IEconomist Dr Richard Denniss is on a mission to help us save the planet, and his advice is simple: we need to be more materialistic.
While the words consumerism and materialism are typically used interchangeably, they actually mean the exact opposite. Consumerism is the love of buying things, where materialism is the love of the object itself.
In order to ensure the world’s population can remain living on this planet, Dr Denniss wants us to love our stuff more – to cherish it, maintain it, repair it and rehome it. This is the true meaning of materialism.
Richard rebukes the economic legitimacy of arguments that a waste-driven, throw-away society stimulates jobs and grows economies. He challenges us to understand how our economy would truly function without so much waste, and encourages us all to embrace true materialism as a vital element to economic sustainability and the survival of the planet. Dr Richard Denniss is the Chief Economist and former Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He is a prominent economist, author & public policy commentator. According to Ross Gittins, Economist Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, Richard ‘is the freshest economic thinker I know, brimming with ideas, challenging old views and finding new opportunities for progress’
In his latest book, Curing Affluenza, Dr Denniss urges us to shun consumerism (the love of buying things) and embrace materialism (the love of the things themselves). He urges us to love our things, cherish them, repair them & find them a new home when we are done with them. He argues that buying more services & less stuff will not harm the economy, but simply reshape it in ways that create more jobs & do less environmental harm.
Dr Denniss is a regular contributor to The Monthly and writes regular columns for The Canberra Times & The Australian Financial Review. His Podcast series is called The Lucky Country.
Richard Denniss
TEDx Speaker
Dr Richard Denniss is the Chief Economist and former Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He is a prominent economist, author and public policy commentator. In the words of Ross Gittins, Economist Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, Richard ‘is the freshest economic thinker I know, brimming with ideas, challenging old views and finding new opportunities for progress’
