The world today is moving towards a monoculture, which essentially replicates the lifestyles and values of the Western world, led by the United States of America. Over-consumerism is causing widespread damage

When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought about Western civilisation, his instant response was, “I think it would be a good idea.”  This remark was not made in disdain or contempt for the West. But we must remember that this was a period that Gandhi was fighting through non-violent means the oppression imposed by the Western world on India and other developing countries through colonialism. Without getting into the merits or otherwise of Western civilisation or culture, it has to be acknowledged that the world today is moving towards a monoculture, which essentially replicates the lifestyles and values of the Western world, led by the United States of America.

A recent issue of TIME magazine refers to the fact that for seven decades, as Asia rose from the ashes of World War II, Pax Americana helped keep the peace in Asia. But the West has also had widespread influence in shaping many of our institutions and systems and indeed, our lifestyles.  The fact is that whether it is Hollywood, the power of advertising pursued by multinational companies, the fashion industry or the expansion of demand for automobiles, lifestyles in Asia have unabashedly pursued those of the US, which certainly deviate from Asia’s traditions and values. 

The monumental agenda facing Asia, and indeed the world as a whole, is that of moving away from a path of unsustainable development towards the practice of sustainability. Clearly, the Western model of development does show considerable variation between different nations, but in the aggregate it deviates from what would constitute a sustainable pattern of development.

The tragedy of the developing countries, including India, is that while we have not adopted the strengths of Western society, we have fallen prey to some of its most glaring weaknesses. For instance, despite the innovative spirit that one sees right from a humble mazdoor to a qualified doctor, we have not created the conditions or the institutions that would foster and encourage innovation and excellence in most sectors of the Indian economy. Yet, the desire to consume more and more and acquire more and more goods and services is an affliction that now characterizes Indian society as a whole. In fact, the problem of corruption and dishonest dealings is an outcome of the obsession with materialism that we see in every section of society in this country. While the Government will possibly continue its efforts to punish and restrict dishonesty, tax evasion and corruption, one would like to see the intellectual class start focussing on some of the root causes of these problems, which are now taking the form of a cancer in the entire Indian system.

What has been the most dangerous manifestation of systematic deterioration in the US, for instance, is now becoming increasingly apparent in this country with the growing power of big business.  As a result, therefore, profits and private benefits are being pursued with total neglect of social and environmental impacts, which are extremely harmful and damaging for society as a whole. An enterprising and fearless researcher in the US, Cristin Kearns, who is a dentist by profession, established a major research programme to look into the harmful action of the sugar industry in the US, which has been acting purely in the interest of maximising its own profits while harming the health of that country’s population. Kearns has found that much of the research on sugar and its impacts on human health has been funded and influenced by the sugar industry. As a result, the effects of excessive sugar consumption on heart disease, diabetes and other health conditions have been minimised through research carried out in prestigious institutions but with questionable merit in quality and objectivity.

It is well-known that chocolates and other candies produced in the US are the result of covert collaboration between the sugar and the chocolate industries.  Consequently, candies and chocolates produced in the US have a much higher sugar content than what is produced in most other parts of the world. High levels of sugar not only create serious health problems, but also become a form of addiction.

In the case of environmental impacts, it need hardly be mentioned that Western society has been the main contributor to the accumulation and concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, which has altered the climate of this planet and which is continuing to increase risks through growing impacts of climate change. A complete disregard for the environmental impacts and the patterns of the production and consumption pursued in some of these societies are harmful not only to the global commons but the sustainability and protection of their own natural resources.

In the National Geographic magazine of August 2016, laura Parker published a thought-provoking article based on considerable research, asking a question: “What Happens to the US Midwest When the Water’s GoneIJ” It refers to the Ogallala aquifer, which turned the Midwest into the US’s breadbasket, but is now being depleted rapidly along with a way of life also being drained away. 

This article provides the alarming statistic that a quarter-pound hamburger of beef that is produced on the pasture fed by this aquifer consumes 460 gallons of water to raise and process the beef required. Several countries extending from Brazil, where a significant part of the Amazon forest has been cut down and converted to pasture land, to countries like the US, meat production has created permanent environmental damage, not to speak of methane emissions produced by a large stock of the cattle population in these countries. TIME reports that an average citizen in the US consumes 271 pounds of meat annually. This level of consumption not only has serious environmental impacts as illustrated above, but serious health effects, which a growing body of medical research has revealed. Yet, advertising by the meat industry and often assisted by other professions, continues to promote high levels of meat consumption in the Western world. 

India has been articulating its concern in forums related to sustainable production and consumption. Charity begins at home and it is time that we brought about a transition to traditional values in which materialism gives way to other forms of human satisfaction. Corruption and dishonesty in Indian society are the direct outcome of crass obsession with consumerism.

(This is the first of a two-part series on over-consumerism)

(The writer is a former chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2002-2015)