Have we gone far enough? Have we heard nature’s wake up call? Are we ready to individually ask “What can I do to stop the destruction of creation and all it’s creatures?”
To answer this question, we must be willing to first ask it and we must be willing to look at ourselves to see if we are living merely as consumers.
The world doesn’t need another consumer, it needs human beings to remember who they are and how they are naturally designed to become their healthiest and best selves, so that we can be gifts not curses. What if consumerism is what is killing us and our planet? Can we learn how to be more than consumers? Just some thoughts.
Here’s some pretty good guidelines from Wendell Berry on consumption.
1. Be happy with what you’ve got. Don’t be always looking for something better.
2. Don’t buy anything you don’t need.
3. Don’t buy what you ought to save. Don’t buy what you ought to make.
4. Unless you absolutely have got to do it, don’t buy anything new.
5. If somebody tries to sell you something to “save labor,” look out. If you can work, then work.
6. If other people want to buy a lot of new stuff and fill up the country with junk, use the junk.
7. Some good things are cheap, even free. Use them first.
8. Keep watch for what nobody wants. Sort through the leavings.
9. You might know, or find out, what it is to need help. So help people.
DeeAnn Dean 