… The real issue is not consumption itself but its patterns and effects.
… Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures — the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%. More specifically, the richest fifth:
* Consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%
* Consume 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%
* Have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5%
* Consume 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%
* Own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%
Runaway growth in consumption in the past 50 years is putting strains on the environment never before seen.
from Human Development Report 1998 Overview, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); text and image via Global Issues
Adam Smith
in Theory of Moral Sentiment
via - invisible hand [or divine providence]
(via tryingtofollow) via tryingtofollow
