One big issue of the Religious Left is over-consumption, as described here in an Statement of Conscience of the Unitarian Universalist Association's Commission on Social Witness. This movement is trying to create a new "holiday", called Buy Nothing Day, where no one is to buy anything the day after Thanksgiving. I've got mixed feelings about this; I'm opposed to turning Christmas into a commercial gift-fest, however, on the other hand I'm opposed to the crass anti-capitalism the anti-consumerism movement is putting out, and there are ways to treat giving with respect. Giving gifts to family members and friends doesn't mean you're turning your back on the spiritual side of Christmas. Just be sure you emphasize the right thing - the birth of Jesus (which, by the way, the anti-consumer movement isn't doing either, as a look at a typical example of their rhetoric will show).
I like the idea of a simple Christmas. We're definitely below the average of $860 spent per family that was quoted on Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street last night. On the other hand, we do like to buy some gifts, we do take part in the gift-giving tradition. After reading the Buy Nothing rhetoric, I decided to do some early shopping this year, and bought some things on Friday. Buy Nothing Day is a holiday which is definitely worth NOT supporting.
The idea of overconsumption is deeply tied into the philosophy of Malthusianism, which believes that our worldwide economy is a zero-sum system with limited resources which are rapidly vanishing before our eyes. It's not really a zero-sum system, however. Human intelligence, innovation, and economic growth, all produce new inventions which allow more people to live on the planet. There is certainly a limit, somewhere, for how many people can live on the planet, but the idea that we will overspend the earth by more than 100% by the year 2050, as detailed in the WWF Living Planet Report is refutable. Population growth has measurably slowed in the last century, and appears to be heading to a point where we will reach a maximum population. The doomsday scenarios painted by Malthusiasts will never come about. There are good reasons to optimistic for the Earth's future.
Posted by joelfuhrmann at November 30, 2002 06:11 PM