How much should a person consume?

Abstract

Galbraith termed contemporary America as the ‘Affluent Society’ in which the single-minded pursuit of wealth led to the massive exploitation of resources and materials through the years. Contemporary India reflects the Western ethos while aggressively channelizing the natural resources of the countryside to meet the needs of the urban-industrial sector. From this biased resource-use arises the grave inequalities of consumption within the nation. This paper addresses the dynamics of consumption in the backdrop of the global socio-ecological movement with special reference to the Indian context. It captures the asymmetries in the patterns of consumption in an analytical framework. Based on the culture and styles of consumption, the Indian population can be divided into three classes: omnivores, ecosystem people and ecological refugees. Omnivores have the capability to draw upon the natural resources of the whole of India to maintain their lifestyles. Ecosystem people, rely on resources in their vicinity. Ecological refugees are those ecosystem people who have been displaced from their homes and live in slums. It is argued that the process of development in independent India is characterized by a basic asymmetry between the omnivores and the ecosystem people. While omnivores consume too much, ecosystem people may be consuming much too little. Some of the consequences of this process are: ➢ Concentration of decision making in the hands of omnivores. ➢ Use of state machinery for diverting natural resources for omnivore prosperity, e.g., through subsidies. ➢ Indifference of omnivores to environmental degradation caused by them and passing on their costs to society. ➢ Protests by the victims of development. ➢ Creation of ‘ecological refugees’ as a result of permanent displacement of ecosystem people. Three key ways to enhance the social power of ecological refugees and ecosystem people are: land reforms, literacy, and health care. These reforms would simultaneously force omnivores to internalize the costs of their profligate behaviour. A retreat of the rich from overconsumption is the necessary first step towards improving the lives of an increasing number of people. One solution for the inequality in fuel consumption comes from the Spanish economist, Juan Martinez-Alier, who suggests taxation of oil consumption in rich countries while subsidizing LPG or kerosene in poor countries. Thus, to allow the poor to ascend just one step up the hierarchies of resource consumption, what is required is a very moderate sacrifice by the rich. It echoes Gandhi’s thoughts on environmental ethics: “World has enough for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed.”