--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What worries some people about…" description: "\"What worries some people about consumption (and I confess at the outset to be one of these ambivalent creatures, fat but troubled in paradise) is that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/rodney-clapp-73481_affluent_what-worries-some-people-about-consumpti_1229179.jpg" --- # What worries some people about consumption (and I confess… ![“What worries some people about consumption (and I confess at the outset to be one of these ambivalent creatures, fat but troubled in paradise) is that the affluent, technologically advanced West seems more and more focused not on consuming to live but living to consume. The problem with…” quote by Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/rodney-clapp-73481_affluent_what-worries-some-people-about-consumpti_1229179.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/rodney-clapp-73481_affluent_what-worries-some-people-about-consumpti_1229179.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/620/rodney-clapp-73481_affluent_what-worries-some-people-about-consumpti_1229179.jpg) > “What worries some people about consumption (and I confess at the outset to be one of these ambivalent creatures, fat but troubled in paradise) is that the affluent, technologically advanced West seems more and more focused not on consuming to live but living to consume. The problem with consumption, and the consumer capitalism that has pushed it to feverish historical extremes, is that it has become so all-consuming.” [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The West’s focus on consumption turns life into a pursuit of material goods, making consumption dominate existence. **In simple terms:** Living becomes about buying, not being. Key Takeaway Shift focus from buying to being. Themes consumerism materialism identity environment spirituality Mood reflective critical thoughtful Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - personal finance - environmental activism - spiritual practice - education - policy making Key Concepts capitalism overconsumption psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does your personal consumption reflect your values? - Can you find fulfillment beyond material acquisition? A Different Perspective Consumption can also drive economic growth and innovation, complicating simple critiques. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affluent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluent/) [Ambivalent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalent/) [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Consumer Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumer-capitalism-1589266/) [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) [Consumers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumers/) [Consuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consuming/) [Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption/) [Consumption Consumer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumption-consumer-3794472/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [Fats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fats/) [Focused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focused/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Overconsumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overconsumption/) [Paradise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paradise/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Problem Consumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem-consumption-1527113/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) ## Related quotes > [It was only in the late nineteenth century and then the twentieth century, with the maturation of consumer capitalism, that a shift was made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/it-was-only-in-the-late-nineteenth-century-and-then-the-twentieth/) [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) > [To the ideal of high consumption and the downgrading of spiritual values corresponds a conception of injustice that centers exclusively on the problem of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/to-the-ideal-of-high-consumption-and-the-downgrading-of-spiritual/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Here's how I see obesity: as a symptom. The larger problem is over-consumption. In a society that identifies consumption with patriotism, valorizes 'growth' above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-levine/here-s-how-i-see-obesity-as-a-symptom-the-larger-problem-is-over/) [Emily Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-levine/) > [The essence of the problem is about consumption, recognizing that a society that consumes one-third of the world's resources is unsustainable. This level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-essence-of-the-problem-is-about-consumption-recognizing-that-a/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [Roughly two billion people participate in the money economy, with less than half of those living in the wealthy countries of the developed world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/roughly-two-billion-people-participate-in-the-money-economy-with-less/) [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) > [With breathtaking rapidity, we are destroying all that was lovely to look at and turning America into a prison house of the spirit. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-sevareid/with-breathtaking-rapidity-we-are-destroying-all-that-was-lovely-to/) [Eric Sevareid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-sevareid/) > [Advertisers regularly con us into believing that we genuinely need one luxury after another. We are convinced that we must keep up with or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-j-sider/advertisers-regularly-con-us-into-believing-that-we-genuinely-need/) [Ronald J. Sider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-j-sider/) > [“To join the makers of the world is always to feel at least a little more self reliant, a little more omnicompetent. For everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/to-join-the-makers-of-the-world-is-always-to-feel-at-least-a-little/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Authoritarian socialism and capitalism share strong tendencies toward centralizing (one in the hands of the state, the other in the hands of corporations). They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/authoritarian-socialism-and-capitalism-share-strong-tendencies-toward/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [According to the International Institute for Environment and Development, the annual amount spent globally on advertising aimed at increasing consumption topped $430 billion in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/according-to-the-international-institute-for-environment-and/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Critics of consumer capitalism like to think that consumers are manipulated and controlled by those who seek to sell them things, but for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/critics-of-consumer-capitalism-like-to-think-that-consumers-are/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [You can’t change the world, but you can change yourself. That adage suits consumer capitalism perfectly, since the illusion of changing ourselves is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-bunting/you-can-t-change-the-world-but-you-can-change-yourself-that-adage/) [Madeleine Bunting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-bunting/) > [The world in the '90s had seemed somewhat stable. There was talk of the end of history, a calm consensus around where we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farr/the-world-in-the-90s-had-seemed-somewhat-stable-there-was-talk-of-the/) [David Farr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farr/) > [The assumption that you everyone else is like you. That you are the world. The disease of consumer capitalism. The complacent solipsism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-assumption-that-you-everyone-else-is-like-you-that-you-are-the/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I find it ironic that someone so ambivalent about living fights so hard to survive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-grover-swank/i-find-it-ironic-that-someone-so-ambivalent-about-living-fights-so/) [Denise Grover Swank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-grover-swank/) ## More by Rodney Clapp > [Significantly, God in Genesis 1 pronounces the rest of creation "good" before humanity is created. The psalmist and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/significantly-god-in-genesis-1-pronounces-the-rest-of-creation-good/) [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) > [It was only in the late nineteenth century and then the twentieth century, with the maturation of consumer capitalism, that a shift was made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/it-was-only-in-the-late-nineteenth-century-and-then-the-twentieth/) [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) > [Priestly stewardship suggests that creation is not just for us, that it has purpose independent of the uses we can make of it. 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Self worth is more affluent than net worth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sravani-saha-nakhro/integrity-is-more-significant-than-income-honor-is-more-opulent-than/) [Sravani Saha Nakhro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sravani-saha-nakhro/) > [It's amazing how people can get so excited about a rocket to the moon and not give a damn about smog, oil leaks, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/it-s-amazing-how-people-can-get-so-excited-about-a-rocket-to-the-moon/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) [Browse all 164 Affluent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affluent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What worries some people about consumption (and I confess at the outset to be one of these ambivalent creatures, fat but troubled in paradise) is that the affluent, technologically advanced West seems more and more focused not on consuming to live but living to consume. 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