Consumerism – Who Is Consuming Who?

 
They say the world needs consumerism, businesses need us to consume; but in today’s world, we are not the consumers, we are being consumed; our own greed is consuming everything around us.

People eat more than they need, drink more than their thirst, the public need to be satisfied.

Businesses go out of their way to meet consumer demand; whatever the public wants, the public gets, or at least that seems to be the case on the surface. How many people can actually afford what they have?
Most things people seem to own are rented, or are being paid for on credit.

We now live in a world of overconsumption; where the consumer is forcing businesses to grow, to expand, to take on more debt, to meet demand.

If a business cannot supply its customers, they will naturally migrate somewhere else; businesses and the people behind them, saw opportunity and jumped at it. Their expansion to meet consumer demand, has given an artificial landscape, has given rise to the term ‘delusions of grandeur’.
What we see of businesses today, are glossy shop fronts, high-rise buildings; businesses grew into demand that was artificial, and because of that and the worldwide contraction, businesses are now beginning to feel the ill-effects of their own overexpansion.

New buildings were erected, warehouses were built, office space was taken on, all on the premise that demand would never fall; growth would always be there.
Now we can see what happens when the consumer is met with, is hit with, ever greater demands; they simply pull back, reduce spending, and conserve money.

When the economy shrinks, businesses cannot adapt to its pace, they are left with empty warehouses, empty offices, and shops they can no longer afford. Look to your high streets, look to your shopping malls, look to the office spaces, and see the contraction.

When the contraction is felt by the everyday person, the everyday person will find themselves out of work.

Consumerism; who is consuming who?
If you cannot feel it, if you cannot see it, it is being kept from you for a reason.

What could that reason be?