The Cult of Consumerism and the Coming Depression

There is a global economic meltdown in progress thatbut WANTED, and therein is the catalyst for the
shows no sign of letting up. There is no light at theeconomy of the world.
end of the tunnel!Soon the majority of us will wake up to the fact
Millions have lost their jobs in the U.S. and all aroundthat we can no longer afford these extravagances,
the world, mostly because of corporate greed andas the poorest segments of the population have
life styles that have been unrestrained and out ofalways known. This realization will spell the end of
control for decades.consumerism as we know it, and many millions more
Americans wrote the book on excess as long ago aswill be unemployed.
the post-world war II era, and we have carried theFewer jobs will equate to fewer tax dollars, which will
rest of the world, [quite willingly] down the rabbit-holeequate to fewer government projects, meaning
of the "me" philosophy.fewer jobs, and the economy spirals downward to
We have gone through recession before, alwaysheaven knows what level.
knowing that the end would come in months or, atThere are many things we can do to reduce our
the most, a year or two, but that was then, and thisdependence on government, the economy, and
is now, and now is a bad time, indeed for thecorporations that employ so many of us, but the
economic outlook of the entire world.most immediate, [and easiest] thing should be energy
The entire industrialized world has based its economyindependence.
on consumerism for so long that we have "eaten" aPower plants are responsible for a very high
great deal of the planet! We have consumed for thepercentage of the air pollution in the world, which
sake of consumption and the economy has alwayscauses global warming, the most challenging crisis
been robust because of it.facing the planet today.
Watch a few hours of television and you will seeYou can break your ties to the giant energy
dozens of ads. Take stock of the content of thoseconglomerates that hold our comfort for ransom
ads and you will realize that the vast majority areeach month by generating your own power through
selling totally unnecessary things, things not needed,solar and wind generation.