consumerism

A conscience that is forbidden to operate in the choice of goals for economic activity is not conscience in the sense in which any moralist, pagan or Christian, has every understood the term. And the family (which [Michael] Novak regards as vital to the spirit of democratic capitalism) is precisely the place where the noncapitalist values have to be learned, where one is not free to choose his company and where one is not free to pursue self-interest to the limit. Because capitalism pursues the opposite goals - freedom of each individual to choose and pursue his own ends to the limit of his power - the disintegration of marriage and family life is one of the obvious characteristics of advanced capitalist societies.

Soon, if we are not prudent, millions of people will be watching each other starve to death through expensive television sets

When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.

The ideological blackmail that has been in place since the original Live Aid concerts in 1985 has insisted that __aring individuals_ could end famine directly, without the need for any kind of political solution or systemic reorganization. It is necessary to act straight away, we were told; politics has to be suspended in the name of ethical immediacy. Bono__ Product Red brand wanted to dispense even with the philanthropic intermediary. __hilanthropy is like hippy music, holding hands_, Bono proclaimed. __ed is more like punk rock, hip hop, this should feel like hard commerce_. The point was not to offer an alternative to capitalism - on the contrary, Product Red__ __unk rock_ or __ip hop_ character consisted in its __ealistic_ acceptance that capitalism is the only game in town. No, the aim was only to ensure that some of the proceeds of particular transactions went to good causes. The fantasy being that western consumerism, far from being intrinsically implicated in systemic global inequalities, could itself solve them. All we have to do is buy the right products.

But I need to remember that the grief is the settlers_ as well. They too will never walk in a tallgrass prairie where sunflowers dance with goldfinches. Their children have also lost the chance to sing at the Maple Dance. They can__ drink the water either.

I think we're moving toward a world where all the consumers under a certain age will probably tend to identify more with their consumer status or with the products they consume then they would with ... any sort of antiquated notion of nationality.

If time could run backward, like a film in reverse, we would see this mess reassemble itself into lush green hills and moss-covered ledges of limestone. The streams would run back up the hills to the springs and the salt would stay glittering in underground rooms.

Ruined land was accepted as the collateral damage of progress.

We have constructed an artifice, a Potemkin village of an ecosystem where we perpetrate the illusion that the things we consume have just fallen off the back of Santa__ sleigh, not been ripped from the earth. The illusion enables us to imagine that the only choices we have are between brands.

The very earth that sustains us is being destroyed to fuel injustice. An economy that grants personhood to corporations but denies it to the more-than-human beings

The creek that was once a fishery for Atlantic salmon, a swimming hole for kids, and a focal point of community life now runs as brown as chocolate milk. Allied Chemical and its successors deny any role in the formation of the mudboils. They claim it was an act of God. What kind of God would that be?

To possess possessions, a man will "sell himself" to have what another has, but it never dawns on him ~ that the more he gets, the less he keeps of himself.

I know I__ not the patron saint of etiquette and me attitude stinks of arse, but at least I don__ dictate to nay cunt how they ought to spend their days. There are six billion of us on this rock. Why should we all like vanilla ice cream, wear supermarket denim and set our alarm clocks for the nine to five grind?

This market way of life promotes addictions to stimulation and obsessions with comfort and convenience.

The Master said, __he gentleman understands what is right, whereas the petty man understands profit._(Analects 4.16)

After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. The belief is now that everything - and everyone - is fair game.

The assumption that you everyone else is like you. That you are the world. The disease of consumer capitalism. The complacent solipsism.

The Master said, __f your conduct is determined solely by considerations of profit you will arouse great resentment.