To Consume Or Not

“The final in my ethics class is next Tues. We are having a debate over consumerism/anti-consumerism and the ethics of the topic. I was kinda' wondering what you guys might have to say on the topic. What do you think about consumerism and the holiday season? Any thoughts or sites w/ good info. would be great. I am the facilitator for the anti group, but I would love to hear what the thoughts are for the opposite side. I'll be able to better prepare my group.”

“Enjoy the good times while they last!


The consumers aren't thinking about what they are doing. They just do what feels good! Any attempt to educate and sway the un-thinking masses is futility.

Sorry, you probably wanted a serious answer.”

“What is the exact statement or proposal being debated?

Your side is anti-what?”

“Must...consume...more....gear...”

“The prof. didn't really give us an exact statement to debate. He is nice, but arrogant and vague. You know the type. My group consists of 12 people. We are anti-consumerism. We have to show what is unethical about consumerism. This seems pretty easy, but as toe and rosey pointed out . . . people like to consume.”

“Is this specifically related to the holiday season?”

“Not necessarily, I just think it is an interesting angle to view the topic from. What consumerism has done to the holidays is so obvious.”

“there's probably a bazillion anti-consumerism sites on the internet, don't you think?”

“is he loking for a comparison ie: consumer of necessity V. consumer
out of vanity(me needs V. Me WANTS!)?”

“Pepperdog, there are tons. I was just interested in what you guys had to say.

Troll, yes, we are talking about those who indulge in over-consumation here. Everyone understands that some consumation has to take place in order to live, but we are trying to show how unethical over-consumation is. We are looking at the environmental impact, the social impact, the economic impact, and the technological impact.”

“Check out Erich Fromm on consumerism. Here is one link to something on the web:

Psychopathy and consumerism”

“overindulgence can simply be a gross form of compensation,a boosting of self image by aquisition and hoarding of "toys"..
have you ever been to a Yuppie yardsale ? it's pathetic , all the NIB items being sold to enable the purchase of more things that will never be used .it's a sickness of
the soul/mind whichever way you wish to view it...”

“BTW: I'm not endorsing the opinions on that site.. but it does have some decent links and the first few paragraphs puts forth an interesting "Fromm" point of view.”

“Yep! Unchecked consumerism can be viewed as unethical in light of the waste of finite resources. (and we know that instant gratification doesn't build character, LOL)


P.S.

I thought 'consumation' was something else, *G*.”

“Ooops! That was a ridiculous spelling error. Who do I think I am . . . Ice Tea?”

“IMHO... You know what bums people out ALOT around the Holidays? They think that they can find some present at the mall which will adequatelly express the feelings they have towards their family. Our culture perpetuates this attitude. Our culture drips with this supposed belief that a material object can (and is the only real way) to be a good spouse, child or parent. We search all over the mall and get frustrated/depressed because we aren't good enough to find that perfect gift. If, maybe we were better, or had started sooner, or had more money, or loved that person more, it would be easier. We are doomed to failure from the start.”

“How about a take on consumerism as related to September 11th, 2001? If everyone stopped spending, what would happen to our economy?

Different people buy things to make themselves feel good, even if it is very short-lived.”

“National Geographic had this great chart/graphic in the magazine a couple of months ago. It detailed the "ecological footprint" of countries/regions of the world. The footprint consisted of the rate of resource usage by the people of the country and the amount of ecological destruction/damage/pollution they cause. It was a high impact "sound byte" type of graphic that showed how Americans are disproportionately consuming the earth's resources and creating pollution and destruction at a rate that the planet cannot sustain. Maybe it would be on their website.”

“I wanted to respond to Consumersism earlier, but I was so busy, I simply did not have the time. Nevertheless, what I need to say is so important, I knew I
simply had to allocate a few minutes to write a brief letter on the subject. But first, I'm going to jump ahead a bit and talk in general terms about how
Consumersism is unwilling to stand up for what is true and right if there is no obvious advantage to it in doing so. Then, I'll back up and fill in some of the
details. Okay, so to start with the general stuff, if Consumersism is going to scrap the notion of national sovereignty, then it should at least have the self-respect
to remind itself of a few things: First, I can say with absolute certitude that its ebullitions are often disregarded merely as whiney and are consequently not
treated as the serious assaults on liberty and freedom that they definitely are. And second, in order to solve the big problems with it, we must first understand
these problems, and to understand them, we must shatter the illusion that an open party with unlimited access to alcohol can't possibly outgrow the host's ability
to manage the crowd.

How dare Consumersism criticize my values when its are so obviously mumpish? If an attempt to weaken family ties isn't primitive, it certainly is foolhardy.
Other than that, Consumersism wants us to feel sorry for the foolish killjoys who instill distrust and thereby create a need for its incoherent views. I maintain we
should instead feel sorry for their victims, all of whom know full well that Consumersism's cause is not glorious. It is not wonderful. It is not good.
Consumersism's conclusions have a crippling effect on science and technology, and everyone with half a brain understands that. It's hard to fathom just how
truculent Consumersism is. Interestingly, Consumersism doesn't seem to care about that. This letter has gone on far too long, in my opinion, and probably yours
as well. So let me end it by saying merely that it's quite a feat of hypocrisy for Consumersism to deny it wants to tour the country promoting feeble-minded
fetishism in lectures and radio talk show interviews after so recently doing exactly that.”

“baso4 stop plugging up the threads with the ACG. can't you write something of your own conniveance,instead of the farcial excreations of a computer program ?”

“uh oh. flunked the Turing Test.”

“Last time I checked consumerism was measured by the amount of cash in my wallet.

Reinventing something doesn't make it new.”

“gee, I get rusty when I don't post for a while.

Affluenza”

“After the gluttony holiday comes the consumerism holiday.”

“If it is not consumerism, perhaps it is communism.
I for one will choose the former.

Newgirl-were I you I would play the religion angle,however unethical It may be.”

“I own ,therefore I am ...
I owe , that I may own ...
All that I own , I am ...
All that I am , I own ...
All that I owe on , I... aw to hell with it !
What does it profit a man ,to gain the whole world ,yet he loses his soul ?”