Idea of progress : How can people change their consuming habits?

This year in class we talked about the notion: The idea of progress. This notion can be defined as a technical, scientific or social development, an improvement or a change which contributes to make a better world. We can link this theme with consumerism.

This theme raises the following question: How can people change their consuming habits?

First, we will talk about various ways of consuming, and then we will deal with some alternatives against it.

First, the consumerism is an attachment to materialistic values or possessions what is different from consumption. Hence the consumption habits are almost unlimited.

You can go to any shopping centre or supermarket, you can also buy online and be delivered to your home. These consumption habits can also lead a overconsumption. For example, many people tend to be dependent at consumerism or to be addicted. And this effect can also lead to some visible excess in our society. Such as the Black Friday, the busiest shopping day in the United States. A tendency that goes all around the world. The most striking elements are the frenzy, the chaos that are around the event.

People truly behave like animals and revert back to primal beast. The rules of society seem to have been thrown out, replaced by superficiality and materialistic impulses. This phenomenon affects internet too. The internet version is named Mega Monday. Many websites became the new consumer markets like Amazon or Ebay. This excerpt shows how the actor Will Rogers demonstrates our based-on consumerism society: “Too many people spend money they have not earned to buy things they do not want, to impress the people they do not like.”

As a result, a question remains: Is there a viable solution to the numerous decadence of society?

Of course, some alternatives to consumerism exist such as barter or borrow.

Batter is the economic operation whereby each participant transfers ownership of property and receives another property.

And borrow can be defined as a way to lend or acquire an object for temporary length of time. Thus, when money is scarcing, trading a patent on your property can reduce excesses. This allows it makes people aware of environment too.

However, these operations are based on trust, people can corrupt it by cheating. In addition, we have freeganism. Freegan is a trend in which people who don't want to buy in stores, can try to find their food elsewhere. They often search for food in bins. This trend begins as a way to fight food waste, to fight capitalism and over-comption and connects people who are of similar minds. Someone's trash is another person's treasure. Finaly, I would like to talk about: Fair Trade. By relying on shorter and more transparent commercial channels, it allows producers to live decently from their work and to be actors in their development model. Fair trade is promotes respect for the environment, the guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights. All of these different actions make possible to change the world. To make it progress.

In conclusion, I would say that the progress of the Internet and shopping centres has contributed to the influence of consumerism, selfish consumerism

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