Consumerism & Greed

HI!!! welcome to my 2nd blog,, or first real blog ngl! 

Im new to Spacehey, but im really interested in publishing blogs with my opinions etc,, and i thought this website might be a fun place to start with that ^_^ pls keep in mind though that I am a 16yo so im obviously no expert on anything, these r just based off my personal perspectives and to help me sort my thoughts out

• . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. •

Something that ive been interested in talking about for a while is consumerism, and more specifically the psychology that feeds into it. Often times throughout history some of the most damaging movements are started due to social pressure and the human nature to go along with trends , even those that are obviously damaging. Its really apparent that for a lot of people, its easy to ignore or support issues as long as the person themself is not directly affected by it- this kind of behavior is common knowledge. Some famous examples are the Salem witch trials, human sacrifice, child labour, or wealth gaps. All of these isssue's are punctuated by a strange mix of the hind mind mentality of going along with the trend, and the selfish person ideals of only thinking about personal benefit. 

I personally dont necessarily see this as a personal failure, but more of an instinctive inclination to our species. Oftentimes however this exact instinct is what ends up hurting us all much more in the long run, which is where consumerism fits into this. 

Consumerism is a somewhat recent trend in the past 100 years or so that is defined by the increased consumption of services and goods are seen as desirable, creating a market of never ending over purchasing, then disposing of due to having much more than you could possibly need- or buying things just to buy them, rather than for actual need or want. One of the best examples of this is fast fashion. Sweatshops and child labor facilities abuse human rights to create products at the lowest economic value possible, so that in 1st world countries it is available to purchase these items at shockingly low prices, leading to an extreme increase in consumption. Landfill sizes have been growing shockingly, over-purchasing of material goods drives up the demand. The growing demand must be met with growing inventory and services, which must be obtained by more stress on those abused by the system and the planet itself. How much can the earth really take, is one of the most pressing questions on this matter. Consumerism is more than just overwhelmingly fast trends, or wasteful buying of things without reason. Its a social mindset that desensitizes the public to the sped up economic cycle happening all around them, and even though the public ignorance itself is a big issue- the main contributer and drive of consumerism is not the consumers itself. 

Consumerism is driven by greed. More specifically, greed for overwhelming profit above all else. The ones that push this mindset onto the general population are the only ones who really benefit from this cycle. Greed is a powerful thing that often surpasses reason, and recently theres been an increasingly slippery slope of how far things have been pushed economically. 

Even in "1st world countries" cost of living has increased dramatically, in the last 50 years in the US cost of living has increased 4-10 times higher. Workers Unions were originally established in the US to demand fair pay for its workers, but recently the system has been overflowing, and inflation has seemingly effected everything except for the average persons salary. 

The average annual salary in 1970s america was about 7,800usd per year. A new house costing about 23,000usd, monthly rent averaging 100-200usd, healthacre about 300usd per person annualy. Now however? The average annual salary is about 60,000usd, the average house purchase costing 400,000-500,000usd, The average annual grocery costs reaching 6-8,000 per person (this means 19,000 a year for a family of 2), average cost of healthcare being 10,000 per person, and average monthly rent being around 1,700-2,000usd per month. 

Doing some quick math, you can see the improportionality in earnings vs inflation.

In the past, annual expenses consumed about 50% of a persons salary. In 2025 annual expenses now consume over 75%. The increase in wealth gaps is more apparent than ever. Billionaires, and even now that we've seen our first trillionaire hold more money than entire countries. in the US, the top 1% of people hold around 30% of the entire countries net worth. This wealth gap continues growing through use of propoganda, increase in cost of living, and the rapidly developing monster of overconsumption being forced on nearly every country in the world. This force is driven entirely be greed. 

In conclusion, the planet is being destroyed, the general population is being continuously exploited more and more for profit, so where is the line drawn? 

Other than the fact that 99% percent of the damage is does by a select few pulling the strings, that doesnt mean the average person is incapable of doing anything to help. Fast fashion and consumerism is rapidly growing but they are avoidable if you really try! To me, attempting to be conscious of the world around me is one of the most important things about being alternative. Its never to late to try and help!!! Even if writing this doesnt actually doing anything, paying attention to the world is the first step to moving foward. 

If u read this, thank u for listening to my thoughts! (ㅅ´ ˘ `)

moons out <3