Affluenza and Sustainability

An interesting and critical aspect of environmental sustainability is human behaviour. There are many aspects to this. One is the impact of affluenza.

I don't intend to go into the topic in any great detail, maybe just to whet your appetite. There is a great book on the Australian condition Affluenza - when too much is never enough by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss. Clive has written some great books like Growth Fetish and Scorcher on issues facing modern societies. There is more on the topic on YouTube in the form of documentaries.

In the book, affluenza is defined as:

1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses.
2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the Australian dream.
3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
   

Affluenza is brought on by a society which places undue emphasis on consumption. The book argues that, for some time now, people have been buying more and more 'stuff' in an effort to feel better about themselves and to demonstrate their status. That increasingly effective marketing and advertising has engendered this behaviour.

So, how is this linked to sustainability? In simple terms, the more stuff we buy, the more resources and energy are consumed in their manufacture and distribution, the more ends up in storage and ultimately landfill. Conspicuous consumption leads to increased impact on our environment throughout the entire life-cycle of the goods. Whether it is resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions or waste disposal.

It stands to reason that increased consumption leads to increased impact and less sustainability.

Many people, perhaps the majority, instinctively feel that the excesses of our consumer society are leading us in the wrong direction. As yet, not many are acting on this instinct, instead they continue to follow the norms and consume. But some are responding by opting out as post materialists, living simply or by downshifting.

It is likely that our future (or at least one which is 'sustainable', by any definition of that word) will require us all to become post materialists and change the way we think about ourselves and our connection with the world around us.