h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Your question reminds me of the way I used to see the world when I was a child. An exercise I carried out regularly was to draw a house (where I would live one day)with all the essential things I would need.

Although I have always been a sociable person, and was brought up to be critical of materialistic values, nevertheless, no people were ever mentioned as sharing my "ideal home".

The contents of the house would soon overflow its four walls and I would inevitable end up trying to write an exhaustive list of goods and needs. This would take up one or more sides of paper. To begin with, the list included mainly the kind of electronic goods I wished I had in my room: stereo record player, television, all Nik Kershaw's cassettes", etc. As I grew older (and wiser) the category of entertainment was joined by sustenance: I wanted a big freezer full of hamburgers, potato croquettes, green beans and Lucas' ice cream. Then, one day, I became aware that I would need an electricity generator, and a convenient stream to supply my water needs.

I think I gave it up at about that point. In later (teenage) years I became more concerned with plans for utopian societies and I went on to study philosophy, religion and cultural history at university. My infantile desire for personal pleasure were replaced (not without--ongoing--struggle) by a sense of engagement with the world around me.

When you provocatively write:

"Where is the consumer culture going, and what will happen to those who just want:

Some clothes, enough money for the following; a nice seat in a sunny street in a nice city, a good book, a guitar..."

I can only answer that I hope such individuals come very soon to realize that living in a consumer society does not absolve them from responsibility for their actions. Just because you cannot see the chains of cause and effect does not mean that they are not there. "Where is the burger was the cow", etc. Many of us would like to take it easy and live for our pleasures, but, as a result of something variously called sympathy, ethics, religion, morality, duty or a sense of responsibility, find it impossible to be satisfied with a consumerist lifestyle.

Unless this changes, the future of consumerist societies looks bleak- they will continue much as they do now. They will continue to use the world's resources (including human resources) to keep a tiny fraction in luxury and the vast majority in either material pr spiritual poverty.

((please note that these comments were written rather quickly with no forethought--they are not my considered opinion))