Consumerism is chiseling away the life of our planet. While some of us are eating awesome food here, others are dying of hunger.
I got this thought when I was in church today. With the advent of group coupons (groupons), we can get so many exciting deals and the demand for things is on the rise with the so called 'deal'. We can get buffets, exciting adventures but what are the cost of demanding so much?
While we may eat to the brim of our stomach for RM 40 - RM 60 with the deal, we are demanding more food to be put on the dining table in the restaurant. And with about 2000 plus people buying it, you can surely bet there would be a huge demand for animals, plants and seafood to be slaughtered, harvested and fished. And that's just for 1 of the restaurants. Multiply that by the constant deal and the wastage at the end of the day, maybe the picture is not as colourful anymore (for the life of our world at least).
What about the travel industry? With the cheap flights and discounted prices of holidays, there would be an increase of pollution, from airplane, to nature being invaded to more food being provided for tourist.
I for one, admit that I do purchase these deals every once in a while but where are we heading to with such rampant consumerism? Surely the world cannot consistently supply us with our cravings as it is never ending and always on the rise. But if we don't put a stop to it, then sooner or later, our world is going to be so barren that we are gonna starve ourselves. (ok this might be a slippery slope argument. sue me).
Taken from http://sal.am/tag/consumerism/
I guess all of us should take a step back and think a little before purchasing things. The most important thing would be to be contented with our lives and what we have. If we are contented, we wouldn't think that a buffet or a discounted travel package is such a great thing because we are simply happy and satisfied with how things are and need not look for 'extra' things to complement our life. It's pretty simple. Things work in a demand and supply dynamic. When the demand goes down, so does supply.
On another note, why not use consumerism in a positive manner. Another idea which popped into my head when I was in church is how companies like Groupon can utilize the people's purchasing power. If only they could feature a home (refugee, autism, spastic, old folks etc.) every week, I think it would be of great help to the home. I think Malaysians are a good lot and are willing to help. Just maybe we are caught up with everyday work and the awareness is low as to how to help. By utilizing this vast network that is already established and the ease of donating by just a few clicks, this could be a great power to be leveraged (or at least I think so). Positive consumerism anyone?
God Bless~
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