Consumption, environment, and advertising communication

a reflection based on the complexity of time

Abstract

Consuming is not only a necessity for our own survival, but also a form of communication, in which goods and services express time. Excessive consumption and planned obsolescence of products created a culture of waste, with devastating results, capable of jeopardizing the survival of the human species. Added to this catastrophic situation are the social inequalities, that are proliferating all over the planet.
It is imperative to provide valid answers that mitigate these serious problems and to find valid solutions. It is necessary to analyze what is happening in a complex, non-linear way, framing integrative, balanced, pluralistic, creative, and, at times, paradoxical postures, which may reflect the complexity of the problems.
Therefore, it is intended to reflect on these problems, also making an approach to their complexity, in order to show that thinking towards identifying a possible resolution of these problems requires framing complex thinking as an essential presupposition. This broad objective leads us to the next objective, which frames the individual as a building entity, as well as organizations as fundamental socioeconomic structures in the search for the necessary and urgent balance.
In terms of methodology, this reflective essay involved an exploratory attitude, calling for some of the thought that we consider most fruitful, but in which a markedly authorial stance also emerges.