Question
If it were possible to consume with zero environmental impact, would consumerism no longer pose a problem?
Answer
No.
Environmental impact is not actually the most damaging effect of consumerism. The biggest damage is done to our psyches.
Humans must fundamentally produce something of value (and I include predatory activities here, not just pure non-zero-sum product) to enjoy true well-being. Consumerism allows us to take mechanical, crank-widget jobs and just consume instead of producing as well.
I called the effects of this type of lifestyle the "Gollum Effect" in a blog post, and the people who live this kind of lifestyle "Gollumized" (after the LOTR character) and one of the commenters posted this very succinct distillation of this philosophy.
The full comment is at http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/0...
You can scroll up to read the post itself. tl;dr: a carbon-neutral Gollum is still a Gollum.
Environmental impact is not actually the most damaging effect of consumerism. The biggest damage is done to our psyches.
Humans must fundamentally produce something of value (and I include predatory activities here, not just pure non-zero-sum product) to enjoy true well-being. Consumerism allows us to take mechanical, crank-widget jobs and just consume instead of producing as well.
I called the effects of this type of lifestyle the "Gollum Effect" in a blog post, and the people who live this kind of lifestyle "Gollumized" (after the LOTR character) and one of the commenters posted this very succinct distillation of this philosophy.
I am reminded of a quote by a programmer known only by his online
persona as ‘_why the lucky stiff’. (That adopted online identity is all
that I have to know him by enters him into this discussion):
“When you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes
rather than ability. Your tastes only narrow and exclude people. So
create.”
The full comment is at http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/0...
You can scroll up to read the post itself. tl;dr: a carbon-neutral Gollum is still a Gollum.