It might appear that this article does not have anything to do with the rights of persons with disabilities. However, the words of Leonardo Boff concern one of the most significant problems facing our towns and we, as individuals, regardless of our race, ethnicity, disability status, are all affected. In this essay, Boff examines the origin of one of the biggest causes of hunger and exclusion; the epidemic of consumerism. It is for this reason that his essay has been given a space within our blog.
Four R´s against consumerism.
Hunger has been a constant in all of the societies in history. Nevertheless, today it has reached levels that are shameful and simply cruel. It reveals that humankind has lost compassion and empathy. Eradication of hunger is imperative from humanitarian, ethical, social, and environmental perspectives.
The pre-existing condition which is immediately achievable, and which should immediately be put into practice, is a new pattern of consumption. The dominating culture is obviously consumeristic. It gives central importance to the consumption of individuals, without encouraging self-control, and presents it as an objective of their own society and of their own lives. We are not speaking of consumption which is necesary and justifiable. We are questioning superfluous consumption. This type of consumption is only possible because the economic policies which produce the superfluous goods are continuously supported and justified.
A large portion of production is dedicated to that which is not necesary to make our lives more comfortable. Concerning that which is superfluous, it relies on strategies of propaganda, marketing, and persuasion in order to convince people to consume and make them believe that the superfluous is actually necesary and even the secret key to happiness. The foundation of this type of marketing is to create habits of consumption to the point that a consumeristic culture and an overbearing need to consume are created. They promote more and more artificial needs and respond to these needs with the mighty forces of of production and distribution. The necesities are endless as they stem from desire, which, by its very nature, is endless. For this reason, the production also seeks to be endless.
We are thus creating a society, denounced by Marx, marked by fetishes, tied down with superfluous goods, and dotted with shopping malls. These shopping malls are truly sanctuaries of consumption, complete with alters featuring idols who tout miracles. But these idols are fictitious and society remains unsatisfied and empty as nothing has been gained.
As we can see, consumption is rampant and makes us nervous, as we do not know the Earth´s limit to this infinite exploitation of resources. It is no surprise that President Bush calls on the American public to consume more and more in an effort to save America from its economic crisis. The economy of America may be saved in this manner, but at what cost to the sustainability of our planet and its ecosystems? In contrast, we recall the words of the late Robert Kennedy on March 18, 1968, "Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife. And the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans." Three months later, Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
In order to topple this consumerism, we urgently need to adopt practices in which we consciously choose to behave in a countercultural manner. We must incorporate into daily life the following 4 R's: Reduce the amount of consumption, reuse objects, recycle products to give them another life, and finally, reject marketing, whether it be overt or subtle, which pushes us to consume. Without this spirit of rebellion against all attempts to manipulate our desires, and with the effort to follow other paths dictated by the moderation, in favor of prudence and consumption which encourages responsibility and solidarity, we run the risk of falling into the traps of consumerism, increasing the number of the hungry and damaging our planet which has already begun to become more and more destroyed.
Leonardo Boff
Originally Published on http://wwwderechospcd.blogspot.com by Eduardo Garcia
1 comment:
I would like to see the car the author drives.
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