Are You A Consumer?

We're told we're consumers, and we think of ourselves as consumers. Sometimes we refer to ourselves as customers, and we insist that the customer (aka consumer) is always right. In fact, the consumer is more often wrong, because of the way we consume, and because all we do is consume.

A consumer is not just somebody who buys goods or services. It is somebody or something that consumes something, by eating it, drinking it, or using it up. And in an ecological community or food chain, a consumer is an organism that feeds on other organisms, or on material derived from them.

Consumers consume, and producers produce. What happens if the number of consumers becomes far greater than either the amount of resources producers are able to put at their disposal, or there are simply not enough resources, or both? Well, it's a good question, and we're about to find out the answer.

Capitalism puts a lot of power into the hands of individuals, and we like that power. With that power we can do great things, and terrible things, and because so many of us have machines, and money, and own so many things, and because we continue to want even more, our collective power is even greater, and growing...and our collective impact is simply turning the Earth into a giant sponge, which we squeeze until there is not a drop of life-giving juice left. All that is left is ourselves, on a soapy dirty sponge.

And then we (entire populations of consumers)are faced with a difficult problem: where can we get something to eat now that we've wrecked, ruined, hollowed out, polluted or depleted our resources?

Well, try to answer that question right now. Imagine that your local supermarket suddenly vanished, and the shop around the corner. Imagine all those places gone. Imagine the fast food restaurants gone. Now, where would get some food for yourself? Where is the nearest orchard or vegetable field? Do you know?

Yes it is possible (I hope) to avoid a SHUTDOWN scenario. How we do it is we cut down on our consumption. We buy what we NEED, not what we want, or feel like. If we don't choose to become conservers, we will be finally forced to become survivors...and many of us will not even have that choice.

Business Unusual: A Practical Example

On Saturday I went to an electronics market with a friend, and after finding a gift (an unnecessary purchase) we headed to an ATM. While standing there (and I swear thisn part is true) an extremely obese white girl waddled over to the cash machine and made 3 huge withdrawals. She stuffed some of the wads into the bulging back pocket of her enormous jeans and then barrelled through the aisles for some, I'm guessing, comfort shopping.
I was standing with my own card, while my friend spoke on the phone, and my own beliefs swam through my head. I felt a sense of dizziness really. It's so natural, so ingrained in our habits and lifestyles to buy the things we want. Why? Because we want them. Shouldn't that be a good enough reason? Well, it's not a good enough reason, not even close.

I found the iPod nano for sale at a very good price, but I bought my girlfriend a gift and since I have a budget to stick to, I decided to not buy a nano, because I don't really need one. Sure I want one, sure I can afford one, but what I really need are running shoes. So what's it going to be? Are you going to buy something you really really want, or something you need, like shoes?

I haven't bought shoes yet, but I probably will later this week.
I think the nano is an exciting product, but it's just a new way to package music, and I already have an iPod. I'd love to have a nano, but I can't do that, knowing what these indulgences bring about. It generates demand. More demand for essentially meaningless toys.

My act of consumer defiance doesn't mean much. But yours in addition to mine might. Now I already know very few people are prepared today to delay gratification, let alone permantly setting wants aside.

But you have to start somewhere. The next time you buy something just because you want it, I'll be watching. One day we will live in a hungry world. Not hungry for stuff, but hungry for food. All the stuff in our drawers, on our walls, in our cupboards, in our homes, the stuff that we live with, will ask the same question I'm asking: Are you a consumer? Is that all you are?