Political Science

Richards Global Issues
Richard Robinson is an anthropologist based at Stanford University who has written much about the global problems affecting the globe. In one of his articles on the consequences of consumerism to people and the environment, he is quoted by Shah (2005) observing that the consumption rate in wealthy countries is becoming unsustainable due to decreasing  productive land in the world caused by abuse of natural resources by most governments. He further explains that the consumption levels are largely influenced by our culture and changing these habits would require extensive cultural adjustment and economic change that can cause recession and rapid employment. He observes that production of goods to meet this massive demand utilizes natural resources, factories and other infrastructure that cause pollution. Yet this cause of pollution gets very little attention. This makes shah (2005) to warn us that this consumerism risks causing development that is destructive in the long run, unsustainable as well as causing other social and ecological concerns.

As a way of meeting these challenges, governments in these wealthy nations must be proactive in ensuring that they import products that are produced in an environment friendly way like imposing bans on products that are produced in way unhealthy to the environment. Another way to address the effects of these consumerisms is for governments in major key manufacturing and farming sectors to ensure that the resources used in their production are utilized in an environment friendly way by imposing strict regulations and standards to be met in their production (Shah, 2005).  The governments in these wealthy nations can also use the convincing power of civil society organizations like consumer watchdogs to educate consumers on their effects of consumption on the environment in order for them to become environment conscious and cut on wastage associated with high consumerism.