[sanctus]

Yes Buffy it can be greedy to ensure the quality of what you eat. It is when you want to eat something of quality you do not really need.

I do this as well, not accusing here. For example: I do not deny that if I want to make a guacamole and buy avocados from the best quality possible, it is greed simply because of the question : do I need guacamole? No I don't. But since I have the possibility, sometimes I buy it anyway...what is this if not greed for the pleasure eating guacamole (or the pleasure of making a nice starter for a dinner with friends)?

[Boof-head]

I suppose I could point out that the rubric: "those who don't build must burn", has a counter-argument; one that certain Australians who built homes in a now tinder-dry forest might be thinking about.

Or anywhere else water is getting increasingly harder to find because of all the things that "those who built" have done to rivers and water tables.

 

I also suppose that when the water does run out, it won't be very easy to live in these places.

The undeniable fact underlining consumerism, is that those who consume such resources are not considering their future, or the future their offspring will have. We have to blame the planet, since we're just doing what we have to do - use everything up.

 

The increase in depletion of natural resources has been exponentially growing since the Industrial Revolution though; perhaps we're seeing the advent of some kind of natural limit (but who cares)?