Currently Browsing: Consumer Culture
Jan 6, 2011
Voluntary Simplicity, Community, and the Social Good
There are also social or communitarian incentives for embracing a life of voluntary simplicity.[1] For example, when an individual embraces voluntary simplicity by working less, this may well benefit the individual (e.g. by creating more leisure and reducing stress). But those individual benefits will often have flow on effects that benefit others too, such as creating more time and energy for family and... read more
Jan 2, 2011
Living Simply as a Path to Genuine Wealth
Money provides power in the market – power to purchase and consume desired commodities, whether goods or services. Consumption, by satisfying market preferences, is supposed to lead to well-being. In essence, this is the economic foundation of consumer culture.[1] Its fundamental prescription is that people should seek well-being in higher incomes and more consumption.[2] The problem, however, as Juliet... read more
Dec 17, 2010
Christmas: The Assumption of Consumption
The other day I saw a Christmas card which read, “The faster we destroy the planet, the sooner Jesus will be here.” First it made me laugh; then it made me think. At a time when the world’s most respected scientists affirm that ordinary Western consumption habits are indeed destroying the planet, what attitudes should we have toward the corporate event known as Christmas? Should we still be seeking... read more
