What is Consumerism?
- The fact or practice of an increasing consumption of products. (Dictionary.com)
- A social and economic order that encourages the purchases of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. (Wikipedia.com)
Criticisms
- Increased consumption leads to the depreciation of the environment
- Enables Globalization
- Encourages consumption of wants (as opposed to needs)
Must Watch!
Lesson Plan
Students will watch a clip from the movie Blood Diamond that depicts the pain and misery that the workers go through in order to find diamonds. Then the students will come up with a list of items that they own or that are easily accessible to them that could have caused harm to the people that produced them. Students will then try to come up with a solution to this problem like finding out where this product was manufactured, who produced this item and under what conditions did they work to produce it.