مهار مصرف گرایی به عنوان تضمین کننده توسعه پایدار
Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION
2- NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
3- ASSESSING SDG INDEX FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
4- INCREASING CONSUMERISM AND ITS IMPACT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
5- CURBING CONSUMERISM THROUGH ECO‐SPIRITUAL MODEL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
6- RELEVANCE OF SPIRITUALITY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
7- CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Abstract
The contemporary economic growth models have directed the economies on an unsustainable trajectory where the present generation seems disenchanted with the heap of waste, debt, and insufficiency inherited from their forefathers. The present paper is an attempt to analyze the cause of consumerism and recommend an eco‐spiritual policy perspective for ensuring sustainable development. The paper analyzes that the United Nations recently announced Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot lead the economies towards sustainable development. Ensuring sustainable development will require curbing consumerism consciously through exploring the unexplored spiritual dimension, which can inspire humanity to lead a life of simplicity, moderation, and minimum desires for sustainable and all‐inclusive development. It has been stressed that aspiration of breakthrough result requires moving away from the external to the inward synthesis of the spiritual aspects, which believes in co‐existence, acknowledging care, and concern for both human beings and the nature. The paper argues for an eco‐spiritual perspective for furthering the goal of sustainability.
INTRODUCTION
“An empty stomach is one problem, but a full stomach a hundred problems” (Sadhguru, 2016). This is the fate of the contemporary growth models. Kenneth Galbraith (1958) states that production reached the heights of absurdity when the argument gained momentum that it is a necessary condition for thriving economy and an insurance against economic depression, but he outlined a striking paradox that the practice of thrift can plunge an affluent society into deep economic depression. Thus, present social, moral, and environmental scenario of the world can largely be attributed to the neoliberal economic growth models (Khan, 2015). Relentless economic expansion based on consumerism has brought inequity and ecological bankruptcy. The underdeveloped world needs growth, but the developed world requires degrowth for not merely sustenance but for reasons long sought by the human spirit. The United Nations Interactive Dialogue 3 (2015) emphasizes developed countries to exemplify the sustainable economic growth process by decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation through resource efficiency in consumption and production, reduction in waste generation, and incentivizing activities that are environmentally sound. Spreading awareness about the different lifestyles on the environment can induce individuals to behave in harmony with nature. Research (Orecchia & Zoppoli, 2007; Guercio, 2015) has revealed that more stuff has snatched away the health (physical as well as mental) and happiness leaving economies in wilderness. Meadows, Meadows, Randers, and Behrens (1972) pointed the excessive use of planetary resources and the dire need for economies to live within ecological boundaries. Harangozo, Csutora, and Kocsis (2018) too pointed the need to respect the planetary limits and argued that for creating a sustainable economy, the present conventional growth model must be changed.