CONSUMERISM

             

                Consumerism is a recent phenomenon which emerged after  World War II as a result of the booming economy. It can be considered  as  mass consumption, however, it is more than that: Consumerism is a life style in which consuming outweighs many things and it does not include logic in general, namely people buy something for no reason. The underlying reason for  this kind of consumption is that money and what one can afford have become one's identity and people try to show their status by means of their possessions. Yet, this situation brings about a host of detrimental effects on people and the world such as unhappy who feel they don’t have enough money and the excessive use of the world's resources to meet the consumers' demands.  Therefore, to prevent these problems, some measures should be taken.

                Firstly, the governments should pursue effective policies to minimize excessive consumption. A primary cause of consumerism is the easy access to money through instalments, credit cards and loans, thus, the government should restrict these opportunities to deter people from buying non-essential goods and services. In Turkey, for example, most people change their mobile phones each year for a higher model, but, if they did not have credit cards or the opportunity to pay in instalments,  more than half of them could not do it.  Raising awareness of consumers is also required to prevent this problem. The government may do this by means of public service ads, lessons in schools about consumption and ideal  role models.

                In the second place, some steps should be taken on  an individual basis. One of the most appealing ways the big companies use to sell their products is advertisement. Although most people argue that they are not influenced by ads, their impact is very high on people especially on childrenand teenagers. So, people who do not want to be attracted to buying  should avoid ads as much as they can . Likewise, learning useful shopping techniques is essential to repress the aspiration of buying. Consumers should be able to evaluate what is absolutely necessary for them and then, compare alternatives according to price and performance. They can learn the ways to do this easily by reading successful books and via the Internet.

                In conclusion, it is easy to say that consumerism has become a very serious problem, since it has innumerable adverse effects not only on society and but also on nature. However, there are several possible solutions to overcome this problem. Therefore, both governments and individuals should apply these solutions to ensure a better life.