Over Consumptions Leads to Economic Inequality and Poverty

Whether we know it or not, consumerism is ruining all of our lives and the world as we know it. As humans, we are always looking for satisfaction and we think worldly items will cure the hunger that we have for pleasure. Consumerism says that purpose, joy and contentment are to be found primarily in the consumption of goods, services and experiences.

One of the bigger issues of capitalism is the class conflict it creates, which is demonstrated through the exploitative practices of the poor working class by the Bourgeoisie. The impact of capitalism is having an effects on a global scale. In a capitalist society, wealth is not distributed equally and in the process of aiding the rich to get richer, in both countries that outsource this work as well as in countries that employ sweatshops, the working class are suffering. In the simplest economic terms, the more we consume, the more demand it creates, which only increase the quotas for sweatshops. Another issue within the formulation of sweatshops is the mass consumption of products by individuals in western and developed countries. The products that are sold on the market are often inexpensive to an individual that is protected by minimum wage and social regulations, which allows for leisure time, usually spent purchasing commodities and products. However, the individuals in these sweatshops are not provided the same protection, and often find themselves unable to afford the products they

We are rapidly using limited resources to fulfill our hyperinflated consumer habits in the industrial western countries. This overindulgence in cheap labor and the dirty ways needed to produce those goods has potentially doomed us all. As climate change continues to intensify we are being held increasing liable for demanding so much unneeded production. The western world continues to dominate globally but is weakened by trade deficits from importing all their goods. This also damages domestic markets that previously provided well paying jobs to people who produce labor-intensive goods. The impact of loss of jobs can be felt across the United States and can be seen in the north-side of Springfield. The north-side of Springfield has beautiful homes and businesses that have fell in disrepair and now home the poorest families. This is because the high wages and jobs that produced those homes have now moved to developing

“We no longer live life. We consume it.” (Vicki Robin) All of us live in a consumer based era, where it’s out with the old and in with the new. “Consumerism is an economic theory which states that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to the consumers.” ( Since the 1800s and the Industrial Revolution the world has been consuming at higher rates than ever. The Revolution allowed products to be available in enormous quantities in faster production rates. At a glance, consumerism may seem like a way of life, but many of us are unaware of the underlying consequences that it poses in our culture. Pollution, food shortages, and

Consumerism is damaging to our society, in our North American society consumerism is often portrayed to be a negative aspect of people’s lives. However, one can also argue positive effects that result from consumerism, or emphasize on the negative effects of consumerism and how it can be a constraining force in one’s own life. Consumerism is an idea of an economic policy that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumer and continues to emerge to shape the world’s mass markets. Some of the negative effects of consumerism that many critics may argue and that will be further emphasized on are the overexploitation of consumerism which has lead to economic poverty, and increase

The foremost cause of global poverty is colonialism. After Christopher Columbus “discovered’’ the new world in 1492, Europeans invaded the Americas, Africa, and East Asia. Today, these places are some of the most affected by poverty. The poverty persists because the peoples of these places were killed and enslaved. Their land, natural resources, and way of life were stolen by the colonizers. The colonizers forced the colonies to shift from subsistence farming to cash crops, obliterating the natural economy. Since they only grew cash crops, they were forced to buy European goods. The economy of the colonies became locked and they became completely dependent on the colonizing country. Soon, the colonies found themselves in debt to their colonizers. What little money these colonies were able to make went to repay the debt, instead of going toward the development of the colony. Additionally, since they were indebted to them, their colonizers had control over their economy. The creditors took full advantage of this and forced the colonies to adopt neoliberalism and privatize companies and resources, which plunged even more people into absolute poverty. Even when many of these colonies became their own independent countries, the documentary mentioned that the debt was transferred over to the new country, even though this was a violation of international law. This same system continues to this day and everyday more and more people find themselves in poverty.

Why Americans consume so much more than we need? Simply, because America is a consumption based society. Maslow has a theory about the Hierarchy of needs. Arguing that a relatively fixed and universal hierarchy of needs. The hierarchy starts off with lower needs which include food, shelter and clothing. Next in the hierarchal ladder are basic needs, which would include the feeling of being safe and having a feeling of belongingness, love, esteem and self-actualization. At the top of the ladder would be higher needs or also known as the ideal needs. An individual may not reach these needs until the lower needs and basic needs are met. Higher needs would include aesthetic, knowledge and understanding (Mayerfeld Bell & Ashwood, 2016). Yet, the hierarchal of needs does not explain why we consume so much. We believe we must keep up with the Joneses. We crave immediate gratification and convenience has helped us get that gratification quicker. A perfect solution for reducing consumption would be if we had small homes. Allowing us to store less and only keep the items we actually need and use on a day to day basis. The Tiny House Movement will help American’s with consumption and materialism. Discussing the benefits of tiny houses and things to consider before joining this movement. Remembering that this movement is not for everyone but I believe this is a good push in the right

Our observations over the years have seen society become both a capitalist and consumer focussed western world, with money being the focus (Norris, 2006, p. 458). With the restriction and reduced spending during World War II, society went from virtual poverty to accelerated spending after the war, with the dominance of commodities and considerable amount of advertising, and cheap imports from around the globe (Norris, 2006, p.

The world is the influenced by what they see and want to be there, where the low class wants to be like the middle class and the middle class trying to look like the upper class. Today celebrities and people in upper class have influenced our sense of importance and needs, when it comes to the aspect of picking commodities. Thus, many have resulted to high and unnecessary expending in order to imitate a particular social icon. It can be ascertained that almost all average American adult being in debt might be as a result of overspending their need limit. This excessive and unnecessary spending as a result to boost our economic status has led to some drastic tragic events. A Chinese man, Tao Hsiao, 38, on the 9th of December 2013, jumped to his death in a shopping mall at China because the girlfriend would not stop shopping after several hours of shopping ( The Washington Times). “He told her she already had enough shoes, more shoes that she

The arts, food, language, and the whole culture of a developing nation are hurt when globalization occurs. Developing countries are targeted by countries such as America because they have a lower standard of living and are less regulated when it comes to work. When we infiltrate these countries, weather we mean it or not, we shake up their way of life in many different aspects and their culture they once new is destroyed.

Comparatively, over-consumption refers to the anthropocentric notion and practice of “ownership” as well as indiscriminate use of natural resources and the environment for personal benefit and gain; without due regard and concern for the availability of such basic resources and natural services to remain viable in the future as well as for others who may have less access to them (Butler, 1994; Goodland & Daly, 1998). Over-consumption can be seen to be directly entrenched within the umbrellas of economic and personal wealth as the means to securing the availability of necessacities and resources (Fine et. Al, 1996). Brown & Cameron (2000) and Princen (1999) concur that the human-centred notion of priority through purchasability fosters the continued practice of unfair and unsustainable practices; whilst concurrently promoting wastage and disconnectedness between societies and the natural environment. The accelerated rate of natural resources utilised globally, noted against only the slightest marginal increase in economic development witnessed within the developing and underdeveloped regions; suggests that the majority of these key resources are being exploited for the further economic benefit of the developed regions by sheer means of their ability to purchase them from these less developed regions, thus limiting the availability of these resources for

The people in marginalized communities and third world countries are the ones that are affected the most. People are employed in horrible conditions, and paid horrendous salaries by these huge corporations profiting on the exploitation of these people, while profiting tremendously from the boom in consumer goods. Not only have people of western societies but people around the world are craving and desiring consumer goods. What is being consumed at an alarming rate is technology. With the technological boom and technological advances at an alarming rate has led to people purchasing such products. Because technology has become so globalize and so easy to acquire at a price that is accessible by most, it has led to an increase in sales and production

Globalization is defined by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick, and John Page as, “the deregulation of trade and finance in order to enable businesses and banks to operate globally. And the emergence of a single world market dominated by transnational companies” (The Economics of Happiness). Despite this un-alarming definition, Katherine Cullen believes the truth behind globalization is much more harmful. According to Cullen, globalization is detrimental to our economy, our climate, and our happiness and well-being. She argues that globalization has destructive practices, and due to, “the promotion of market economies and a consumer lifestyle [globalization disconnects] people from the natural world and fundamental connections absolutely necessary for people to be happy” (Cullen). She also notes that corporations, who are promoting globalization to for financial gain, try and push “cruel advertising” (Cullen) in other regions to endorse the American consumerist culture (Cullen). By doing this, corporations are, “deciding what our culture[s] [are] to increase profit” (Cullen). Cullen claims that corporations use other cultures for financial gain by drain those regions of their resources while transporting mass amounts of goods into the United States. This is why Cullen argues that globalization results in the acceleration of climate change. The act of transporting goods to and from the U.S. emits large amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere (Cullen), resulting in

Through industrial development we have diminished our soil, ruined farmland, trees and have caused extinction of various species. All of these natural resources took over hundreds of millions years to form and Americans have destroyed them all for the need to build more. David Brower a prominent environmentalist says “we have diminished our soil, fisheries, fossil fuels and we have changed the climate. We caused the extinction of countless species by half.” Over consumption has reached a point of harming Americans health and the overall environment. According to John De Graaf, David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor “sixty-nine acres of prime American farmland are lost to development.” Once you cut down and pave over farms the land is gone forever. The very thing that humanity relies on is being taken for granted. Americas increase in consumption does have benefits but the negative effects on the environment, American health and family outweigh the positive.

In many cases globalization for the United States can mean outsourcing jobs, because of how work is outsourced to developing nations like China where wages and the cost of manufacturing goods are lower. This outsourcing of jobs can lead to increased job competition that in turn can lead to a reduction in wages and consequently lower standards of living.