Our Accumulation Addiction: The Harm of Overconsumption and Rehabilitation Treatments for our Minds and the Environment

Abstract

In the same way an addict rationalizes using their substance, environmental degradation has been framed as an unfortunate side effect of our inevitable progress towards a predetermined future. These tendencies are justified using a constructed narrative built on cultural techniques and global systems of oppression, conditioning our minds to be in a constant state of desire. By framing consumerism as an addiction, this analysis questions the source of our unbridled dysregulated desire, investigates potential harm reduction addiction interventions and applies them on a global scale as a treatment for our consumption craving. This path away from consumption dependency engages the difficulties of living simply, our fear of scarcity, and a critical long-term approach to pleasure in an attempt to imagine a future in which we consciously rehabilitate our relationship with the environment by healing our bodies and minds.