11/28/2017

The End of Consumerism

How consumerism is destroying the natural world

At many tables yesterday, we went around person-to-person and gave thanks for what was given us this year. Each of us had a list: a new baby, love found, restored health, the stars that came out during the solar eclipse. At Patagonia, we give thanks for the planet, the only home we have where the whole of human history has taken place and where all of life is organized into a remarkable and precarious balance.

The “thanks” and the “giving” is easy to forget when Black Friday arrives and millions of us go out and buy things we may not need. Economists, government and Wall Street call us “consumers,” and the sad truth is the world economy revolves around consumption.

But, the natural world and we, ourselves, cannot sustain this economy. Just one fact among many: between 1970 and 2012, more than half of the world’s wildlife was lost. The loss happened largely in poorer countries because their resources go to feed wealthy consuming countries. “Extinction,” as the journalist George Monbiot said, “is the by-catch of consumerism.” The consumption economy is destroying the natural world.

Please click here to read the complete article on LinkedIn.