The modern economy grows thanks to our trust in the future and to the willingness of capitalists to reinvest their profits in production. Yet that does not suffice. Economic growth also requires energy and raw materials, and these are finite. When and if they run out, the entire system will collapse.
Whenever a shortage of either has threatened to slow economic growth, investments have flowed into scientific and technological research. These have invariably produced not only more efficient ways of exploiting existing resources, but also completely new types of energy and materials.
Clearly the world does not lack energy. All we lack is the knowledge necessary to harness and convert it to our needs.
From an objective perspective, this calf no longer needs either maternal bonding or playmates in order to survive and reproduce. But from a subjective perspective, the calf still feels a very strong urge to bond with her mother and to play with other calves. If these urges are not fulfilled, the calf suffers greatly. This is the basic lesson of evolutionary psychology: a need shaped in the wild continues to be felt subjectively even if it is no longer really necessary for survival and reproduction. The tragedy of industrial agriculture is that it takes great care of the objective needs of animals, while neglecting their subjective needs.
monkeys must have psychological needs and desires that go beyond their material requirements, and if these are not fulfilled, they will suffer greatly.
Consumerism sees the consumption of ever more products and services as a positive thing.It encourages people to treat themselves, spoil themselves, and even kill themselves slowly by overconsumption.
They would have branded it as selfish, decadent and morally corrupt. Consumerism has worked very.hard, with the help of popular psychology（just do it!）to convince people that indulgence is good for you, whereas frugality is self-oppression.
We are all good consumer. We buy countless products that we don't really need, and that until yesterday we didn't know existed.
Shopping has become a favourite pastime, and consumer goods have become essential mediators in relationships between family members, spouses and friends.
The capitalist and consumerism ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. The supreme commandment of the rich is "invest!" The supreme commandment of the rest of us is"buy!"
Most previous ethical systems presented people with a pretty tough deal. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interest. This was too tough for most.The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to.
In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist-consumerist ideal. The new ethic promised paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money, and that the masses gives free rein to their cravings and passions——and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do.
（ps;之前摘抄下来很喜欢的句子~）