Reasons To Cry Over The Split Milk
Páginas: 3 (705 palabras)
Publicado: 26 de septiembre de 2012
REASONS TO CRY OVER THE SPILT MILK: THE NON RETURN OF CONSUMERISM
It was 5pm, I was working like a beaver and I decided to take a look around, and I just saw one thing: people, people and morepeople, buying. I work as a teller in a multinational company at weekends, and for me, it seems that people are spending their money in a senseless way. The defeat of consumerism cannot be moreimprobable, it is evident that consciousness has disappeared in a large part of the population when it’s time to satisfy their needs. Sadly, our society is going down a road of no return.
Now, what are thepriorities on consumption around the world? According to the United Nation Human Development Report (1998), “number one priority is military spending with 780 US billions, followed by narcotics 400 USbillions, and alcoholic drinks with 105 US billions.”¹ In contrast to this, the same statistic showed how “in the developing countries the amount spent on nutrition and health was 13 US billions, andon education was 6 US billions.”² This study of global priorities is overwhelming, not just for the fact that it is the huge spending on war and the minimal spending on education or nutrition, butbecause it also indicates that other priorities beyond alcoholic drinks, are entertainment, pet foods, ice cream ,and perfumes in the United States, Europe and Japan.
If we analyze this phenomenon, weunderstand the consumption worldwide is based on a dehumanizing perspective, in which clearly predominates not only an extreme hedonism but an extreme inequality between the developed andunderdeveloped nations. If we give a closer view to the report, we could infer: while a mass of people is buying luxury items on the malls, another bigger mass is living without basic social services. Thedecision of what is important and what is not, and how much money we spend on it, it is basically absurd.
On the other hand, there are respectable economists like Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize in Economics,...
It was 5pm, I was working like a beaver and I decided to take a look around, and I just saw one thing: people, people and morepeople, buying. I work as a teller in a multinational company at weekends, and for me, it seems that people are spending their money in a senseless way. The defeat of consumerism cannot be moreimprobable, it is evident that consciousness has disappeared in a large part of the population when it’s time to satisfy their needs. Sadly, our society is going down a road of no return.
Now, what are thepriorities on consumption around the world? According to the United Nation Human Development Report (1998), “number one priority is military spending with 780 US billions, followed by narcotics 400 USbillions, and alcoholic drinks with 105 US billions.”¹ In contrast to this, the same statistic showed how “in the developing countries the amount spent on nutrition and health was 13 US billions, andon education was 6 US billions.”² This study of global priorities is overwhelming, not just for the fact that it is the huge spending on war and the minimal spending on education or nutrition, butbecause it also indicates that other priorities beyond alcoholic drinks, are entertainment, pet foods, ice cream ,and perfumes in the United States, Europe and Japan.
If we analyze this phenomenon, weunderstand the consumption worldwide is based on a dehumanizing perspective, in which clearly predominates not only an extreme hedonism but an extreme inequality between the developed andunderdeveloped nations. If we give a closer view to the report, we could infer: while a mass of people is buying luxury items on the malls, another bigger mass is living without basic social services. Thedecision of what is important and what is not, and how much money we spend on it, it is basically absurd.
On the other hand, there are respectable economists like Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize in Economics,...
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