Day 21: Consumerism: Exploit Thy Neighbour for Thy Self

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that it requires four to six hectares of land to maintain the consumption level of the average person from a high-consumption country -- while the Earth is not practically, physically able to provide this for everyone -- where two decades ago we were at a point where there were only 1.7 hectares of ecologically productive land for each person  -- and within this I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to design an economic system which supports a sustainable life style and not a life style which only sustains a few in abundance while a majority suffer and starve

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that capitalism in its present form can only work as long as we keep on producing, selling and consuming – and within this I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have defined terms such as “growth”, “prosperity” and “advancement” within the limited framework of how much a society is producing and selling

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that using concepts such as GDP and GNI to measure and indicate economic prosperity within a society only reflects the success of the society as a consumer – not as a society of living beings

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created an unsustainable economic system of over consumption of the few at the expense of the majority where the few rich will prey on the land of the weak/poor and seize their resources for the personal gain of the few, leaving even less for those who need it most

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that within making consumerism/consumption the sole purpose/reason within one’s life on earth we are in fact misusing and abusing the earth and it’s natural resources to satisfy a fantasy which cannot be fulfilled – as there is always more to consume and newer things to buy – in fact contributing to poverty and hunger as resources are ineffectively and unequally distributed to those with money only

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that our consumption lifestyle is moving land ownership into the hands of a few – where large corporations take over and swallow smaller ones resulting in job losses and the migration of people to the cities looking and hoping for better jobs which results in more slum areas, health problems, increased crime etc – or where in the case of agricultural takeover, the landless will move to less arable land which may conflict with wildlife, or moving into forests causing deforestation and disturb the natural habitat of wildlife – all as a ripple effect of our consumption behaviour and need to buy and have more

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created and imposed an economic system within this world which promotes consumerism at all end – which results in millions of acres of land being misused and directed towards non-productive luxury  goods for the wealthy while millions suffer and starve in a world of plenty

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world economic system where food and basic essentials are produced conditionally – and that this condition is MONEY – and if you do not have money you cannot have these essentials – which is in fact a crime to Life

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to tell the poor to do as I do and step in the footsteps of globalizations if they want to be “lifted up” into the world of consumerism – where the belief is held that “it worked for me, so it must work for you” – without seeing and realising that the reality of consumerism came about through acquiring massive amount of resources – resources which were not local but which were taken from other societies and people – those societies and people who are currently poor – where the rich took it upon themselves to Exploit Thy Neighbour for Thy Gain – which implies that if the poor should follow the footsteps of the rich, they should invade the land of the rich and take what it is they need and place the rich in an inferior position –  only reversing the roles – which is obviously not a real solution as it merely switches the tables around without in fact changing the problem with a solution that is Bestfor All as Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to consider the outflows and consequences which follow from a lifestyle of consumption – as consumption is linked in with pollution and if we consume at a unsustainable level we produce pollution at an unsustainable level  -- revealing and showing how the human has placed more value in money as energy as delightful experiences within the Mind at the expense of the Physical Body as the Earth suffering the consequences of our idiocy

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that saying to poor people that “they must do as we did” is within this physical reality with the current available resources impossible – as currently 86% of the world’s resources are being consumed by the world’s wealthiest 20% -- implying that if everyone consumes at this level we need several more planet Earths which are non-existent – proving again the unsustainability of our current accepted economic system and lifestyle and showing that it is a system that is doomed to fail as it does not consider all Life in anyway whatsoever

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to abuse the position of the poor for the gain of the rich through migrating high pollution industries to poor countries with lower environmental standards as they will do anything to have more money circulate into their economy – while the rich can continue to abuse and waste at unprecedented levels

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to hide and cover up the harmful conditions within the world through pollution stemming forth from consumption as any increase in disease and decreasing health results in higher sales of pharmaceuticals which provide jobs and create a new form of consumption – creating the idea/belief that a society is doing better as the GDP of a country is growing while all the while living standards are declining but these are not taken into consideration as all that counts is the success and level of consumption within and through which we have defined our value as life – which is not Life in fact but a made up illusion to keep us trapped in a zombie state mode in order to not question our reality but keep us on track in our chase and Pursuit to Happiness which is never-ending as an illusion can never be achieved and made into something real

I forgive myself that I haven’t accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that Wars in are in fact waged to protect and maintain our lifestyle of consumption – as our level of consumption is unsustainable inevitably leading to the depletion of resources – where societies will fight and kill one another over resources needed to satisfy our consumption compulsion – where wars are waged for resources to be exported to the West such as coltan which is a substance needed for computer chips to function

I commit myself to change our current lifestyle pattern of consumption to a lifestyle pattern that takes into consideration what is Best for All and the designing of an economic system which is created within the consideration of REALITY instead of ILLUSION and which is actually sustainable which can provide a lifestyle which is obtainable and sustainable for ALL on Earth

I commit myself to expose the consequences and outflows stemming from the Evil of Consumerism and the impact it has on the majority of the population here on Earth

I commit myself to expose the mathematical inconsistencies within propagating and promoting consumerism as THE ULTIMATE LIFESTYLE for ALL – as this is practically unsustainable, where the promotion and promise of this lifestyle is what is keeping millions enslaved in the hope that one day they will ascend into the world of Consumers and Consumerism while this is not practically possible and is merely wishful thinking – which keeps the masses from questioning the current economic system and how it does not in fact consider and provide for everyone in a way which is Best for All

I commit myself to designing and establishing a sustainable economic system which takes into consideration All Life, as plants, animals and humans and not just the monster called Consumer

I commit myself to expose the extensive abuse done unto Earth as the Physical Body we all share in the name of consumption and the pursuit of happiness

I commit myself to expose how the policies and suggestions of the rich to the poor are unsustainable and impossible to the core – as the existence of the rich is in its very foundation dependent on the existence of the poor and as long as we allow a world where some live in abundance in the pursuit of happiness there will always be the other side of the coin where the majority live in scarcity and dismay

I commit myself to expose that a Life of Consumption is really not a Life at All but merely a life of a pre-programmed robot following its every impulse without for a moment considering who it is or what it does and how this affects others

I commit myself to wake up Consumers so they may cease being Conned and Mesmerized by Consumption and live a Life in consideration of what is Best for All

See:  Anup Shah, Effects of Consumerism, Global Issues – for more information