Recently, I have been on business for days, and I have suffered backache. On a business trip to the United States, I was recommended to buy a kind of plaster called "Musk plaster" at the airport. There are 10 pieces in each bag.

It is sold too cheaply, which promotes consumption alienation.

What is consumption alienation? It just doesn't suit the needs. We can use the plaster produced, maybe less than one in a box. Because cheap, a box of ten to buy, many people bought it at home to store and keep. What about the expiration date? People throw it into a trash can.

Consumption alienation has become a capital-driven consumption phenomenon, which is not a necessary consumption. For example, only one or two pieces of plaster can cure the disease, but ten pieces of plaster have been given to me. What about the rest? A lot of people then act as reserves. It turns out that after a while, it's overdue and can only be thrown into the trash can. It's a pity. This kind of production is not based on actual demand, leading to consumption alienation. Besides, as the name implies, the medicine is called "Musk". Although it is not real musk (the logo shows that it is artificial musk), no matter what, it is also the real environmental cost and ecological cost. 

Another is health care products, which are similar to this. Many people don't need it at all, but after listening to a lot of advertisements and imagining that it's good for health, they buy it.

This kind of excessive consumption is the power of capital driven by industrial civilization and brought about by the logic of the market (for example, the larger the batch, the lower the price). These logics are the logic of industrial civilization. It leads to consumption alienation. Including today's popular holiday economy is also a product of consumption alienation. They are all products of industrial civilization. We need to make real changes.

In the era of ecological civilization, consumption should be enjoyed, based on people's needs, appropriate, in line with needs but not excessive; but excessive, in today's era, is unacceptable.

To advance industrial civilization to ecological civilization, consumption alienation is the first thing to overcome. We should oppose consumption alienation, promote comprehensive conservation and recycling of resources, advocate a simple, moderate, green and low-carbon lifestyle, consume on-demand, and avoid waste.

(The above is organized according to oral record and not verified by the speaker himself.)

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/10294.html

By / Li Xue