The Necessary End of Consumerism

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Air date: 
Mon, 08/30/2021 - 9:00am to 10:00am

Bill Resnick interviews Simon Torracinta, a graduate student at Yale who studies climate change and human responses that might succeed in reducing greenhouse gas concentrations and in prolonging the human experiment. They discuss consumption and consumerism, how in capitalist societies, especially this one, we are urged by the media, popular culture, and by many industries to gain pleasure and fulfillment in consumption. We consume for those reasons and because much consumption, like auto driving, is driven by the lack of alternatives, such as the lack of public transit. They conclude with how we can reconstruct this country, get off that drug of consumption, provide low carbon alternatives and stop global warming. In our new society we would work less, be more involved in public affairs and engage in more caring and creative activities that produce enduring happiness and fulfillment.

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