Materialism And Consumerism

Question 1

What is consumerism ?

Answer 1

Whereby personal happiness is equated with consumption of material possessions.
Having attitude

Question 2

Consumerism is deficient in two ways

Answer 2

1. Undermines emotional well being as advertising / marketing tend to create even greater material desires.
   Leaves consumers constantly dissatisfied as constantly wanting more.
   Never achieve happiness in materialistic society
   Consumerism works through not satisfying desire but through generating new desires.
2. Materialism and consumerism provide basis for environmental degradation
   - consumer society encourage people to place short term economic ahead of long term ecological concerns in which nature is a resource/commodity.
   Justify earth resource as satisfying consumer needs.

Question 3

what can ecologist be associated with?

Answer 3

Post consumerism

Or anti consumerism

Question 4

What do ecologists place above material economic needs?

Answer 4

Self esteem, knowing one’s self

Question 5

What have deep ecologists embraced?

Answer 5

World views differ from ones that dominate political thought in developed west.
- paradigm shift

Question 6

What do they want to divorce

Answer 6

Happiness from material acquisition

Question 7

Having to

Answer 7

Being

Question 8

What does being represent?

Answer 8

Satisfaction from sharing leading to personal growth
Transcend our self
Being- we are all linked to all living things and universe itself

Question 9

What are these ideas of being shaped by?

Answer 9

Buddhism
Ecological philosophy in own right
No self ; need to recognise oneness of life and realize we don’t have individual egos.