V Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
Чрезмерное потребительство
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя II степени
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“The things you own end up owning you.”
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
To buy and to own has become modern society's essential urge. In this project we are going to present you a really controversial topic of nowadays. Consumerism is a phenomenon that was always immanent in the relatively developed societies, where people purchased goods and consumed resources excessive to their needs.
Relevance: "Out with the old and in with the new." Consumerism is one of the biggest challenges the world faces today. Some people have consumerist values or attitudes that means that they always want to consume more, and that they find meaning and satisfaction in life through purchasing of new consumer goods. People go shopping; buy loads of food, clothes and other goods, getting on the hook of manufacturers, wholesale traders, shop owners and sales assistants.
However, a week or two later they again head for a shopping center, passing by a dumpster, throwing away all unused and spoiled food and other items, creating mountains of rubbish and immortalizing soles. (appendix 1, 2)
Consumerism has emerged as part of a historical process that was created by mass markets, industrialization, and cultural attitudes that ensures that rising incomes are used to purchase an ever-growing output. [1]
Problem: the attitude of people to consumption of things. (appendix 3) This problem is a result of the following contradiction: marketing and advertising encourages us to consume more and more. Consequently, people start consuming goods and services thoughtlessly without realizing if they need them or not.
As reported by National Geographic News, almost 1.7 billion people worldwide are now part of the “consumer class” (National Geographic refers to them as “the group of people characterized by diets of highly processed food, desire for bigger houses, more and bigger cars, higher levels of debt, and lifestyles devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods”). And the disturbing fact is that this number grows.
So why did we choose this topic? We have lessons of Economics at our school and we discussed this problem and got interested in it. Analyzing this topic, we decided to do our bit and change something in our society
Thus, the aim of my work is to raise the awareness of the society about the consequences of consumerism for modern societies.
A huge number of scientists, economists and politicians are concerned about this problem. For example, Martin Lindstrom ad his book «Buy ology» (appendix 5) wrote that “Both religions and brands apply the same strategy of influencing their adherents: they give people the opportunity to feel elected”. [2]
The subject of our research is consumerism.
The object of the research is the consequences of consumerism for society and environment.
The work is based on the hypothesis that consumerism isn’t the way to prosperity of the society.
Work’s tasks:
To find and study the facts concerning the problem.
To explore the results of excessive consumerism.
To conduct a survey among our classmates
To come to the conclusion due to results of the survey
To suggest the ways of solving the problem.
To represent an overall picture of a problem.
While working on the research, we used the following methods:
Search and selection of proper information
Analysis
Classification
Survey.
Main part
Theoretic part
Consumerism: general outlook
Definitions: different dictionaries give us following definitions of the word “consumerism”.
1. A modern movement for the protection of the consumer against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, unfair pricing, etc.
2. The concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to the economy.
3. The state of an advanced industrial society in which a lot of goods are bought and sold.
4. Disapproving: the situation in which too much attention is given to buying and owning things.
It is obvious that these definitions, except the last one, suppose a positive approach to the concept. However, what is hidden behind this aspiration to prosperity?
Excessive consumerism is the satisfaction of one's needs by human through the excessive acquisition of goods and services.
Consumerism seems to have gotten into every aspect of modern life. Even those areas of life that were not previously affected by the marketplace, have to adapt to the new reality, where consumer is in control. [2]
The modern consumer society indulges precisely the animal part of human nature. Modern society is the society of children deprived of ethics. This is where marketing and advertising work. The society of consumption needs eternal children. Not capable of "saturation." "I bought a top-end video card?" A new one came out after a fortnight? Sell the old one, buy a new one!" [3]
So, modern consumerism has been formed under the influences of corporate politics and the impact of mass media. People started to have more money - and they started to consume more.
Background
The idea of ‘consumerism’ was first conceived in USA around the beginning of this century.
Around 1900:
The business firms dealing in meat packing were least concerned with the consumers. Meat used to be sold in the unhealthiest manner. This affected the health of the consumers. Even many other firms used to produce dangerous, unwanted products and sell them to the consumers by adopting manipulative devices. Conscious and sensible became disgusted with this sort of affairs and started campaign to preserve the interests of the consuming public.
2. Around 1930:
Consumerism assumed more importance because people in general became more enlightened and concerned with the standards of good quality products. This was possible because of education, awareness and political consciousness. Although consumerism did not become a serious public movement during this time, the Government came up with a legislation called Miller-Tiching Act 1936 in order to regulate certain marketing mal-practices.
3. 1960’s:
It is in the sixties of this century consumerism became a very forceful social movement. Late President Kennedy, in the year 1962, passed a legislation to protect the consumers’ rights particularly with regard to false advertising and unhealthy packaging of food and other articles. The consumerism movement reached its height when a serious criticism was levelled against the ‘un-safety’ of automobile companies which caused death to many people.
The Government passed a legislation on product safety compelling the automobile companies to adopt safety methods. The Government also passed many other legislations to control pollution. Business firms in the beginning criticized consumerism stating, but later they started setting up consumer affairs cell to deal with consumer disputes of allegations. [4]
Consequences
Many people think that consumerism is quite a normal situation in our time. But what it could lead to? For example, child labour, pollution, surplus of resources, irresponsible attitude to goods, resource depletion.
Modern consumerism has been formed under the influences of corporate politics, the commercialization of culture (more and more intellectual, cultural and spiritual “goods” are produced) and the impact of mass media.
Consumerism replaces normal common-sense desire to have life's necessities with artificial and insatiable search for things and money to buy them with. An intended consequence which is promoted by those who profit from consumerism is the acceleration of discarding of the old, either because of durability or a change in fashion.
Some argue that consumerism cannot delete or destroy society. Many believe that consumerism will benefit the economy. As we see, it will indeed keep the game going but let's look at what cost.
3.1 Ethical issue.
In 1955, economist Victor Lebow stated:
“Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate. [5]
People nowadays throw away more goods like clothes, food, gadgets than they used to do 30-50 years ago. (appendix The philosophy of modern generation “It is cheaper and easier to buy a new pair of jeans, shoes, a new mobile phone or a washing machine then to repair them.
Consumerism appears to be very sick in terms of human rights. An average Nicaraguan peasant sells a hundred-pound bag of coffee beans for $2. Just think how much coffee can we buy for $2? Those people eat 2 times a day - mostly corn bread and sometimes coffee made of spoiled beans that can't be sold. Where do the money go you may ask? To the transnational company's chief financial officer, who is in an urgent need of a new yacht.
In order to assure choice in the developed country markets, governments have implemented trade laws to facilitate cross border transactions and transnational corporations (TNCs) have set up business off shore so they can lessen the cost of the production process. The goods that are available in the developed country markets are provided by slave labor, child labor, sweatshops or in countries that allow the TNCs to forego adhering to pollution or ecological concerns and human rights in pursuit of profit. Labor rights are abused in efforts to earn more profits.
Child labour is an illegal act performed by the children in their little age by the involvement of some industrialists and businessmen all over the world. (appendix 4) Industrialists and businessmen generally chose child labour because of the efficient work in minimum time at low cost. And, children generally get involved in child labour because of their poverty and lack of education. People, who are very poor and cannot manage their two times food and clothes, become forced to send their kids and children to do some job at lowest payment instead of sending them to the school for education.
According to the survey of 2016, it was found that approximately 152 million children were involved in productive activities as a supplement to their family income (23.8%) or improving their family income (66%). Tasks or activities, which are not involved in affecting the health and personal development of children or interfering in their schooling, cannot be counted as child labour. They can be taken as positive and no need to be eliminated. However, all those activities, affecting a child in all aspects (health, personal development, schooling, etc.), are needed to be eliminated.
I want to say a few words about child labour. Have you ever thought about how and where these clothes were made? Some dealers write that they, for example, were made by experts at the factory. But this may not be true. Your coat could be made by children who worked in hazardous industries in terrible conditions.
Opponents of consumerism argue that many luxuries and unnecessary consumer products may act as a social mechanism allowing people to identify like-minded individuals through the display of similar products, again utilizing aspects of status-symbolism to judge socioeconomic status and social stratification. Some people believe relationships with a product or brand name are substitutes for healthy human relationships lacking in societies, and along with consumerism, create a cultural hegemony, and are part of a general process of social control in modern society.
3.2 Ecological issue
Critics of consumerism often point out that consumerist societies are more prone to damage the environment, contribute to global warming and use up resources at a higher rate than other societies. [8] Dr. Jorge Majfud says that "Trying to reduce environmental pollution without reducing consumerism is like combatting drug trafficking without reducing the drug addiction."[4]
Resource depletion. Minerals are needed to provide food, clothing, and housing. A United States Geological Survey (USGS) study found a significant long-term trend over the 20th century for non-renewable resources.
Minerals projected by some to enter production decline during the next 20 years: gas (2023), copper (2024), zinc.
Minerals projected by some to enter production decline during the present century: aluminum (2057), coal (2060), iron (2068).
Such projections may change, as new discoveries are made and typically misinterpret available data on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.
Pollution. Throwing out every day a huge amount of garbage, we pollute the environment. Landfills are full of cheap discarded products that fail early and cannot be repaired. Products are made psychologically obsolete long before they actually become worn out. Over 220 Billion cans, bottles, plastic cartons and paper cups, are thrown away each year in the “developed” world (appendix 3)
The e-waste and plastic can decompose for millions of years, thus releasing various harmful substances into the atmosphere.
Any garbage takes up a lot of space that could be used for agricultural purposes.
It is practically impossible to restore the lend - in the soil for this period, a huge amount of substances that prevent the growth of plants has been accumulated. [6]
As a result of this we are witnessing one of the most disastrous events that our civilization has caused - climate change. The fact that no species that ever existed on the earth for billions of years have caused as much destruction as the human race has, seems almost like a feat for those with a sense of humour. The root cause of climate change is the fact that majority of the people around us turn a blind eye to the problem they know they are causing. The gulf countries export oil, a gallon of which costs only as much as a gallon of milk. Cows can breed. Fossil fuel can't. Any Tom, Dick and Harry would know this but nobody is willing to pay more for fuel. Finding alternate fuel sources is always someone else's problem, not something people would concern themselves with.
Practical part
Research and conclusions
After historical research, we decided to make questionnaires to understand situation among our peers. Is it true that modern teenagers buy and waste food, clothes, gadgets? (The result of our questionnaires you can see the result of our questionnaires in appendix 6)
After carrying out a research and interviewing the classmates, we can draw the following conclusion:
The majority of our classmates throw away spoiled food more often than once a week
Buy new clothes more often than once a month
Change gadgets and home appliances more often than once a year
56 % of teenagers will throw way useless staff
74 % of our peers do not think about the consequences of excessive consumerism
Everybody agrees with the fact, that we consume a variety of resources and products beyond our basic needs, for example, luxury items and technological innovations. At the same time, nobody can imagine his life without a new mobile phone or other device because we live in a fast-moving world and have to keep up with the new technologies.
However, there are important issues around consumerism that need to be understood. For example:
How are the products and resources we consume actually produced?
What are the impacts of that process of production on the environment?
What is a necessity and what is a luxury?
We should understand that consumption cannot be eliminated in modern society, because consumerism and consumption are at the core of many societies. The impacts of consumerism, positive and negative are very significant to all aspects of our lives, as well as our planet.
I want this work to be considered as some kind of a lecture, thematic material for teachers. It would be grateful if this work could be used in schools on thematic lessons to breed student’s knowledge on this problem. I believe that this information would be interesting for the youth and be useful for them in the future.
They should know what happens around them, be informed as fully as possible. As it is said in a proverb: “Forewarned is forearmed”. So we represent you our tips to how to cope with the desire to buy more.
How to avoid the tricks of sellers
Slowly, our topic turned to dealers. Nowadays, dealers are crafty. They come up with various tricks for making a profit. Now we will talk about some of them.
Packaging. When you come to the grocery shop, you see stands with fruits per piece and stands with packed products. The whole point of the trick is based on the laziness of the consumer. You can take the same amount of fruit per piece, as in the package, but the sellers hope that you will take the food in the package to quickly go to the checkout. But to save it’s better to take the same amount of fruit per piece. It’ll be cheaper in 2, and even 3 times cheaper.
Upper shelves. Each of us, when he goes to the supermarket, looks at the shelves at eye level. Sellers know that consumers tend to choose products that are at eye level, so the item on the middle shelves are usually the most expensive ones. Cheaper brands are on high shelves.
Where’s tomato ketchup? Have you ever noticed that just when you’ve learnt where the tomato ketchup is, the shop moves it? Sellers like doing this, so that you’ve to spend time walking up and down the aisles looking for what you want to buy. This is a very sly trick that dealers often use.
Food container. Till now in some shops it’s possible to find scales and containers for meal. So, when you put food in the container, you went to weigh the goods. You are given an amount and you leave. But you need to stop and ask to weigh the food without the container. The fact is that the sellers earn about 1000 rubles in one and a half days! Not a small amount, right? One small container costs 6-10 rubles approximately, but big containers are even more. If you by food in package, then you’ll save money.
3. How to be a responsible shopper.
Try to avoid buying cheap clothes as manufacturers make prices low by underpaying their employees, violating their rights or using slave and child labour
No matter how little or how much money you have, spending it wisely is a good idea. There are some tips to reduce expenditures in key areas and adopt a safer overall approach to shopping.
Create a budget. Track your spending and income to get an accurate picture of your financial situation. Save receipts or write down your purchases in a notebook as you make them.
Plan your purchases in advance. Write down what you need to buy while you're calm and at home to avoid unexpected waste of money.
Shop alone. Children, friends who love shopping, or even just a friend whose tastes you respect can influence you to spend extra money.
Pay in full and in cash. Credit and debit cards increase spending for two reasons: you have much more money available to spend than you normally would, and because no visible money is changing hands, it doesn't register as a "real" purchase.
Don't be fooled by marketing. Don't buy something on the basis of an advertisement. Whether on television or the product's packaging, treat ads with skepticism]. They are designed to encourage you to spend money and will not provide an accurate portrayal of your options.
It seems that the flow of promotional stock simply inexhaustible. Buy one shampoo and get another as a gift. However, before to buy shampoo, think about whether you need it or will gather dust for three months? Buying two products at a lower price, there is little you win, but the supermarket increases sales turnover. In addition, reduced prices usually sell stale or expired goods.
Wait for sales and discounts. If you know you'll need a particular item but don't need it today, wait until it ends up in the bargain bin or try to find a coupon for it.
Remember, to avoid “starvation” purchase, it is better to eat before going to the store. In many supermarkets confectionery is located at the entrance. The smell of fresh baking activates the salivary glands, and you want immediately to buy this yummy. In addition, some supermarkets are installing small shelves, offering customers to taste a particular product. Always surprised at the number of people who buy a product only because you feel obligated or hungry.
Do your research. Before making expensive purchases, go online or read consumer reports to find out how to buy the product within your budget that will last longest and meet your needs best. [7]
Conclusion
Consumerism is one of the most complex issues facing us today. It involves many dimensions – ecology, economics, society, politics and moral and ethical questions – and is a global problem, felt on local scales, that will be around for decades and centuries to come. Thoughtless consumption leads to violating human rights and destroying the environment.
At the beginning of my work, I set the following goal: to raise awareness of the society about the consequences of excessive consumerism. To reach this goal I have studied scientific facts about the problem, explored the reasons and consequences, suggested the ways of solving the problem and represented an overall picture of a problem.
On the one hand, consumerism has a favorable impact on the economy and its development. Constant consumption gives a steady growth to the economy.
On the other hand, the consequences are terrible and in order to completely forget them, it takes a lot of time and decisive action.
Our way of thinking must be changed to focus more on the environmental and societal consequences of our actions rather than on instant pleasure. This has to be done gradually through ways that influence people the most like digital media and social networking. In order to change, we will have to get rid of a throw-away mentality. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is a simple anti-consumerist mantra. And it does work, even if you think that you alone will hardly make any difference. Quoting the Mahatma, "There is enough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed."
Taking everything into consideration, our hypothesis that the consumerism is not the way to prosperity of the society was proved, our goal was reached, and the tasks were achieved.
This project can be completed, but this topic assumes limitless possibilities for further research. Our work can be used at the lessons and published in mass media.
The list of sources:
https://www.e-reading.club/book.php?book=1015008
https://www.tailoredessays.com/samples/essay-on-consumerism
http://www.spletnik.ru/blogs/govoryat_chto/147483_potrebitelstvo-kak-smysl-bytiya
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/essay-on-consumerism/50837
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_depletion
http://www.mirprognozov.ru/prognosis/climate/zagryaznenie-planetyi-musorom-globalnaya-problema/
https://www.wikihow.com/Spend-Money-Wisely
http://www.globalissues.org/
Appendices
Appendix 1
In the USA In Russia
Appendix 2
40% of food is wasted in Russia every year.
35 million tons of food are wasted in Russia each year.
The average Russian household throws away 115000 roubles of food each year.
The average American throws away 300 lbs. of food per year.
More than 20 lbs. of food is wasted per person every month in the United States.
20% of food that the average American buys is never eaten.
90% of food is thrown away too soon.
Food waste in American has grown by 204% since 1960 and 50% since 1990.
Reducing food waste by just 15% would be enough to feed more than 25 million Russians every year.
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
Appendix 7
The questionnaires for our peers and the results %
|
Questions |
Yes |
No |
|
Do you often change gadgets and household appliances? (once a year and more) |
86 |
14 |
|
Do you often often buy new clothes? (once a month and more) |
75 |
25 |
|
Is there an item of clothes that you wore less than 3 times? |
60 |
40 |
When you do not need something, what will you do with it:
Throw away
Find another application for it
Give someone who needs it
Donate to charities
Put it away. Maybe I will need it some day
Do you think about the consequences of your attitude to shopping?
Yes – 24%
No – 76%