Dear Editor,
Pimp your ride, shop till you drop, supersize that, flash your bling. If that is you, then you've been spun!
The media tells us that we are defined by our labels. But, should that be the way we measure our worth? The advertising industry wants you to consume more; to tell you that you should aspire to an American (or western) standard of living.
But the concept is seriously flawed. It not only puts you under a lot of pressure, to be able to afford all those trinkets, but puts huge pressure on the planet too.
Later in this century human population is expected to peak at around nine billion people.
That's a lot of people. What if they all want to live the American dream and to consume trolley loads of products and leave mountains of waste in their wake?
According to One Planet Living, if everyone on the planet wanted to live like the average North American, we would need five planets. Makes you think.
We need a fundamental shift in thinking. To embrace a new mantra and I've got a great one courtesy of Alex Steffen, "Wealth through experiences not stuff."
Life is about great moments. I'd like to challenge you to think about what will bring maximum joy to your life and a minimum footprint. A picnic or day at the beach with the family. A visit to a nature reserve. A great sit down dinner with good company (preferably organic).
But why just change your ways? Let's encourage government to target other measures rather than Per Capita GDP.
If Zuma or Zille want our votes they must move us up the Happy Planet Index (HPI). According to Wikipedia, HPI measures the production of human well-being instead of material goods. You guessed it. South Africa is near the bottom of the list 156/178.
BeeGeeWay
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.