You and I are both consumers. We consume to meet our basic needs, such as food and shelter. Consumerism is different. It is about consuming things that make us feel good. But at what cost? We are now consuming the very planet that sustains our life.
Do you hold the belief that if you work hard, you’ll be able to buy more of what you want and then you’ll be happy? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. It’s not going to happen. You’re just going to get stuck on what is called the Hedonic Treadmill.
While many of us enjoy competition and it can inspire us to perform at our best as individuals and organisations, it has a significant downside at a societal level. Growing evidence is suggesting that too much competition is one of the key causes of the multiple environmental, social and psychological crises we are facing today.
Centuries ago, we collectively experienced nature as a living and spiritual presence. Today, nature is in danger of becoming merely a utilitarian means to an end. Believing nature to be psychologically dead allows industry to freely consume and destroy it. We no longer feel its pain. So, for you, is nature psychologically alive? Do you feel nature's pain?
For centuries, world economies have been based on the seizure and processing of natural resources, often called ‘capturing the commons’. These are resources shared by all members of a society, including natural elements such as air, water, and land etc. There was a time when no one owned the planet’s natural resources. They were shared by everyone, humans and non-human.