Totalitarianism, a society where alternatives are ruled out, was meant to arrive in the jackboots of the communist left or the fascist right. It now arrives with a smile on its face as it seduces us into yet another purchase. The jackboots are in this season’s color and style. We are watched, recorded and ordered not by our political beliefs but by our shopping desires. The gulag is replaced by Gucci.
Are we at the point of no return? Is the space for other ways of being human so marginalized that an alternative post-consumer society becomes impossible? No! Millions of people are deciding to shop ethically and shop less. About 25 percent of 29 to 59-year-olds have downsized by 40 percent of their income, swapping money for time, drudgery for creativity and the freedom to choose in the shops for the freedom to choose a different life.
But they are leaderless. No mainstream party will speak about the dire need to curtail growth and ensure that limited resources are fairly redistributed. Quite the reverse. As the expenses scandal related to the ministers of parliament is revealed, too many of the representatives of the people are now only interested in changing their home, not the world. Like every other consumer they represent only themselves and their own private dreams.
A life of turbo consumption cannot be the pinnacle of human development. Do we want a consumer society or a democracy? We cannot have both. There is still time to choose — just. Shoppers of the world unite — you have nothing to lose but your chain stores.
Neal Lawson is chair of the pressure group Compass. His book All Consuming has just been published.
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