Why Do We Consume?

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Why Do We Consume So Much? For my essay, I have chosen the reading by Juliet B. Schor, “Why Do We Consume So Much?” The author begins by hypothesizing the answers to her question on why do we consume. Is it human nature? Are people highly influenced by the power of advertising? Do we consume because our economic system needs us to? Or, could it be that we can't help ourselves? Schor will base her outcome on the critical application of economic and sociological theory, that will explain why we consume the way we do, and how we might start to live differently. Schor writes how she defines the “we” and the “so much” of her question, while also identifying and informing the three structural features of our economic system that she believes that has led us down a path of excessive consumerism. The title of the article, along with the first few paragraphs, one could assume the “we” that the writer is referring to, would be that of the whole human race. Schor starts with a broad breakdown of these would be consumers. At first, the writer divides the “we” into her terms of “global South” for Less Developed Countries and “global North” for the Developed Countries. She states that in 1999, the “global South” when it comes to the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, does not consume enough. The author uses a measurement called a purchasing power parity, for which the “global South” averages to about $3,400 a year. By comparison, the average for those living in the “global North” equals $24,430, about eight times higher than those unfortunate souls in less developed nations. Schor will even simplify these contrasts with some eye-opening, jaw dropping statistics as she denotes that one-third of the population (1.2 billion) in the “global South” lives on less then one dollar a day, while another 2.8 billion live on less than two bucks per day. Add these two
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