Conumserism Essay, Research Paper

English 1A

November 26, 2000

Consumerism

In the mind of a truly economic man he will always asks himself two questions before purchasing a product. The first question is: What I am going to buy a need or a want? And the second is: Does the marginal benefit out weigh the marginal cost? In other words, do I really need this item? And will the benefit to me be greater than the cost of the product? Unfortunately, all people whether they are economists or young wild teenagers, have not looked at the goods they are buying in a truly economic fashion. People generally in today s society look to buy goods that fill a present desire. They have no concern about whether the product is wasteful or not, nor do they consider the cost of the product on the environment. People have been led to believe that, the possession and use of an increasing number and variety of goods and services is the principal cultural aspiration and the surest perceived route to personal happiness, social status, and success The tragic irony is that the historic rise of the consumer society has been quite effective in harming the environment, but not in providing people with a fulfilling life (Durning 448-450). What is even more tragic than not acquiring a fulfilling life is that if we do not stop over consumption, it will lead to the demise of the human race. It is not Mother earth who must change, but people. Environmentally friendly technology and products are now available, its time to shift to a new era.

Environmentalists who have already recognized the problem of over consumption realize that the return to a pre-Industrial Revolution life-style is neither practical nor possible. And even the most ardent shop- til-you-droppers admit that the majority of people could rethink their consumer habits and still live in comfortable and satisfying lives (Pollock). People need to find the happy medium in these two extremes to make it possible for everyone to coexist in an ideal world, one that would make it possible to live fruitfully but without damage to the environment. In order to create this ideal world society is going to have to cycle out of its old ways. Transformations of agricultural patterns, transportation systems, urban design, energy use, and the could radically reduce the total environmental damage caused by the consuming societies, while allowing those at the bottom of the economic ladder to rise without producing such egregious effects (Durning 458).

For many people if you can t drive you can t live. This translates into a large usage of fossil fuels, and a high release in vehicle emissions. Fossil fuels provide 78% of energy, and vehicles generate 14% of the world s carbon dioxide. It doesn t take a genius to see the correlation between the two. We need to ask ourselves; If we know what we are doing is bad why don t we change it?

Technology has allowed us to cycle out of our harmful ways. For example, Vovlo, during the oil crisis was able to develop a car called the LCP, or the Light Component Project. This vehicle was as safe and reliable as the other cars of its time, and was able to achieve an extremely efficient miles per gallon rating. The idea, unfortunately, never caught on. By the time the new car had finally been manufactured, the oil crisis was over (RSP 6). Not only have people been shown ways to cut the usage of fossil fuels, but they have also been given the option to practically eliminate them. Many car companies have developed electric cars, although these cars have not yet been perfected, the environmentally conscious consumer can still purchase them.

An even larger problem than the consumption of fossil fuels is the degradation of land in the world. Society has created an extinction crisis, Or a time where the environment is being degraded at an unparalleled rate. In order to provide more food for the growing population the rain forest is being burned at a rate of one acre every second. This process not only releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the air, but will eventually end up killing off all of the diverse species in this fragile region. Scientists estimate that in the rain forest there are approximately 30 million species of plant and animal life, and of those one third of them are gravely threatened (RSP 5). People need to remember that our ecosystem is set up like a brick wall, and every time a species is removed the wall becomes weaker. Eventually our once unbreakable wall will crumble and the almighty human is going to be the one dead and buried in the rubble.

Another major problem that faces society is over consumption of food. For the top 1.25 billion people in the world they consume three times as much fat (which comes from red meat) compared to the remaining 4 billion. This is wasting the earth s vital resources through land degradation, consumption of beef, the release of methane into the environment, and accounts for the lack of health in these societies. The meat class pays the price of their high fat diet with heart disease, strokes, and certain

types of cancer. The 3.4 billion grain eaters of the world get enough calories and plenty of plant-based protein, to make them healthiest population in the world (Durning 460). It is time for the wealthy to re-evaluate their diets, not only for their own sake but the sake of the environment as well. Indirectly, the meat eating quarter of humanity consumes almost half the worlds grain that fattens the livestock that they eat. They are also responsible for many environmental strains induced by the present global agricultural system, from soil erosion to over-pumping of underground water (Durning 461). A diet founded on the consumption of water and grains is not only good for the body, but good for the earth as well. And a lifestyle that makes full use of raw materials for durable goods without succumbing to the throwaway mentality is ecologically sound while still affording many of the comforts of modernity (Durning 464).

With all of the consumption of food it is allowing population to grow at a pace in which the world can not keep up with. Our once so-called communities have become obsolete and one cannot go anywhere without seeing a set of track homes. Urban Sprawl is occurring at an unprecedented rate. It is no longer isolated in places like Los Angeles. People are no longer able to walk to the corner market to pick up groceries, strip malls are continuing to rise, and once beautiful untouched terrain is becoming all too rare. In order to change this, society needs to adopt sprawl solutions. Or better put, environmentally conscious land planning. This idea has been tested and it works! In Maryland, the state has earmarked $140 million for open space protection and has plans to save 58,000 acres of crucial land along the state s Eastern Shore and in Oregon, urban growth limits and intelligent planning have protected open space while allowing cities like Portland to thrive (Environmental News Network).

All of the evidence proves that it is possible to be economically and environmentally aware, without giving up things that we enjoy. Henry David Thoreau understood the idea of over consumption for he was all too right when he said that, A man is rich in proportion to the things that he can afford. Life should not be about seeing how much stuff one can accumulate over a lifetime, he who dies with the most toys still dies. Life should be about enjoying this perfect world that God has so graciously given to us. It provides everything we have and everything we will ever have. We cannot survive without Mother earth, yet she can strive without us. We are finite, she is forever. In order to live in this ideal world

people must realize that it is not so much a battle cry for one side or the other, as a design for negotiating an end to this suicidal war-for making peace with the planet (Hardin 502).

Works Cited

Durning, Alan. How Much is Enough ? The Prentice Hall Reader. Ed: George Miller. Englewood Cliffs,

NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 456

Durning, Alan. The Consumer Society. Walker 448 450

Environmental News Network. October 8, 1999. http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9910/08/sprawl.enn/index.html

Hardin, Garrett. At War With The Planet. Walker 502

More For Less. Race to Save the Planet. Videotape. Narrator: Roy Scheider. Burlington:

Annenberg/ CPB Collection. 1990.

Pollock, Jeri. Essay # 3 Guidelines. Moorpark College. October 26, 2000.

Reading the Environment. Ed: Melissa Walker. New York: W.W. Norton. 1994.

Remnants of Eden. Race to Save the Planet. Videotape. Narrator: Roy Scheider. Burlington:

Annenberg/ CPB Collection. 1990.