Thoughts on Consumerism

There are days when you come to see what side you are on and today is that day for me. It is easy to suggest moderation when the conditions are right for a non-extreme position but when you read articles detailing horrific motives and potential catastrophe what else can you do but take a stand. I feel that way now. Reading of foreign investment in cheap agricultural land (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/31/african_farmland/index.html) because of a perceived growing population and a resulting growing demand for food, I feel like my life is not of my own making. People must eat. This reality doesn't take into account the intricacies of the food system. Such a reality doesn't take the consequences of such investments and changes on the consumer into account.

As an organic farmer I implement a mentality of stewardship and sustainability when strategizing the creation of my food, but having left my Northern California farm two weeks ago to live with my parents here in Florida for close to a month I have been reunited with the non-organic, unsustainable, food system billions of people depend on and I am regularly disappointed and scared for the future. More to the point though, I have been reunited with the blind-consumerism that propels our economy for better or worse.

With a short term, individualized, perspective the consumer can be convinced that their actions have insignificant consequences, this of course isn't true. Consumerism plays a monstrous role in our political, social, environmental, and individual lives precisely for the fact that it is a mentality or attitude instead of just a practice of increasing consumption of goods. It is a mentality of entitlement to any and all products that might satisfy the individuals needs and wants. But as Wendell Berry wrote in Fatal Harvest, "And so we can say that the industrial economy's most-marketed commodity is satisfaction, and that this commodity, which is repeatedly promised, bought, and paid for, is never delivered." Why is it then, that consumers are not only not given a choice to be more sustainable but are encouraged to consume without regard to their needs? I suppose because there exists no organization with the credibility to show consumers the rest of the story of their stuff without seeming and present an alternative. So, who will paint an alternative picture?

The survival of the individual, their communities, their cities, and nations depends on a balancing of interests and investments. The alternative to the blind-consumer lifestyle is one of co-production and an amalgamation of the individual with their larger communities. Lucky for us, this change in culture extends beyond consumerism and individualism. Ironically such a change (many call the amalgam the "glocal" community) has its roots in a philosophy of satisfaction and quality of life.

The highest standard of living has little to do with material goods but with dignity, honor, and creativity. Resources are nothing but idle tools without the right minds to put them to the right work.