If you keep up with current affairs, no doubt you have heard the newsreaders proclaiming the dire news of economic recession with more tough times ahead for the global economy.
I've been hearing many people complaining about the job losses, the rising costs of petrol and food, the increased debt burden brought about by rising interest rates. While I sympathise wholeheartedly, I can't help thinking that this situation is entirely of our own making. Its time to accept responsibility for the consequences of our decisions and to start being more mindful of how our choices affect our society and our future.
As much as it is easy to blame unscrupulous businessmen and faceless corporations for society's economic ills, ultimately the responsibility comes down to us as individuals. Corporations may be responsible for taking their operations offshore to take advantage of an easier legislative environment and cheaper labour - but we are happy to purchase cheap imported products instead of supporting our own communities and neighbourhoods by buying locally.
Banks and finance companies surely have to accept some responsibility for offering easy credit to all and sundry. Retailers are also not above blame as they increasingly encourage people to purchase items on credit terms. But we, as consumers, make the final decisions to take out mortgages we can barely afford, to buy frivolous consumer items with credit cards or on hire purchase terms. We are the ones that are purchasing goods that we don't really need and can't actually afford. Its been our choice to live outside of our means.
We have let ourselves be led down the path of excessive consumerism without thought and without protest. We have allowed ourselves to be convinced that the answer to all of our problems is more stuff.
We have turned our backs on our local communities. In our desperation to have more, we want products to be cheaper - and invariably its local jobs, local wage levels and local communities that suffer as production is moved to cheaper locales.
We have turned our backs on our families. The more we buy, the bigger our burden of debt grows, the more we want to buy to reinforce our reinforce our decisions to seek solace in stuff. We need to work more. Its common now in most developed countries for both parents to work during the day. Who's bringing up our children? Salaried workers accept overtime as the norm - if you want to keep your job or get promoted a 40 hour week is not enough. Waged workers look for all the overtime they can get to stay on top of their bills. What is the point of buying so much stuff if we have to work so much we can't actually get to enjoy it?
We need to make a change to the way we do things. We need to start thinking seriously about whether all the stuff we have acquired is making us happier. As individuals we need to take the time to develop our own clearly defined set of values to live buy. As a society we need to actively consider the concept of " enough ". Without it we are condemning ourselves to a shallow, selfish consumerist existence. We condemn our families to a constant financial struggle with all the stress that it involves. We condemn our planet to environmental destruction.
By deciding for ourselves how much is enough, beginning to live within our means and making conscious consumer decisions, we can make the world a better place.
