Three Cheers for Restraint, Moderation

Marnell Jameson concludes her thoughtful column, “Maybe for Consumers, Less Really Is More” (Sept. 13), by calling for a pendulum swing toward restraint and moderation in buying habits, and asks, what if we consumers stopped being swayed by advertising and promotional gimmicks and bought only what we need and want? Here’s what would happen: Our booming, filled-with-hot-air economy would collapse. Consumer acquiescence to manufacturers’ rapacious demands for ever-increasing sales is what keeps the U.S. market economy going. It’s way past time for brilliant minds to invent a new economic system based on sustaining things in life rather than on the buying and selling of consumer clutter. America is drowning in the glut of stuff manufacturers and entrepreneurs must sell according to the dictates of this market economy. It’s way past time for a new economy. Let’s stop supporting consumerism and start demanding change today.

--LAUREL HALL

Whittier