I’m new, and wanted to get a sense of the source of different people’s anticonsumption feelings. For me, it’s rooted in environmentalism - I’m inspired by sites like the story of stuff and books like Hot, Flat and Crowded, and related movements such as minimalism, homesteading, small living, frugality, zero waste, etc. What inspired you to criticize consumption and how are you working to reduce it?
Posted Dec 28, 2018, 9:56 PM UTC
Mostly environmentalism, for obvious reasons, but also cultural reasons. The globalised, Americanised world no longer has a culture. Instead of folk songs and folk heroes we have mass-marketed Disney themes and ubiquitous chunks of plastic in the shape of Marvel superheroes. Instead of folk celebrations we have consumerist orgies driven by mind-warping advertising. 90% of people's cultural references are trademarks. Valuable skills and trades (which will be even more valuable in a climate-changed future) have been wiped away by mass-produced convenience, alongside all the culture that went along with them.
Progress is great. But we have sacrificed too much at its altar.
It is really frustrating! I feel like we’ve moved into an ‘every person for themself’ mindset that is based mainly on accumulation and then protection of those things that belong to each individual. I’m not a communist or an anarchist, but Capitalism, at least the way we’re doing it, isn’t working.
I mostly lurk here, but as another commenter said, it’s really refreshing and even enlightening to see the viewpoints/opinions posted here.
I’ve had some tough times with my personal life/mental health in the past couple of years and unfortunately I think I vented a lot of that into shopping. Nothing completely OTT but enough to make me step back and look at my behaviour and grow sick of it, and this sub is quite helpful for staying on the right path.
Growing up I was always into the DIY ethos, and environmental issues have always been close to my heart so I feel like after some hazy years I’m finally back where I “belong”. I can’t say I’m still quite as anti-consumption as some commenters I’ve seen in this sub (maybe some day?), but I think we should all consume a lot less, and favour fixing and reusing over worshipping everything new and shiny. Maybe this is my inner consumerist talking, but it’s so much more satisfying too to mend/make something with your own hands or finding a gem at a charity shop instead of just clicking on a cart online!
I was brought here by many cross posts from the r/ZeroWaste subreddit, but I came to realize the negative aspect of consumerism through my family’s bad spending habit on clothing and electronics. I also had an awaking where I browsed through the app “Letgo” and saw that many items still had tons of life of left in them.
As a result of all this I have dedicated to living my life in the most sustainable way possible. I also am minoring in environmental science and plan to work in sustainable supply chain management in the future.
I am here because I take solace that other people on the internet think our world is as ridiculous as I do
yeah.... i just never wanted any of it.
I mean for me personally, even though part of it is not having a lot of money, the main reason for my anti consumption feelings is that it's crowded out so much other good stuff. You don't really have a folk culture, you sing (if you do at all, which most people seem to not do) and the same is true of kids play -- they "play" either by consuming computer games, or playing with toy sets designed to recapture scenes from a movie or TV show. We don't play cards or other games, we don't grab some dice and play a game. Even party games are generally the same kind of things -- other people make and then sell us that product.
That’s a really good point. I’ve definitely seen that community has suffered. I hadnt thought of it this way, though.
I found anticonsumption through zero waste, which is definately rooted in environmentalism
I’ve found so many things that intertwine with zero waste for me!
For me it's mostly because I believe that consumerism is an unhealthy mindset, especially the kind of instant gratification consumerism practiced by many today, which I believe has greatly contributed to the current atmosphere of toxic entitlement and lack of personal responsibility that pervades modern first-world (particularly American) culture.
Other main reasons I'm anticonsumption include valuing frugality and just generally appreciating efficiency, hating wastefulness, a desire to cultivate self-discipline by avoiding instant-gratification behavior, and also a small bit of environmental concern (or at least a desire to use nonrenewable resources more efficiently). I am not at all concerned about animals or the environment for their own sake, beyond how they can be useful to people.
What inspired me to criticize consumption was getting tired of seeing all of the wastefulness and relentless predatory marketing tactics of modern corporations combined with the selfishness and entitlement of the individuals around me.
I try to reduce my own consumption by practicing frugality and not buying or using more than I personally need, as well as reusing and recycling where possible. Reducing consumption at large is more difficult, because it's hard to have much effect on giant corporations using tons of wasteful packaging on products that shouldn't exist in the first place, and because it's hard to have much effect on the consumers incentivizing these practices without coming across like a condescending asshole.
I'm here because I enjoy having a space where I can criticize consumption with like-minded individuals, even if our reasons for doing so often differ (sometimes hugely). When you're surrounded by consumerist behavior every day IRL, it's nice to have a place online that you can come back to for a bit of sanity.
Thank you! It’s interesting to see that we come to the same place from different places, but have come to the same conclusions. I agree, it’s nice to have a place where like minded folk can get together and at least safely express ourselves. I get so frustrated with the way things are sold, as well, and the idea that working harder to get more things is somehow desirable - either for us or our economy!