For decades, psychologists have been chronicling Americans’ decreasing self-esteem and increasing rates of depression. Tori DeAngelis says in her article, Consumerism and its discontents, subtitled “Materialistic values… are linked to lower life satisfaction”, that, “the least materialistic people report the most life satisfaction.” And, apparently, “Those who doubt themselves buy the most, study finds”.
But that’s not new information. We all know that buying lots of things will not bring us lasting joy, inner peace or happiness. Consumerism, economic materialism and fast fashion not only fail to bring us happiness, they have other negative global consequences for people and the earth.
The UN’s International Labor Organization estimates that there are 40 million forced laborers (slaves) around the world today and that number is rising, and we don’t need statistics to tell us that producing more and more disposable goods isn’t good for our environment.
So what can we really do about modern slavery and the degradation of our planet?
What if we just bought less stuff of higher quality? What if we invest in well made products that will last and classic clothes – instead of following every micro trend that’s here for 15 minutes?
New ideas? Actually, the simple living and slow fashion movements are very old concepts with a new twist.