Seeking a Cultural Revolution: From Consumerism to Sustainability

[StarfarerBill]

By Matthew Berger

WASHINGTON - The last 50 years have seen an unprecedented and unsustainable spike in consumption, driven by a culture of consumerism that has emerged over that period, says a report released Tuesday by the Worldwatch Institute.

This consumerist culture is the elephant in the room when it comes to solving the big environmental issues of today, the report says, and those issues cannot be fully solved until a transition to a more sustainable culture is begun.

"State of the World 2010", subtitled "Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability", tries to chart a path away from what Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin calls "the consumer culture that has taken hold probably first in the U.S. and now in country after country over the past century, so that we can now talk about a global consumerist culture that has become a powerful force around the world."

In this culture, says the book-length report, people find meaning and contentment in what they consume, but this cultural orientation has had huge implications for society and the planet. The average U.S. citizens, for instance, consumes more each day, in terms of mass, than they weigh. If everyone lived like this, the Earth could only sustain 1.4 billion people.

Flavin admits consumerism is not the only factor driving environmental degradation but says it is one of the key root causes on which other factors are built – and, as a cultural framework, it is expanding.

"In India and China, for instance, the consumer culture of the U.S. and Western Europe is not only being replicated but being replicated on a much vaster scale," Flavin says.

Consumption has risen sixfold since 1960, the report says, citing World Bank statistics. Even taking the rising global population into account, this amounts to a tripling of consumption expenditures per person over this time. This has led to similar increases in the amount of resources used – a sixfold increase in metals extracted from the earth, eightfold in oil consumption and 14-fold in natural gas consumption.

"In total, 60 billion tons of resources are now extracted annually – about 50 percent more than just 30 years ago," the report says.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/13-0

[The2ndWheel]

1. "Culture that does not let people grow is a dead culture"

Which also means that the culture itself has to grow, or die.

Which is why this, "the consumer culture that has taken hold probably first in the U.S. and now in country after country over the past century, so that we can now talk about a global consumerist culture that has become a powerful force around the world.", is the reality.

It also, obviously, didn't take hold in the US. What we call America wouldn't exist if it did. It took the Europeans coming over and expanding to create the US that we know today. This isn't something that has only been happening for a few decades, or a few hundred years. It goes back thousands of years. It's the foundation of civilization.

"Flavin admits consumerism is not the only factor driving environmental degradation but says it is one of the key root causes on which other factors are built – and, as a cultural framework, it is expanding."

Consumerism is hardly a root cause. It is a symptom. Consumerism is the building, not the resources used to build it.

[OHdem10]

2. Starting with Reagan our economic system has been based on

Consumption. Remember GW when asked what Americans could do
to help the war effort=--GO SHOPPING. Reagan had uttered
something similar much earlier. This whole system has been
based on Consumption and Service Industry. Right now the
primary reason we are having so much trouble getting out
of this recession--People are not shopping. People are not
buying things. A Service Based Economy cannot sustain this
nation.

Where is the change??? Will anyone have the courage to to
turn things around by making at least 15 to 20 percent of
economy based on manufacturing???

Have not seen too much courage but hope springs eternal.

[HillbillyBob]

3. You are asking, perhaps we need to start co op investing in rebuilding manu.

I grew up around depression era grandparents and g grandparents.
My father and mother did not go in for consumption for the sake of keeping up with the Jones.

Not that we didn't try to have nice things. I remember being somewhat disappointed when we would get clothes for Christmas instead of a bunch of the latest greatest (supposedly) toys. That is not to say we did not get toys tho. They tried to strike a balance.
I think that is what we need to try to do as a country.
I live in a former tobacco production area. Even 50 yrs ago it was fairly well off, but with the decline in tobacco industry and textiles Danville Va was where Dan River Mills used to be, it is now empty and the tobacco was shipped out via rail, those ware houses are all still now, except for a few that have been re purposed.

My partner and I bought a house in what used to be a tobacco field that we are turning into an Eco farm. Instead of planting stuff for pretty, we are planting fruit trees, berry bushes, food gardens..or trying to on a very slim frayed shoestring.

I would like to see more sustainable manufacturing, we have empty factory buildings all over NC. We can grow Moso Bamboo AKA timber bamboo, it has various uses and these factories (if I could get financing) to retool them for bamboo hardwood flooring, lumber, cloth, food (canned bamboo shoots come from the same specie). I have planted a giant sequoia and some incense cedars. We only have 7 acres, but my idea is that these are fairly fast growing trees.
Giant Sequoia is insect and fire resistant, and the local pines are starting to die from the bark beetle infestation.

Instead of importing from overseas why can't we plant this stuff here? I hear folks say oh it will get out of hand. Well moso bamboo takes about 7 10 yrs to become established then it can be harvested every 3 4 yrs without killing the plant. The culms (shoots) reach their final height in about 60 days, then takes several years to mature and harden to be usefull. They take a good bit of water in that 60 day growth spurt, but can handle dry periods the rest of the year, take little fertilizer(none really needed slower growing makes harder fiber)

[winyanstaz]

5. Looks like you are setting a good example too :)

Commercial Hemp would also be a fast plant with many uses that would open up factories.

[truedelphi]

6. Thank you for your good efforts.

And for not fallingprey to the slogans "Can't grow that here - it would take over. Can't do this, can't do that."

Sounds like with your persisitance, your farming efforts will take off.

[Sanity Claws]

7. I'd like to get involved in the coop movement

I have a feeling coops are going to take off in the next couple of years. Right now, I'm trying to learn about them.

As for bamboo, did you know that a small company in Brooklyn is using bamboo for bicycle frames? It's supposed to be more shock absorbent than steel frames.

Good luck to you and your partner on your coop!

[BridgeTheGap]

4. Traitors, commies! This should not even be discussed by any red blooded, God fearing

American! ;-)

[starroute]

8. This was deliberately created back in the 1950's

After World War II, the economy sagged and there was a genuine fear of falling back into the Great Depression. There was also an understanding that the major flaw in capitalism was an inevitable tendency to produce more than could be consumed -- and that this was the cause of its recurring economic crises.

The powers that be came up with two answers to this problem. One was the permanent war economy -- justified by the Cold War but really intended to provide an excuse for industry to create a steady stream of unneeded weapons and defense systems. The other was consumerism, greatly helped out by the new advertising medium of television.

Together, they worked just fine for fifty years, keeping any recessions mild and brief. But now they're hitting their limitations -- that they're destroying the planet in a variety of ways and are also no longer sufficient to maintain the needed level of consumption.

Blaming consumerism on the consumers at this point is rather like blaming the Plague on the rats. They may be the carriers, but they're not the disease organism. The real problem is the long-term unsustainability of capitalism itself.

[carla]

9. Pray tell,

when the consumer became a passive victim of the pest flea capitalism? I don't consume, I do purchase what I NEED and don't spend on gadgets. My life is based on my deliberate decision to NOT be a consumer. Anyone can make this same choice. The consumer is as guilty as the fleas. I end up saving money everyday by not buying useless consumer items. Try it, you'll like it.

[swilton]

10. Today's Clothing

Synthetic, very little shelf life (durability as well as fashion) -

I would like to see more people making their own clothing

And I would like to see less 'fashion' and more practicality