Questioning consumption from sustainable development perspective

Ecosystems operate through the natural processes of self-organization between natural and human systems and are maintained by the adequate stocks and flows of natural resources. In the contemporary world, stability of such living machines (ecosystems) is at risk due to unprecedented strains caused by both natural and manmade activities. Critical outcomes of such activities are manifest in the form of global challenges such as social, economic and environmental crisis, all occurring concurrently. Since, there are weak feedback signals at all scales about the consequences of our consumption choices, awakening to this reality is a herculean task. It involves strict scrutiny of the past activities and careful ingress into the future progress. Certainly, it is possible to examine nearly any aspect of modern society, the conduct of war, government, recession, marriage, education, and find a similar practice or an earlier version in history. In most cases, the seeds of the present can be traced in the past, but this is not true for consumerism, as consumerism has no parallel in early human societies. This paper aims to establish a basis for promising inquiry into the linkages between consumption and sustainable development.