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APARIGRAHA - THE HUMANE SOLUTION
stock of things lasts longer for the vast population. This factor makes it all the more necessary to control consumerism. A shift from an economy of acquisition to an economy of needs is a necessity for a society which is suffering from a grave problem of over-population. Ways of controlling consumerism
At the outset, it needs to be said that the arbitrary growth concept has to be given up in favour of a selective growth concept. We have to create conditions for work and a general spirit in which not only material gains but psychological satisfaction becomes an effective motivating factor. The control of consumerism is a multi-faceted exercise, neither easy, nor quickly accomplishable. It has to be handled intelligently, carefully and with dedication and concerted effort at all levels -at the social, state, religious, and individual levels.
Education is the first priority at the social level. It is a broad term covering a number of aspects. It includes everything such as awareness of social causes, academic learning and moral upliftment of all human beings. The contribution of parents and other family members, the peer group, the teachers, all have their role as educators. Children are so impressionable, that if they are handled with care, the next generation becomes enlightened and aware of the need for social betterment and the importance of their own contribution to the society. At this age, give and take from the society, betterment of the future, clear norms of healthy consumption can be brought home to their minds, and the use and misuse of things can become clear to them. Glossy and glitzy advertisements of consumption goods should not carry them away, positive and negative sides should be made clear to the children by the elders in the family. They should be made to see both sides of the picture, their questioning faculty on these issues should be aroused, they should be able to make connections between environmental degradation and consumeristic wastage. Children of all age groups should be made aware of the significance of control on wasteful expenditure. The craze for novelty and newer and newer things needs to be checked by judicious guidance by the parents. At the school level teachers sometimes play even a more effective role than the parents, since young children often
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