Carrying Capacity, Conceptions of the Good Life, and Advertising

The human population size that can be sustainably supported by the Earth is a function of per capita consumption, which is influenced by culture—especially dominant conceptions of the good life. There is good reason to think life satisfaction is compatible with substantially lower consumption rates than typical in the West—but only if the operative conceptions of the good life are significantly less consumption-oriented. Furthermore, there is good reason to think the scope of life satisfaction will increase to the extent that more of the population adopts these less consumption-oriented conceptions. But broadly influential social forces—such as advertising and the business paradigm which calls for it—perpetuate these consumption oriented understandings. Approaches towards diminishing the impact of such influences are considered and assessed, in terms of pragmatic and ethical viability.