We live in a world in which owning things for the sake of owning things is promoted as part of the ideal way of life. By the time we own one thing, there is a newer, shinier, more cool thing to own that we must have instead.
Flagrant displays of wealth such as "look at my new car!" "My iPhone is bigger than your iPhone!" have ingrained themselves thoroughly into our culture. Most of the time, we don't even want what we want for the sake of the thing itself. We want it because of the social implication of owning such a toy. We want it because it makes us look cool. In other words, we are attracted to the concept of owning, not the item itself.
And, yes, I have to think this is almost entirely down to social conditioning.
Every day, we are bombarded with advertising for every useless flashy product under the sun. And how do advertisers convince us to buy this stuff? By claiming it will cause us to have more social status. It appeals to the part of your mind which thinks "owning things = good".
But why is this bad? Because we are using up resources at a rate of knots in a world where resources are finite, As a species, we are destroying more forest, digging up more minerals and creating more pollution than ever before. And its all because we hold the belief that the more we consume, somehow, the better our lives will be.
Is there a solution? Yes. But it comes down to changing our whole attitude towards consumption.
Don't by a new phone or computer just because your model isn't the very newest any more. Wait until the one you have now stops working completely. When your contract runs out on your phone, opt to renew the contract with the same phone, rather than getting the new one. Don't buy loads of clothes on impulse, buy just as much as you need- and buy ones which will last, rather than ones which are going to fall apart in three days. This is how we make a difference to all the environmental problems we keep seeing in the news, and it will have a substantial impact on the humanitarian problems, as well. We need to start seeing consumption as an occasional necessity, rather than a mass recreational activity.
And yes, unfortunately, we need to get our preachy modes on. Blog, campaign, nag friends, try to get as many people as you can to stop consuming unnecessarily. A social change occurs when enough individuals change themselves.
That's all for now, kids!
Flagrant displays of wealth such as "look at my new car!" "My iPhone is bigger than your iPhone!" have ingrained themselves thoroughly into our culture. Most of the time, we don't even want what we want for the sake of the thing itself. We want it because of the social implication of owning such a toy. We want it because it makes us look cool. In other words, we are attracted to the concept of owning, not the item itself.
And, yes, I have to think this is almost entirely down to social conditioning.
Every day, we are bombarded with advertising for every useless flashy product under the sun. And how do advertisers convince us to buy this stuff? By claiming it will cause us to have more social status. It appeals to the part of your mind which thinks "owning things = good".
But why is this bad? Because we are using up resources at a rate of knots in a world where resources are finite, As a species, we are destroying more forest, digging up more minerals and creating more pollution than ever before. And its all because we hold the belief that the more we consume, somehow, the better our lives will be.
Is there a solution? Yes. But it comes down to changing our whole attitude towards consumption.
Don't by a new phone or computer just because your model isn't the very newest any more. Wait until the one you have now stops working completely. When your contract runs out on your phone, opt to renew the contract with the same phone, rather than getting the new one. Don't buy loads of clothes on impulse, buy just as much as you need- and buy ones which will last, rather than ones which are going to fall apart in three days. This is how we make a difference to all the environmental problems we keep seeing in the news, and it will have a substantial impact on the humanitarian problems, as well. We need to start seeing consumption as an occasional necessity, rather than a mass recreational activity.
And yes, unfortunately, we need to get our preachy modes on. Blog, campaign, nag friends, try to get as many people as you can to stop consuming unnecessarily. A social change occurs when enough individuals change themselves.
That's all for now, kids!
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