Week 5 (8/9), Summer 2020
ReadingsClimate Change Is the Symptom. Consumer Culture Is the Disease. An introductory piece from The New Republic.
Green consumerism is part of the problem. A Eureka Street piece with links to other sources that are fascinating reads in their own right.
Saving the Environment from Consumerism. A TEDxCushingAcademy talk by a (then) high schooler!
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Guiding QuestionsAmeliorating overconsumption requires collective action at the individual level; how can we spur and maintain this "culture shift" among entire populations? Ought it be forced, voluntary, or somewhere in between?
How do the pandemic and what it's revealed about collective action (its strengths and weaknesses in practice) inform conversations around consumerism?
Spiritual fulfillment is often presented as an alternative to material consumption. Does this argument do the work of catalyzing collective action at the necessary scale? If not, which arguments do?
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