Worse, concerns about the effects of jobs lost to mechanization and technology or about the massive consumerism fostered by online shopping phenomena like Black Friday or Singles' Day ― with all the associated externalities conveniently ignored – are painted as backward thinking.
There is still some of that around, but you have to get away from those areas that have become a bit like Vegas, in that they're just this massive consumerism place.
Like the industrial revolution, post-war consumerism and the technology revolution, we are in a state of massive change.
"All this nondegradable rubbish and consumerism is in large part thanks to World War II and the massive war production apparatus that needed to be developed for peaceful purposes after the days of making weapons had ended".
I didn't realize that all this nondegradable rubbish and consumerism is in large part thanks to World War II and the massive war production apparatus that needed to be developed for peaceful purposes after the days of making weapons had ended.
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, forgiveness, and self-renewal, arrived in Jakarta on a Saturday, which meant that many of the capital's residents inaugurated their fasts in one or another of the city's dozen or more super malls, those massive, air-conditioned monuments to the rise and rise of global brands and Western consumerism in Asia.
By Steve Coll August 22, 2009 Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, forgiveness, and self-renewal, arrived in Jakarta on a Saturday, which meant that many of the capital's residents inaugurated their fasts in one or another of the city's dozen or more super malls, those massive, air-conditioned monuments to the rise and rise of global brands and Western consumerism in Asia.
Severely limited choice and a destiny of hardship would be a massive shock to those of us who have been inculcated to experience identity and self worth through consumerism.
From the Mandalay Bay and Luxor casinos on the south end to the Venetian and Trump to the north, the buildings are massive, the dazzling lights and vast marquees are mesmerizing, and the shops inside the casinos are the highest of high-end consumerism.
Hyper-consumerism is the dominant matriarch of this destructive herd and the dysfunctional economic model that supports it, generating waste and ecological damage on a massive scale.
Is it consumerism run amok?
