But the goal of the anti-consumeurism lobby is not sensible consumption, but the end of consumption and production. Their goal is to fight against capitalism itself and against progress itself.
The so-called Adbusters are a good example of this, with their "Buy Nothing Day". Adbusters is "concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces" - in plain words, against modern lifestyles. They are against capitalism, globalization, and believe that human work must be subjugated to the needs of "nature" (that is, their fantasy of what nature is).
Reading the propaganda of their friend organizations shows this same desire. Overcoming Consumeurism, for example, tells us to imagine a world where :
[1.] You live in a safe pleasant and unpolluted community where you actually know your neighbors and interact with them, be it a small town, a suburb or a city neighborhood.
(...)
[2.] The work that you do improves our future, benefits your community and means something to you and those with whom you interact.
(...)
[3.] Money isn't a controlling influence in your life because your needs are easily met. Your possessions are few, yet of high quality, thus allowing your home to be smaller and less expensive to own or rent.
Cutting down the anti-consumeurism speak, what this means is :
1. We should live in tribal, community-based societies, where strict zoning is enforced and everyone is involved in everyone else's business. Individuality is to be discouraged.
2. Your work should be judged not for how much other people want it, but for how much it benefits an arbitrary standard of "community". No more freedom of trade.
3. Low standard of living and controlled trade, communist-style. Once again, no more individual values.
Because consumption is such an important way through which we express our values, it is inevitable that repression of consumption will lead to repression of capitalism and individual freedom.
Another expression that anti-capitalists often use is "fair trade". What this means is : trade must be "fair" according to our standards of fairness, not according to the actual consumer's freedom to choose his own standards. This is another attempt to impose ruling class values over individual action. According to "Global Exchange", some principles of "fair trade" are :
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