I don't know about voluntarily... being raised in a capitalist society that values material possessions so much that they basically devote their lives to acquiring them kind of makes you think that you want to consume. Advertisements make consuming look like the answer to happiness- nobody in an ad is ever unhappy looking, not even the ones with genital herpes. So subconsciously, the viewer/reader/whatever eventually decides that to be happy is to consume, like the happy people in ads, like the successful people in magazines who are billionaire CEOs, like the rappers on MTV who flaunt their possessions throughout videos for songs about possessions. You just have to learn to live without consuming so much.
it's exciting how people of the young generation are realizing the serious problems and limitations of a consumption based life style. It's real interesting to see all the alternatives peoplle are starting to consider. I think its important to look at the struggle of the 60's to see what worked and didn't work for them so we don't repeat mistakes
It's not even as easy as that, although not buying things you don't need does help. The fact is that it's nearly impossible for the average person to not have to buy something, and generally that something comes from a corporation at some time or another. For example, food. Yes, you can grow your own food, but who has time to grow all the food they need to survive? You can go to a farmer's market or small grocery store, but prices are generally higher at those places. Not always, I know. I have seen dirt cheap produce at farmer's markets, but the meat is 25-50% higher in price (probably due to it being organic, free-range, etc), so it averages out. Also, not everyone has access to farmer's markets, so grocery stores are the only option. Clothes are another matter. First of all, clothes are bought more often than hand made, again due to time. And even when clothes are hand made, the fabric has to come from somewhere. How many of you shear your own sheep, grow your own cotton/hemp, and spin your own yarn or weave your own fabric? Corporations come in again, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. We need these items and corporations provide them. There is nothing inherently wrong with corporations or even capitalism. The problem arises when corporations are allowed to do as they please to their workers without being checked on and made to follow basic human rights procedures. But this is the case in any situation where power is left unchecked.
