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Over-consumption is a concept coined in developing nations to counter the rhetoric of over-population by which developed nations judge them as consuming more than their economy can support. A key argument, often made by Green parties and the ecology movement, is that consumption per person, or ecological footprint, is lower in poor than in rich nations. Another key argument, often made in the anti-globalisation movement, is that economics itself, particularly that of the commodity markets, is a 'rigged game' by which developed nations loot developing nations of their wealth, including especially their human capital - a process called human capital flight.
Over-consumption is also measurable. Two articles in Physics Today, July 2004, showed that the combination of over-consumption of energy and over-population may have serious consequences for the future of mankind if action is not taken in this generation. Over-consumption of energy that derives from the combustion of fossil fuels is the main cause of global warming, and other global pollution.
Over-consumption creates an overclass who suffer from affluenza. Excessive unsustainable consumption leads to resource depletion and overshoot. This in turn leads to overpopulation, which is when a species exceeeds its carrying capacity.
See also
- Anti-consumerism
- Conspicuous consumption
- Environmental studies
- Freeganism
- Gluttony
- Green economics
- Malthusian catastrophe
- Post-materialism
- Power conservation
- Sustainable living
- Throw-away society
References
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External links
- United States energy consumption/production profile at NationMaster
- Fifty Possible Ways to Challenge Over-Commercialism by Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD