On the 12th day of Christmas ... your gift will just be junk | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian
While I find some of his examples a bit too frivolous, our addiction to consumption (for both pyschological and perhaps more importantly economic reasons) is a serious issue. If I were to name some of our behaviours which might be viewed by our descendants as morally reprehensible then I think this consumption would rank for two reasons. First due to its impact on the worlds resources and climate change, and hence the consequences for innumerable future generations, and secondly due to the near-slavelike cheap labour system that underpins it all. But we are oblivious to the scale or moral nature of the problem.
The only possible silver lining is that modern technology does allow new, immaterial forms of consumption and commerece, with the classic example being apps. Creation and consumption of virtual objects could provide sustainable growth. Alas, while in principle this sounds promising, in reality the relative volumes probably make it insignificant to the inevitable material economy.