Lecture Notes Sagoff, DO WE Consume TOO MUCH PDF

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LECTURE NOTES SAGOFF, DO WE CONSUME TOO MUCH...

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LECTURE NOTES: SAGOFF’S “DO WE CONSUME TOO MUCH?”

In the second reading for Week 7, we are returning to Mark Sagoff and his paper “Do We Consume Too Much?” The answer he gives is: it depends.

When framed in the manner that Hardin frames the question (will there be enough resources for growing populations), Sagoff’s answer is no For essentially the same reasons provided by Simon But if framed as a values question (think of Singer’s assertion that consumption culture has a ‘distorting effect’ upon humans), the answer may be yes

Sagoff begins the paper by noting the various apocalyptic predictions made by environmentalists such as Hardin Look at p. 175:

Here Sagoff is telling us that the predictions of doom resulting from overconsumption are founded upon four misconceptions: 1. We are running out of non-renewables such as minerals 2. We are running out of food 3. We are running out of energy

4.

There are too many humans

Mineral Resources Regarding non-renewable resources such as minerals, Sagoff notes three ways in which human innovation responds to scarcity (p. 176):  Improved exploration and extraction (e.g. using bacteria to extract metals from lowgrade ores)  Substitutions (e.g. use of ceramics and ceramic-metal alloys in place of metals)  Increased efficiency (e.g. fluorescent lighting in place of incandescent lighting) This is very much Simon’s notion

As resource scarcity drives increased costs, innovation and technological development is motivated to bend costs back down

Food Resources Are we running out of food? Sagoff notes that if our diets were to become vegetarian there are enough cereals & oilseeds in production to sustain a population of 10 billion

And again, demand drives innovation. Look at pp. 177-178:

Just as industrialized agriculture, chemical fertilizers and pesticides produced an agricultural revolution in the 19th and 20th centuries, genetics and biotechnology are producing revolutions in the present

Global food issues are predominantly not a matter of too little food; look at p. 178:

Here Sagoff is noting that the actual concerns related to food are:  Food security issues related to global inequalities in wealth  Poor diet and obesity in rich nations  Ecological and land use issues arising from the meat industry

Energy Resources At p. 179, Sagoff notes the various apocalyptic predictions made by environmentalists about peak oil Again, these predictions have not come to pass for the same reasons noted with mineral resources

Look at pp. 179-180:

Sagoff argues that the apocalyptic narrative deflects attention from real concerns associated with energy  Climate change  Global political instability (he is thinking here about armed conflicts and political interference driven by security concerns over energy supplies) Look at p. 181:

This reflects the kind of analysis that Simon might employ with respect to climate change (once costs rise innovation will step in) It also reflects a market-based response to climate change (based on the notion that humans are economic maximizers) that Jamieson will term the ‘Management approach’ The idea is that issues like climate change can be managed by providing the right set of financial incentives or penalties to drive human behavior in the desired direction

Overpopulation Sagoff asserts that environmentalists such as Hardin make four mistakes when they advance policies such as his ‘life-boat’ ethics  First, they miss the opportunity to promote family planning and womens’ rights (pp. 181-182) Demographics show that control by women of their reproduction curbs rapid population growth  Secondly, they alienate potential allies in the development community (p. 182) Demographics show that economic development in poorer countries curbs rapid population growth  Thirdly, they ignore actual demographic trends (p. 182)

Demographics show that urbanization and the entry of women into the labor force curbs rapid population growth  Finally, they ignore real problems such as those associated with an aging population (p. 183) For example, recall the Lecture Notes on Hardin and the projections for China’s population over the next 80 years

Irregular patterns of population growth can create situations in which fewer working age people are supporting increasing numbers of elderly

If overconsumption is not a reason to challenge the growth paradigm, what is wrong with consumption? Look at p. 184:

Here Sagoff is suggesting that our consumption culture may be problematic on value grounds (as opposed to economic or practical sustainability grounds)

Why might we think this? He provides 4 reasons. Look at p. 185:

Here he is pointing out that the Western-style consumption culture can be destructive to traditional cultures, creating a variety of social ills Look further down on p. 185:

There are two empirical points that stand out here.

First: even within consumer cultures, it does not appear that increased consumption is attended by increases in well-being or happiness For example: we might think of the U.S. as an exemplar of consumer culture, yet across all economic strata (highest to lowest) the U.S. underperforms other more egalitarian developed countries in terms of health outcomes and personal satisfaction by strata

Secondly, the things that do contribute to human well-being  Belonging to a community  Health and security  Friends  Faith  Family  Love Do not depend upon material enlargement beyond an adequate minimum

Lastly, look at pp. 185-186:

Sagoff notes that some economists such as Keynes believed that human desires for more would level off once adequate minimums were widely attained The evidence appears otherwise: that even when adequate minimums were attained, people still wanted more This raises a problem: if the goal of a consumption society is to satisfy human material desires, and if those desires are insatiable, then it would seem that the goal is futile

The reasons for questioning consumption society set out by Sagoff may well be what Singer had in mind when he described consumer society as having a distorting effect upon the goals and purposes of its members Look at p. 186:

So, while Sagoff agrees with Simon that there are no economic imperatives for abandoning consumer culture He nonetheless believes that there may be moral or social reasons for change...