Cosumerism

Consumerism is the equating of personal happiness with the purchasing of material possessions and consumptions. On the one hand, consumerism can help to develop the manufacturing industry as well as to reduce unemployment. But on the other, it only leads to personal short- term satisfaction and to environmental damages.

One of the main advantages of consumerism is that it stimulates the manufacturing industry. Manufactures are responsible for satisfying consumers’ desires for material possessions. Therefore, the more products people buy, the more products factories produce. Another benefit of consumerism is that it creates opportunities for those in need of employment. The insatiable demand for industrial products evidenced in today’s society implies that more staff is recruited by industries.

However, the main drawback of consumerism is that it leads to short- term happiness. For western society members, material objects prove to be an escape from issues of the real word. It seems as if compulsive buying was the solution to job, family or personal dissatisfaction. The problem is that people fail to recognize that this feeling of completeness is only temporary.

Critics to consumerism point out that consumerist societies are more prone to damage the environment, to contribute to climate change and to use up resources at a higher rate than other societies. For example, in 2002, a person in the United States used ten times more energy than a person in China and over twenty five times more than someone in China.

Consumerism can have both beneficial and harmful effects on society. It can have economic benefits on industries and on those who are in need of a job. However, it can damage both our mental health and our physical environment. If we continue to think that a feeling of well-being is dependent upon what we have, we will be encouraged to become, as Peter Russell points out: “human havings rather than human beings”.