Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen or, more recently by a movement called Enoughism. Veblen's subject of examination, the newly emergent middle class arising at the turn of the twentieth century, comes to full fruition by the end of the twentieth century through the process of globalization.
In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. In an abstract sense, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism
Landfills swell with cheap discarded products that fail early and cannot be repaired. Products are made psychologically obsolete long before they actually wear out. A generation is growing up without knowing what quality goods are. Friendship, family ties and personal autonomy are only promoted as a vehicle for gift giving and the rationale for the selection of communication services and personal acquisition. Everything becomes mediated through the spending of money on goods and services.
http://www.verdant.net/society.htm
Two families, compared-each having the same income and basic housing situation in the same community can be used to illustrate the negative effects of consumerism and the healthy effects of actively avoiding it. This is not a study of good and evil, merely of behavior and its consequences.
Which family has a truly higher standard of living?
http://www.verdant.net/families.htm
