Impacts of Consumerism Essay Sample

Impacts of Consumerism
Student’s Name
Institution
Impacts of Consumerism
Consumerism manifests in two major forms. Dominantly, it is a socio-economic phenomenon where people are driven by the desire to obtain and own goods and services in excess of their basic needs. Less dominantly, consumerism is where the consumer knows and fully understands their rights and as such, they are protected from unfair treatment by the producers of goods and services. The former description is the one that is popularly used as it relates to the buying of goods and services. This is evident in forms of consumerism such as political consumerism (Copeland & Boulianne, 2020). It refers to the deliberate buying or avoidance of goods and services for political reasons.
The major principle that consumerism operated on was that of mass production. This ensured that the supply of goods grew very high beyond the demand by the consumers. As a result, the producers resorted to ways that stimulated consumer spending such as advertisements and also calculated obsolescence. In view of all this, the growth of consumerism had far-reaching effects. These effects were recorded across the globe. One of the advantages associated with consumerism is the greater production of goods and services which ensured that goods and services were available at anyone’s disposal. It also ensures that there are more employment opportunities. The fact that more goods and services are being produced means there exists a need for more people to aid the production process and also distribution (Panizzut et. al., 2021). Consumerism also ensures high creativity and constant market innovation. This ensures that there is a product or service to cater to any need of the people and if there is none, innovations always spring up tremendously. In general, consumerism ensures growth in economies given the turnover in business that it brings. On the flip side, consumerism also came with a lot of disadvantages with one of them being environmental degradation. This comes in the form of numerous waste by-products in industries and the overexploitation of the limited natural resources available such as excessive use of fossil fuels for energy production. It has also accelerated the occurrence of global warming which is irreversible. The destruction of natural habitats such as clearing of forests for raw material or construction of industries has seen a rise in the levels of carbon dioxide, a gas that is associated with accelerated global warming. Other cons include the creation of social inequalities, a reinforcement of class barriers, an increase in depression rates, and a shift from the values of community, spirituality, and integrity to that of materialism, competition, and disconnection. In short, from a social angle, consumerism has helped elevate the living standards of people and access to new ranges of products. From an economic perspective, it has ensured growth and market completion from the endless creation of goods and services. However, an increase in pollution and global warming due to the depletion of natural resources has brought about effects that are irreversible. That its disadvantages outweighed its advantages, consumer awareness has since been increased and now calls for more sustainable methods of production.
The impacts of consumerism continue to be felt today and will do for many generations to come. The mass production and excessive household consumption that has been occasioned by consumerism have already had irreversible adverse effects on the environment. For example, household consumption in itself accounts for more than 60% of the global greenhouse gases emission (Jacobs, 2016). This is possible because 80% of natural resources are used to produce these goods and services to fulfill the insatiable need for households to replenish them. This overdependence on the use of natural resources has put a lot of stress on the environment which has led to drastic climate changes and given rise to environmental catastrophes. According to a World Meteorological Organization (2020) report, climate change has seen the number of climate-related disasters multiply by three in the last 30 years, a rise in global sea level that has been faster than all of the 20th century, and millions people have been forced to move from their homes. All these negative changes to the environment have proven so futile since they cannot be restored. Due to such effects of consumerism, the resilience of the environment ha...