Consumerism defined by the American Heritage Dictionary is the "theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial." This theory is at the heart of the state of peace, which is based on capitalism and free markets. It is understandable why critical statements about high consumption or economic growth are unpopular. Economists would fear a lower GNP and politicians would claim that buying fewer goods would put people out of work. We are like fishes and the consumer market is the water, we can’t live with out it. However, as Sigmund Freud argued, civilization and culture threaten human existence. Indeed, if we think differently, consuming means also to ingest or use up. The truth leads us to consider, what is the price that we have to pay in order to live within this fever kind of consumerism theory, in which we are involved with passion and pride? Today, the human goodness, for the following reasons and from the interest of human race as a whole asks that we have to consume less.

First of all, let’s look at a fact form Green point of view. The US with 270,311,756 citizen, approximately 5% of the world's population creates 25% of the 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide that causes 50% of the global warming trend. Five tons per capita per year! The US overall energy expenditure is fourteen times more than China, thirty six times more than India. As far as the global weather is concerned, the acid rainfall is not any more at the hot line as we used to report on. Hurricanes like George, El Nino phenomena, devastating floods which the U.S and China were experiencing last year, these are the types of natural catastrophes that we have to deal with.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, 1998 was officially the warmest year on record. At the moment, scientifically, a 1m or 0.9 yard sea-level rise would affect 6 million people in Egypt, 13 million in Bangladesh, and 72 million in China. And as far as the United States is concerned, its West Coast would be located in Omaha, Nebraska. Meanwhile, the issue would become even more calamitous when China and India would catch up their gap, as economists’ forecast, with Newly Industrialized Countries in the next millenium. If the international community doesn’t act now, what are the possibilities of actions reserved to it vis-a-vis of these hundreds of millions of refugees worldwide? The United Nations Panel on Climate Change recommends that we immediately cut our use of fossil fuels by at least half. To prevent the current rate from increasing, we would have to cut by 60%. In other words, we consume over excessively.

We must be aware that an over consumption affects not merely the atmospheric condition. It has also a social issue, which undermine human moral and ethic. To consume means to use token money as a medium of interest exchange, and capital, which is omnipresent, as an emblem of power it is too envied and bartered. According to an International Olympic Committee’s report, published in January 1999, in order to buy IOC members’ votes, $800,000 in cash payments, scholarships, medical care, and so on were paid to 14 IOC members form Salt Lake City. Indeed, the Olympic games will bring to organizer cities more than the millions of dollar of benefits. It is not unusual that when we forget the principals, the spirit of Olympics, we became victims of our self-treason. Meanwhile, merchants, in order to make juicy profit, de facto use the all occasions including Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, to incite people to purchase additional goods, no matter if they are useful or not to consumers. As Jerome suspected, "A man who is a merchant can seldom if ever please God." Juvenile, who represent the future, are, on the other hand, constantly exposed to business advertisement. Presumably, this would have an important influence to their future social behaviors. The excessiveness of consumerism has over impacted modern history, and the issue is could citizens, who are brain washed since childhood by the notion of materialism and deals, act with decency?

Reason made Homo Sapiens a unique force in the history of life on earth, a species that can defy its physical obstacle and alter nature at a rate far exceeding that of biological evolution. Never before in the human history, we have had such tremendous technology advancement like this of the twentieth century. Perhaps it was too fast for human, now the danger of over consumption, just as the nuclear proliferation is threatening the human race for annihilation as a whole. In order to lead people to a better society, it is predominant for us to consider with solemnity as Aristotle suggests to chose once again between human happiness or the good life.
 
 

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