Consumer Culture and the Destruction of the Environment The consumer culture that exists as a result of our current global economic system has resulted in the destruction of the environment on a substantial scale. As collapsitarian Dmitry Orlov (2015) notes, "the terminal decay and eventual collapse of industrial civilization" is imminent, one of the reasons being that the means of extracting and processing the fuels needed by industry have become too expensive in relation to the profit margins. Other corporate entities are destroying the environment by attempting to "modify" nature's organisms, like wheat -- which as a GMO has been shown to be toxic to both people and land. Yet, the consumerist culture that for so long kept Industry in tact is now shrinking as the financial world continues to rape and pillage unchecked on a global scale and the purchasing power of the middle class continues to decline. That the demise of the middle class is coinciding with the demise of the environment is only ironic since it is primarily the excessive waste and materialism of the former that has brought about the latter. One might be tempted to call it karma, but as The Zeitgeist Movement (2013) shows, this has been a long time coming.

Any number of examples may be used to illustrate the point that global-scale consumerism leads to environmental devastation. The need for greater and greater results or for more and more supply (as in oil production) is one: the demand for oil and for bigger oil profits has led to the implementation of questionable and/or environmentally harmful methods of extracting the needed energy source from the earth. In the case of oil, these methods are found in fracking and in off-shore drilling, both of which are incredibly expensive and are only profitable if the cost of oil per barrel is high. With the recent decline in the cost of oil per barrel as a part of the energy wars being waged in the Middle East (Escobar, 2014), more and more oil extraction facilities are shutting down. Ironically, the consumerist culture that spawned the industry of fracking is now responsible for its collapse: consumer demand does not much the oversupply of oil and with the impending global economic collapse that many foresee it is all just another sign that the consumerism which has led to an overexpansion of extraction facilities will be the same force that ultimately kills the industry -- but not before the industry helps to kill the planet.

One reason that consumers have neglected to wake up to this reality is that they have divorced themselves from the world of nature. Industry has created artificial worlds, where air conditioning and electricity help keep everyone comfortable. This is what the tenets of agrarianism suggest: the root cause of human alienation from nature is urban life and the rise of industry, as seen in the vast migrations of citizens away from the land to the cities during the Industrial Revolution. The advancements of technology over the past 200 years have dehumanized man, removed him from his natural surroundings, placed him in an ever more sterile and unnatural environment, and depleted his sense of community. He has become more and more dependent on materialism, as though all of his being could be satisfied by the accruing of more and more physical goods. What is lost is an idea of the soul, of mental health, spiritual well-being, and an appreciation of the environment. Americans especially must feel disconnected with the past and with their heritage, as their own country "began as a nation of farmers" (Hagenstein, 2011, p. 9). What happened after the war for Independence was a communal shift away from an agrarian way of life towards a new way which would secure a "commercial economy" (Hagenstein, 2011, p. 11). Having its own independent government brought forth new pressures, and the people of America adopted a "Hamiltonian worldview," putting profit and capital gains ahead of spiritual and natural nourishment (Hagenstein, 2011, p.14).

The Hamiltonian worldview, of course, is essentially the consumerist worldview that has dominated in recent times. But its problems are seen everywhere: there is less and less respect for spiritual and natural things. If one grows up in the so-called "unreal city" of urban America, there is less chance that he will rise above the environmental, economical and spiritual pollution that is rampant there to find his real ultimate place. Instead, he will continue to create landfills with garbage that will...

E-waste landfills are filled with old electronics technology such as cell phones, computers, laptops, televisions, copiers, etc. These are materials that do not break down decay. Electronic waste has recently been illegally shipped. As Greenpeace (2009) reports, "E-waste is routinely exported by developed countries to developing ones, often in violation of the international law…In the UK alone, at least 23,000 metric tons of undeclared or 'grey' market electronic waste was illegally shipped in 2003 to the Far East, India, Africa and China." Up to 80% of E-waste in the U.S. is exported in such a manner, Greenpeace states. This is primarily destructive to the environment because there are many toxic chemicals like mercury in electronics that seep into the soil and water of communities when left to rot in landfills. And the reason there is so much E-waste is that too many consumers opt for the latest and greatest products from companies like Apple and Sony. To stop such from happening, one can "go green" by holding onto electronic devices for as long as possible. Not only does this save money, as it means that you do not have to rush off and purchase the latest, most expensive electronic device, but it also means that there will be less pollutants in the world.
Yet consumerism and the destruction of the environment are linked in other ways as well: as more corporations attempt to "control" nature in order to maximize profits, they are actively destroying nature in the process. The research of William F. Engdahl (2007) has shown that GMO crops are highly volatile and susceptible to environmental conditions -- even more so than un-engineered foods: "GMO crops required not less but typically more chemical herbicides and pesticides after one or two seasons than non-GMO crops" (p. 244). Aside from this, Engdahl cites the experiences of Gottfried Glockner, who gradually worked his way up to using 100% GMO feed for his cows on his farm in Germany: "His animals 'were having gluey-white feces and violent diarrhea' and 'milk contained blood.' Eventually all his seventy cows died…of high dose of toxins" (Shrivastava, 2013). The fact that genetically-modified organisms are wreaking havoc on nature and that all of this was spawned by the cold consumerist demand for more and easier to obtain products, while corporations sought higher profit margins only shows that the snake is now eating its own tail.

As The Zeitgeist Movement (2013) indicates, part of the reason that history has arrived at this point lies with the Malthusian principles which dictated the course of policies by the major industrial nations of the globe (p. 54). By viewing humanity and its relationship to the earth in materialistic/economic terms, it divorced the two and severed the natural relationship between man and earth. It also discounted the natural law that men had observed for centuries by promoting the revolutionary new views of the Enlightenment Age, whose doctrine was rooted in liberty and romance rather than in reality and objectivity. Now nature itself is turning against man as man has turned against nature in his quest for the comfort of material goods at the expense of the good of the planet.

As Seralini et al. (2012) raise serious questions about the long-term effects of GMO products, other researchers are left to struggle against the fascist relationship between corporations like Monsanto and the White House administrations that allow the business to operate without oversight by the scientific community. The interaction between government, banking, and economies around the world has allowed a cabal of destroyers (of both lives and environments) to run rampant. Today, so-called "Frankenstein" wheat is being found in parts of the U.S. And the risk of contamination is great.

In conclusion, at this rate, the survival rate of the world is low, according to Orlov (2015): "We already know that the increase in average global temperature has exceeded 1C since pre-industrial times, and…is predicted to eventually exceed 2C…and put us within striking distance of 3.5C." Orlov reminds us that the planet cannot sustain life at temperatures of 3.5C above baseline -- and because of industrialization -- the outcome of a philosophy of life divorced from nature and natural law -- the outcome is inevitable. Thus, as industries slow down or come to a crashing halt, such as oil, and landfills fill up with waste that will never decompose but which will leak toxins into the earth, and as corporations create Frankenstein crops in order to increase…