Effects and Solutions for Consumerism Culture - Research Paper Example

? CONSUMERISM CULTURE, ITS EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS Outline A. Introduction i. Definition of Consumerism ii. History of Consumerism iii. Consumerism in Modern Societies B. Problems of Consumerism i. Pollution ii. Resource Depletion iii. Social Inequality iv. Economic Destabilization v. Social Deviance C. Consumerism in UAE i. Current Status of Consumerism ii. UAE Carbon footprint iii. Solutions to the High Carbon Footprint D. Conclusion Introduction Consumerism refers to a socio-economic habit of encouraging huge purchase and acquisition of both goods and services. According to Miles (2008), it involves active acquisition of material items and purchase of services for convenient purposes. This aspect is economic in nature because in entails exercising one’s economic power in purchasing goods and services. On the other hand, consumerism possesses sociological attributes because it serves as a measure of elite lifestyle and social status. Poor members of the society purchase only the basic needs. However, consumerism involves mass acquisition and consumption in excess of one’s basic needs. According to Stearns (2006), consumerism derives its origin from industrial revolution in the Western world. Prior to industrial revolution, resources and goods were scarce, and acquisition of these items was invariably restricted by the scarcity. However, industrial revolution led to massive production of material items and services. As a result of surplus in production, Western societies adopted an economic behavior characterized by massive purchase and consumption of goods as a show of social and economic strength. Consequently, proliferation of industrialization spread consumerism behaviors to other parts of the world including the Middle East and Asia. In modern commercial settings, consumerism is commonly referred to as consumer culture or market culture. As opposed to its earlier principles of mass consumption, current consumerism entails a close association between brand items and owners. According to Campbell (2005), American markets indicate a tendency for people to elicit strong attraction towards items as symbol of economic and social status. Purchase of brand and expensive automobiles and jewelry satisfies consumerism aspects members within America society. Apart from the US markets, other commercial environments across the world use goods and services as a measure of socioeconomic status of individuals. According to Campbell (2005), this has led to a situation whereby social stratification based on economic strength has induced irresponsible production and consumption of goods and services. Consequently, irresponsible production presents adverse effects on environment and resource base. Problems of Consumerism Since inception of consumerism as a socioeconomic culture, there have been numerous criticisms on this aspect. Stearns (2006) says that as earlier as during the 20th Century, religious leaders in Europe including Pope Benedict 5 were opposed to the manner in which people were using economic power as a measure of social status. Currently, consumerism has been associated with a myriad of problems which include environmental pollution, depletion of resources, increase in social inequality, disruption of economy and increase in social deviance. With respect to social deviance, people are trying to acquire wealth and resources in an effort to increase their economic strengths. As a result, individuals are more acquire money through deviant means like drug trafficking and prostitution. Miles (2008) says that on the other hand, disruption of economy manifest in form of inflation as a result of increased purchasing power of consumers. As people amass wealth, they are more likely to spend unwisely and irrationally. Therefore, consumerism destabilizes economy. Increase in social inequality is also another problem associated with consumer culture. Wealth members of any society are continually exploiting the poor in an effort to increase their economic power. This explains why mining companies in Tanzania are employing child workers in gold mines. In addition, it is undeniable that consumerism leads to depletion of resources. According to Miles (2008), trends suggest that oil wells in the Middle East are dropping significantly. Increased purchase of fuel-guzzling automobiles as a show of economic strength contributes to such resource depletion as witnessed within the oil sector. Miles (2008) adds that consumerism comes with a substantial compromise between wealth reaction and environmental protection. Massive emission of exhaust fumes by the fuel guzzlers contribute to built up of green house gases in the environment, thus causing global warming. Consumerism in United Arab Emirates Similar to American consumer culture, United Arab Emirates also has its own problems stemming from consumerism. This is the reason why UAE government recently warned citizens against irresponsible spending in purchasing unnecessary goods and services. According to Reuters (2008), UAE department of economic and planning shows that the countries consumer spending doubled within a period of five years from 2007 to 2012. According to Smith (2010), additional relevant statistics shows that employees in the nation spend approximately 60% of their monthly salaries in purchase of goods and services, leaving a mere 40% for savings related purposes. According to the department of economy and planning, such huge spending undermines the nation’s collective goals of encouraging a saving economy. Reuters (2008) acknowledges that UAE has experienced a surge in profits within its tourism and hospitality industry. This shows that UAE is slowly slipping into becoming a consuming nation rather than a producing economy. Apart from the economic effect of consumerism, UAE is also facing imminent threats on its environmental aspects. Apart from emerging as one of the most promising economy, UAE features as a nation with the highest carbon footprint in relation to its per capita. Walker (2013) says that in 2011 alone, UAE reached approximately 33.7 tons of carbon emission, which is an amazing nine-times that of neighboring countries like Qatar. At this juncture, it is worth acknowledging the fact that carbon footprint measures the amount of harmful gases emitted into the atmosphere versus that ability of a nation’s ecological environment to absorb these gases. Based on this aspect of carbon footprint, report by the Living Planet Report asserted that UAE features as the world’s worst ecological environment in terms of carbon footprint per person. According to Walker (2013), this huge carbon footprint results from emission from aero planes and automobiles. In addition, UAE is underway with its program of developing artificial islands, which according to environmentalists will result in massive emission of greenhouse gases. As a means of striving to reduce its carbon emission, UAE is employing reduction and recycling techniques. Currently, the government is initiating green energy programs that will reduce dependency on oil as the only source of automobile fuel. In 2011, a multinational company called Etisalat in collaboration with the government launched the Emirates Energy Program meant to reduce the nation’s footprint by approximately 30%. Pacific Controls (2011) says that the program, headed by the vice president, seeks to urge property developers to install technological tools that will reduce power consumption and save energy in their industrial or residential buildings. In addition, UAE is also striving to minimize environmental pollution by encouraging use of ecologically friendly packaging materials and reuse approaches in mitigating environmental effects of consumerism. Conclusion In conclusion, it is undeniable that consumerism presents substantial negative effects to the environment. In addition, this socioeconomic culture also presents adverse challenges to social and economic framework of any given nation. According to Jackson (2005), this is the reason why nations like UAE are brought into realization of potential effects of their high carbon footprint. This means that nations across the world should consider regulating their consumer habits as a means of addressing economic and environmental challenges associated with massive purchase and consumption of goods and services. Reference List Campbell, C. (2005). The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism. Harrisburg: WritersPrintShop. Jackson, T. (2005). Live Better by Consuming Less: Is There a "Double Dividend" in Sustainable Consumption? Journal of Industrial Ecology, 43(6), 23-27. Miles, S. (2008). Consumerism: As a way of life. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Pacific Controls. (December 2011). Nationwide Project to cut Power use in Buildings. Khaleej Times. Retrieved from http://www.pacificcontrols.net/news-media/ees-reducing-carbon-footprint-uae.html Reuters (29 June, 2008). UAE Government Warns Against Culture of Spending. Al Arabia News. Retrieved from http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/06/29/52276.html Smith. D. (2010). Reasons the UAE has such a high carbon footprint. KippReport. Retrieved from http://www.kippreport.com/fcs/reasons-the-uae-has-such-a-high-carbon-footprint%e2%80%a6/ Stearns, P. N. (2006). Consumerism in the World History: The Global Transformation of Desire. Cradiff: Routledge Publishers. Walker, M. (2013). UAE Heroes of Carbon Footprint. Applied Materials. 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