The Culture of Consumption in Amerika

     What is advertising really? Is it enterprise informing the consumer on the inherent value of their products and/or services? Is it a truthful endeavor? Is it fundamentally flawed or evil? Perhaps it's "advertisings function is to convince you to obtain credit to purchase things you don't need or want and can't afford that are poorly made by workers that are mistreated, exploited or are functionally slaves"(1), what a mouthful.
     Consumption is not, of and by itself, bad or undesirable. In moderation almost anything can be a neutral or ever a good thing. Overconsumption, however, has a host of issues. At the extreme end of the scale, overconsumption can kill. You might ask, how is that possible? Energy will serve as an example in this case. If a country uses energy in a fashion that causes the cost of energy rise then the people at the bottom of the economic pyramid will be displaced as there are inadequate funds available to allow them to continue to consume at the rate they were. So in order to cover the rise in energy costs the amount of energy consumed must be reduced or expenses must be reduced somewhere else. If they are already marginalized then this translates to one thing, the sacrifice of some other essential item. Energy or food, energy or medicine, energy or transportation and so on.
     When a pattern of use includes trips in the Hummer of 2 blocks to purchase beer, moving further from work, heating the house to 75 in the winter of just leaving lights on unnecessarily keeps or increases the demand and therefor price. Since energy is a global resource this use takes directly from the marginalized peoples from everywhere in the world, possibly resulting in death. This applies to food, manufactured goods, fuel, electricity, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other items to a greater or lesser degree. So being fat and lazy will affect other people. You might ask how let's take a look. You're 300 lbs and you drive to BigBox Superstore, a half a mile in your '66 Big block truck that gets 12 miles to the gallon, to purchases beer, junk food, disposable dish ware and utensils and other disposable items for a barbecue. At your weight you must consume more calories to maintain weight, more food. You drive when you could've walked or rode a bike, that 2 issues, no exercise that increases potential health issues and energy use. Your food choices perpetuate you health risks. the disposable require Oil and Energy. So total up the damage to marginalized people if you lifestyle is consistent will lead to an increase in misery and death. Not factoring in the pollution, carbon footprint and I wonder if you have trouble sleeping? You should, because you can change your lifestyle to be more aware of the consequences of your actions. Not making change would be at best insensitive and at worst you contribute to the suffering of other human beings. There are over 7 billion of us on the planet and there is no room for gluttony, greed or ignorance.
     THINK - READ - THINK - ACT…….



     1. Joel C. Berry