Story of Stuff

A really fascinating presentation - Link

In short, it argues that our entire economy and our self worth is now linked to the idea of being consumers who will infinitely keep the engine of production going, without being mindful of the destruction that this is causing to the environment, as well as the harmful effects on society as a whole.

I think the future lies in sustainable local economies, where most of the basic 'stuff' we need is produced in our local economy or neighbourhood, consumed locally, and then disposed and recycled. If something can't be recycled or disposed harmlessly, it should not be produced in the first place. Also the single biggest piece in this consumption engine is Energy, and hence the sooner we move to green energy the better.

It seems like change can happen more easily in developing and poor economies which haven't yet gone through the entire cycle of increasing incomes and consumption. On the contrary, we have India arguing at climate change forums that developing countries should be spared the burden of contributing to reduced carbon footprints etc. as all that would come at the cost of development. In other words, we are arguing that we will first replicate what the developed economies did, commit the same mistakes, and only then be held accountable for any damage we may caused in the process!