THE US CONSUMER IS A PSYCHOPATH?

FROM  WIKIPEDIA"

"Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology opposed to consumerism, which discourages an ever-growing purchasing and consumption of material possessions. Anti-consumerist activists express concern over modern corporations or organizations that pursue solely economic goals at the expense of environmental, social, or ethical concerns; these concerns overlap with those of environmental activism, anti-globalization, and animal-rights activism. One variation on this is the concept of postconsumers, who emphasize moving beyond addictive consumerism.^[1]

"The anti-consumerist activist movement has gained strength as a reaction to long-term problematic treatment of consumers and animals, as well as the incorporation of consumer education into school curricula. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of books, like Naomi Klein's No Logo in 2000, and films like The Corporation and Surplus, popularizing an anti-corporateideology to the public.

"Criticism of economic materialism comes primarily from two sources: religion and social activism. Some religions assert materialism interferes with connection between the individual and God or that it is inherently an immoral lifestyle. Thomas Aquinas wrote "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.". Some notable individuals, such as Francis of Assisi, Ammon Hennacy, and Mohandas Gandhi claimed spiritual inspiration led them to a simple lifestyle. Social activists state materialism is connected to crime, pollution, environmental degradation, war, economic inequality, poverty, along with general social malaise, discontent, and hedonism. Fundamentally, their concern is that materialism is unable to offer a raison d'être for human existence. Critics of consumerism include Pope emeritus Benedict XVI,^[2] German historian Oswald Spengler (who said, "Life in America is exclusively economic in structure and lacks depth"^[3]), and French writer Georges Duhamel, who held "American materialism up as a beacon of mediocrity that threatened to eclipse French civilization".^[3]

The drive to consume is at the heart of a perverse capitalist system that is incapable of ever moderating its behaviour. We might want to think of the so-called corporate citizen as a psychopath, characterized, according to Wikipedia, by “…enduring dissocial or antisocial behavior, a diminished capacity for empathy or remorse, and poor behavioral controls or fearless dominance.”

Excessive consumption obviously degrades the environment, uses up precious resources, like increasingly scarce water supplies

But is difficult not engage in psychopathic behavior when participating in the capitalist system.  The produce we eat, for example, may well be produced under inhumane conditions.  If we are meat-eaters we are probably eating animals who have been treated inhumanely all of their lives and suffer a horrible death.

For many types of clothes none is produced in the U.S. and, even if they are, under sweatshop conditions where workers are cheated out of their pay.  The vast majority of clothes for sale in the U.S. come from low-pay, exploited workers abroad.