Global Capitalism, Media and Consumerism: A Challenge to Sustainable Development

 Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on systematic creation and fostering of desire to purchase goods and services in greater amount. Consumerism is the notion that personal wellbeing and happiness depends to a very large extent on the level of personal consumption, particularly on the purchase of material goods. The idea is not simply that wellbeing depends upon a standard of living above some threshold, but that at the center of happiness is consumption and material possessions. A consumerist society is one in which people devote a great deal of time, energy, resources and thought to “consuming”. The general view of life in a consumerist society is consumption is goods, and more consumption is even better. (Woodward, 2003)

Capitalism and consumerism go hand in hand. In a capitalist system individuals who sell goods and services are self-interest driven, which means they are driven to make as much profit as possible. This creates a pressure on companies to stay competitive and innovative. Ultimately, it will drive companies to find ways to attract more people to buy their products or services through advertising creating a huge want in the population. Media having its own corporate roles is also motivated to earn profit, and thus media agencies including newspaper, television, and other digital forms of it have no choice than accepting advertisement of goods and services. Moreover, media houses need to make as much profit as they can, if not sustain. Thus, a trade-off between media agencies and other corporate houses is inevitable. Hence, watchdog function and function of media as a member of civic society is constantly compromised in the face of profit.

“Today’s consumption is undermining the environmental resource base. It is exacerbating inequalities. And the dynamics of the consumption-poverty-inequality-environment nexus are accelerating. If the trends continue without change — not redistributing from high-income to low-income consumers, not shifting from polluting to cleaner goods and production technologies, not promoting goods that empower poor producers, not shifting priority from consumption for conspicuous display to meeting basic needs — today’s problems of consumption and human development will worsen.” (Sam Binkley, 2008)Further, the expansion of global capitalism — characterized by prominent role of western establishments including World Trade Organization which incessantly appeals to free trade across border and market deregulation — has not only been promoting consumerism but also threatening environmental balance which ultimately challenges notion of sustainable development.

According to United Nations, sustainable development refers to “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (UNESCO)However, the trend of consumerism which is subtly shouldered by another UN organization called WTO contradicts to its own principles on sustainable development. 

Most theorists agree that overall human pressure on the environment is a product of three factors: population, consumption per capita and technology. Population is the total number of people, consumption relates to the amount each person consumes, and technology determines how much resources are used and how much wasted each unit of consumption.  However, today the concern of consumerism to environment is not limited to waste of products after use; rather it is concerned with frequent abandonment of goods that have symbolic function only for a very short period of time. As portrayed in The Lady’s Paradise by Zola, Sellers exploit the greed of their customers. They tempt buyers in with low-advertised prices on a particular item knowing that the enjoyment of buyers is doubled when they think they are robbing the tradesman. Further, sellers recognize that if one item is seen as a bargain, other items can be sold at as high a price as anywhere else, and buyers still think goods are the cheapest. They use sales in order to expedite turnover of inventory. Sellers discover that individuals can’t resist a bargain given that they buy without necessity when they think they just saw a cheap price line, and on this observation sellers base their system of reductions in price of unsold items. (Schom, 1987)This trend not only increases waste and rubbish but also hinders optimum utilization of resources that ultimately hampers notions of sustainable development.

Having said these, ever increasing trend of consumerism along with expansion of global capitalism not only increases waste and rubbish but also hinders sustainable development for it constantly opposes the idea of environmental balance.
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This paper is written by one my friend Suraj Dhakal (Luku)  who is one of the hidden and most carved poet and portrays his inner feelings in his poems. if you want to feel his poems, visit his blog http://lukudhakal.blogspot.com

Works Cited

Sam Binkley, J. L. (2008). Cultural studies and anti-consumerism: a critical encounter. Cultural Studies, 519-530.

Schom, A. (1987, August 21). The Zola affair. Retrieved May 18, 2019, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/1987/aug/21/biography.emilezola

UNESCO. (n.d.). Introdiction to Sustaibale Development. Retrieved December 02, 2018, from UNESCO: https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development

Woodward, K. (2003). Buying and Selling. In K. Woodward, Social Sceinces: Big Issues(pp. 73-98). Oxon: Routledge.