Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Chris Harness
Prof. Ludwig
English 101h
9 October 2017
The maintenance and preservation of the natural world has become a priority that those
who understand natures purpose are willing to work for. The environment has become a shared
commodity between the people and the working economic society, with each endeavor and use
of the environment creating disperse effects across the globe. The trials of consumerism are to be
examined, in hopes of painting a picture of societys true environmental habits and weigh the
consequences that consumer actions create. As Alan Durning in The Dubious Rewards of
Consumption exclaims, human want is insatiable by nature, and thus if wants are inherent and
therefore unstoppable, the repeated consequences that our environment must face multiply with
stability to be monumental in the coming age. With a growing expectation of commerce and
prosperity in modern civilization, the problem arises with the amount of consumption a society
allows. Consumption creates tension in necessity, as the need for greater goods and services fuels
our economic systems, from the lower classes of society becoming benefactors of the elite, and
the elite in society controlling the necessity of wants and desires. The success of an individual is
then determined, in a sense, by a rat race driven by a false pursuit of happiness where
happiness and satisfaction lie only in the ultimate consumption of the latest expenditures life
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offers. This creates, as Durning explains, a treadmill, with everyone judging their status by who
is ahead and who is behind. (Durning 773). With society now seen fleeing the prior natural
conventions of lifestyle, industrialization has brought about a new age of consumption, paired
Durning persuasively and logically transmits his objectivity through his work, as he
highlights instances of overconsumption and weighs the ethical standards of the consumer. In
one stance, he discusses an anomaly found in what used to be known as luxury goods, (such
things as TVs, Cars, etc..) that can now be found in ghettos across the states. This shows how
consumer society has evolved through time, and has allowed for previously luxurious items to
become necessities in the most average of households. Durning claims this to be the result of an
ever-changing definition for the standard of living, one that prioritizes material prosperity. The
magnitude of this however, as Durning says, is powerful enough to, redefine prosperity as
poverty, (Durning 774). This is a scary thought, especially in a time when technology is
growing rapidly and new inventions and accommodations are seen spread across the globe. A
good example of this is cell phones, as new phones are pushed to consumers every year, making
the previous generation of phones essentially useless or diminished. The problem faced in
society lies in the fact that the majority is focused on obtaining some type of material good; as
the net sustainability at hand becomes a secondary matter and almost an afterthought in the eyes
of the consumer. Durning harshly condemns this type of disillusioned lifestyle, where the focus
on true prosperity is lost at the thought of secondary gain. If sustainability is not prioritized and
utilized correctly in a society, resources become mismanaged and the society ultimately
crumbles.
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understanding consumer culture. Consumer behavior is a complex construct that is not limited to
single cause and effect symptoms, but to a string of connections massed to form the premise for
decision making. In the scholarly journal article Consumption, Consumer Culture, and Consumer
Society, Aytekin Firat and colleagues suggest that typically cultural and societal factors play the
biggest role in determining consumer preferences and tastes. These preferences create lists of
desires and wants, as they indirectly control the direction a consumer trails and the overall
choices made by a consumer. Along with Durnings ideas of a treadmill society, it can then be
seen that the true issue arises when cultural and systemic desires manifest into repeated search
for the most valuable material goods society offers. The research agrees and as Firat argues, this
rapid use and disposal has been largely associated with the corruption of values and thus often
carries a negative meaning. (Firat 184). Often the costliest goods in society are the ones that
bring about the highest impact to the environment, and with the consumption rate rising with the
global population, the problems with sustainability become heavily evident. If desires and wants
are in a sense uncontrollable due to their hereditary nature, the reasonable solution would be to
bring about an entire change of attitude towards how goods are consumed. This is the idea that
both Durning and Firat share; that modern societys values have been corrupted, and to reform
our prosperity negative consumer culture must be ascertained to focus on maintaining natural
perseverance.
The first step in changing modern consumer culture is understanding the norms of an
ethical consumer. In modern time, it is rare to find those who base their decisions on true ethics
and morals. Whether a person becomes an ethical consumer in his or her lifetime depends on a
multitude of factors, from personal environment to cultural status, economic status, personality,
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and many of the quirks that go into making an individual unique. Despite people having a fuller
understanding of consumptions effects on the natural world, society tends to not be concerned
about environmental issues when they purchase goods; it becomes more of an afterthought. To
create a society that is more environmentally aware, options to become environmentally friendly
must also be more readily available to a population. However, if wants are to tend toward
environmentally healthy options, society must take advantage of them, as prolonged prosperity
requires it. Laura Nistor and colleagues agree with these requirements of ethical consumption in
their work Consumption between Aesthetics and Ethics. A Discussion. Modern ethical
connection with the impact of consumption on others (Nistor 70). This idea of achieving ethical
consumption boils down to overall consumer awareness. The successful ethical consumer
understands the costs that arise with each purchasing decision made, despite however large the
social value placed on the good may be. The knowledgeable consumer predicts these
shortcomings, and makes decisions to enact correctly with environmental sustainability and
The problem in achieving a base for ethical consumption, is that achieving ethical
consumption is not always based upon a willingness to change, as many people are born into
disadvantaged situations where the cost of consumption is greater than those who may not be
disadvantaged. This is the challenge of capitalism, preventing the divide between the rich and
poor that thrusts consumption in poorer areas to become necessity-focused and bears heavier cost
on the environment due to lower quality goods manufactured and consumed. Rob White, a
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scholar in the realm of consumption, discusses the problems of class systems, being that they
both regulate and limit the consumer; as the disadvantaged consumer is forced to take what he or
she can get, which is often a more inadequate means of consumption. In Whites Environmental
Harm and the Political Economy of Consumption, he speaks on this idea as it relates to owning
private property. White argues that, These property relations enable one class of owners to
dominate another class of non-owners, to reap material, political, and social advantages. (White
93). The objectives of this idea correlates to the before mentioned topic of disadvantaged
consumers, as White agrees that consumers are controlled by the owners of society
(corporations), while the rest of consumers are left either to focus on obtaining owner status or
understood. Durnings theory elaborates that human want is insatiable as author Rachel
Waterhouse agrees in her journal article titled New Frontiers for Consumerism claims, We have
[also] spent a great deal of time, money, and effort on the tedium and long-windedness of
harmonization (Waterhouse 469). Through this frontier of determination, the individual reaches
of hard work and a slow process of self-growth. These inspirations are what lead people to
become consumers, in hopes to praise the hierarchy of society and improve the current standard
of living individually. It is this idea that leads to investigation of self, and leads to a burning
desire to fuel our wants and conquer our self-prescribed goals. A daunting question however
remains to those who seek to control our interests, catered to those who rule by corporate control.
The lobbying and pursuit of control over consumer interest is a driving factor for the problems
overshadowed by a modern consumer culture. Waterhouse agrees that this portion of control
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given to individuals is key to maintaining a slice of harmonization, as she states that the
consumer movement is most important in that, It defines and supports an individual or person in
one part of their life (Waterhouse 466). This positive relationship created in the process of
consumption is highly important to maintain, and ultimately creates balance even through the
complicities of consumption.
bounty, not only on the basis of the average consumer, but in the deep ranges of the class system.
The owners or elite in society must be the ones to herald the change and cause a trickle-down
effect. It is the duty of the industrial system to create a society that limits the harmful effects of
our own production. The consumer is indirectly controlled by the systemic procedures it is
placed in, and is forced to make consumption decisions based on the adequacy provided.
Environmentally friendly options must become necessity in the eyes of the producer, as failure to
do so will result in the already manifesting desertification of the world. The world as it is today
Durning attempts to give insight on these issues shared, in hopes that society flips a blind
eye to the problems an unhealthy consumer society creates. The research showed reflects his
ideals and objectively places background on the systemic proportions faced with the surging
divide of hierarchy. Environmental damage can be seen through the failed attempts of
sustainability, and the rapid growth of population causes new concerns on whether the class
systems in place today can successfully support a growing consumer population. The answer, for
now, is to become more aware of the shortcomings caused by the individual consumer, and to
put forth a trend of ethical consumption that can be followed by future generations.
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Works Cited
1. Denes Tamas., and Laura Nistor. Consumption between Aesthetics and Ethics. A
2. Durning, Alan. The Dubious Rewards of Consumption. How much is enough?: The
Consumer Society and the Future of the Earth (New York: W. W Norton, 1992),
pp. 61-67. American Earth. Mckibben, Bill. Penguin Group USA, 2008. Social
3. Firat, Aytekin., and Kemal Y. Kutucuoglu et al. Consumption, Consumer Culture and
4. Waterhouse, Rachel. New Frontiers for Consumerism Royal Society for the