Skymall: Pie In The Sky: Ethical Consumerism

Ethical Consumerism
In his article, “SkyMall: Pie in the Sky”, Bill McKibben reveals how absurd consumerism has become. He uses the SkyMall catalog placed purposefully in every seat-back pocket on North American airplanes to exhibit the harebrained things people think they need in today’s world. Its products range anywhere from a $4,000 massaging recliner that pampers its user beyond imagination to an ultraviolet toothbrush cleaner and Germ Guardian. The catalog’s audience is obvious. Someone would have to be focusing on themselves and how tired, overworked, paranoid, and spoiled they can possibly be. No one in their right mind would buy these items, but many times ridiculous items like them are bought. Why do people waste their money this way? McKibben points to the instant gratification, laziness, robotic actions, spoiled lives, foolish spending, and selfishness of society to explain this phenomenon (557-559).
The

idea of instant gratification would’ve seemed ludicrous to our ancestors, but today people expect it and are often angered if it isn’t offered or carried through. This belief further leads to the laziness and procrastination that is poisoning society. Human ancestors were focused on survival and had no option to postpone doing something. Today, our needs are only a few steps, clicks, or minutes away. In our extra time, our minds stay active planning the future while our body doesn’t follow through with the actions necessary to secure those goals. However, our ancestors were also forced to conserve their energy as part of surviving. Using the easiest method to do one thing, they had more energy to do the next. However, methods now are so simple that “conserving energy” has evolved to laziness because few things require considerable effort. Kalman Glantz, a psychotherapist, says “Once there was some reason to continue working even though one’s immediate needs were satisfied, some people turned out to be more future-oriented than others. Some people continued to work when they weren’t hungry or cold or thirsty. And those people called others lazy.” We are easily distracted from intended actions because we readily respond to immediate stimulation and present-moment intrusions. Thus, any behavior that doesn’t create instant rewards is vain. Because we can’t get immediate gratification from the future, we quickly lose interest in it and move on to something more current (Pelusi).
The luxurious products in today’s markets serve to make our lives more robotic and mundane than if we actually had to do everything ourselves.

Once again, the growth of intellectual abilities was necessary for our ancestors to survive the harsh conditions of that age. As things became easier, intelligence became less imperative. In early times, someone who wasn’t clever enough to provide for their survival likely died, and through this process only the sharpest of people produced offspring (Kim). However, the idea of humans getting more stupid instead of smarter is very controversial. All the technologies of today’s world were invented by some amazing minds, and the incredibleness of those objects cannot be denied (Pappas). Despite the evidence that human minds are still growing in capacity, the fact still stands true that people are “allowed” to be less intellectually capable and still live quite comfortably. Grand intelligence isn’t necessary. This permits many people to “feed off of” the brilliance of others while still being routine

themselves.
Nowadays we focus more on what we want than what we need. Since all our necessities are almost effortlessly supplied, we look elsewhere to spend our money. The new opportunities open up in apparel products and services, tobacco, entertainment equipment and services, alcohol, fees and admissions, vacation homes and hotels, pets, toys, hobbies, playground equipment, television, radio, sound equipment, gifts, and food away from home. None of these things are essential. They’re simply the routes that our extra money takes instead of being saved for the future (McIntyre). The reality that people actually purchase ridiculous items like a $4,000 massaging recliner infers that people are losing budgeting skills. Even during the recession, spending continued as it was before. People still want to enjoy the same luxuries regardless of how practical they are in relation to financial standings (“Teenagers Lack Basic Budgeting Skills”).
Everyone enjoys comfort, but constant perfection is actually more of a negative than a positive. However, people often stay in situations that aren’t the best just because they’re comfortable with them. In reality, they’re scared of the unknown. Initiative and chances have to be taken in life to make it more enjoyable. Experiencing the same things over and over again makes life mundane and boring. Life brings unexpected things, so one has to be ready to react to whatever comes. Being in “repeat mode” prevents learning anything new. Many people are content with the bare minimum of life as its routine, but they’re really cheating themselves out of more enjoyment that comes from trying new things (“A Life of Comfort Will Kill You Silently”).
In a broad sense, people with more money to spend are generally happier than those who struggle to get by from month to month, but this is not true once one digs deeper into the situations. Being rich alone doesn’t bring happiness. Studies show that people are happier when they give money away than when they spend it lavishly on themselves. When people do spend money on themselves, it’s more profitable if spent on experiences rather than material goods. Life experiences provide more lasting pleasure than material possessions. To the consumer, material goods seem like they will last longer than fleeting experiences, but this simply is not true. The memories and stories that come from experiences provide joy for many years. Also, saving money instead of digging oneself deep into debt provides more happiness. Before buying the unreasonable things, make sure debts and the future are already provided for. Money should first be used for savings. Also, one needs to keep in mind that there are always less fortunate people in the world who could benefit greatly from even minimal donations. These donations are often for their needs, not their wants (Blackman).
When one stands back and looks at these practices, their foolishness and unpracticality glares obviously. There are numerous better ways to spend one’s money than on unnecessary luxuries. It’s important for people to focus on more than just themselves. As a world surviving together, we need to team up to provide for the needs of others. Helping others will bring more pleasure than spoiling oneself. If everyone committed to this, the world would be drastically changed for the better.