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Chris Harness

Prof. Ludwig

English 101h

9 October 2017

The Trials of Consumerism

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

the rise of a capitalist consumer society.

Durning, as an environmental scholar, regards this issue of environmental and economic

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

with the insurmountable issues of sustainability that are to be faced.

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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An important aspect in understanding the requirements for sustainability is first

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

consumption is combated with conscious consumption; where conscious consumption,

presupposes consumers awareness in connection with products, production processes,

distribution, or impacts of goods, while ethical consumption, comprises the reflexivity in

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

his/her own moral acuity.

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

become absorbed by the shortcomings of a disadvantaged consumer.

To understand these ideas in a higher context, the necessity of consumption must be

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

to persevere towards a harmonization, better known as a higher society, in a journey consisting

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.

The synthesis of these ideas leads us to a newfound necessity to prioritize environmental

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

is in an unhealthy state, where over-production is the root of resource diminishment and

consumers fail to cease what they do the best; consume.

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

discussion. Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Social Analysis 6. 2 (2016): 65-81. JSTOR.

Web. 4 Oct. 2017

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

Justice. 29 (2002): 82-100. ProQuest. Web. 4 Oct. 2017

3. Firat, Aytekin., and Kemal Y. Kutucuoglu et al. Consumption, Consumer Culture and

Consumer Society. Journal of Community Positive Practices XIII. (2013): 182-

203. JSTOR. Web. 4 Oct. 2017

4. Waterhouse, Rachel. New Frontiers for Consumerism Royal Society for the

Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. 136 (1988): 465- 474.

JSTOR. Web. 2 Dec. 2017.

5. White, Rob. Environmental Harm and the Political Economy of Consumption

Social Justice. 29 (2002): 82-100. ProQuest. Web. 4 Oct. 2017

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