Looking back at the younger version of myself, in my early teenage years and first gaining an awareness of capitalism and beginning to fathom the vast extent of its impacts on the planet and all of the people on it, I remember first coming across the phrase “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”. The appeal of the phrase came from its ability to offer a sense of reassurance and hope in the face of the overwhelming anxiety caused by this introduction to the severity of these huge global problems. However, returning to the present version of myself, this appeal has been replaced by significant scepticism. What was first a means of removing the overwhelming barriers of perfectionism in the encouragement of environmental and social progress, has become a way of justifying a dismissal of these same concerns. This contradiction is why it seems to me that saying “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” has become an obsolete assertion within capitalistic discourse, as well as wider environmental and social considerations.
By no means do I want to dismiss the concerns that the phrase’s initial popularity served to assuage. The phrase’s first wave of use was intended to level the blame of the exploitation of people and the planet at the feet of the large corporations and governments, rather than the individual. Within this context, the caveat of this was to say, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but I will do my best to make ethical choices within the context of my own personal capacity”. What it was never intended to be used for, however, was an excuse to justify an individual’s apathy towards the impacts of their own actions on the planet and other more vulnerable groups of people.
The way I have frequently seen the phrase being used now is in defence of explicit displays of ethically dubious choices. I cannot help but feel a sense of despair in having to watch £500 influencer Shein hauls come up on my TikTok for-you-page, which, when questioned are defended in the comments with the same phrase I remember once looking up to as a sign of progress. The most troubling aspect of this current manipulation of the phrase, however, is its exacerbation of the numbness people have for the world around them. Using the phrase with the alternative caveat, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, so it doesn’t matter what choices I make” is devastating for the already faltering levels of empathy within society.
The single biggest problem with saying that “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” is that there actually is. Again, this comes down to the importance of rejecting the expectations of ‘perfect ethical decisions’ as the only way forwards. Ethical consumption does not have to mean making choices that have absolutely no possible negative impacts, but rather making the most reasonable, considered, and responsible choices for each specific person. In this way, a person’s best way of consuming ethically is to reflect on the impacts their choices will have on the environment and other people.
Ultimately, I feel I should conclude my thoughts with my own caveat that these are only my brief ruminations on the much wider issues of capitalism and consumerism – of which I, of course, have not been able to encapsulate the full nuance and depth of within this piece. All I truly wish to underline is that progress does not need to be perfect. One of the most significant things you can do is to care. The undoubtable fact of the matter is that a massive change in our collective environmental behaviour will be forced upon us in the coming decades and apathy and ignorance won’t change this.
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