Champagne and petroleum
It was December, we entered in January, so it has already been a few weeks since the beginning of the winter in the northern hemisphere, with temperatures as warm as worrying. Our ancestors, in the winter solstice, worshipped the alternation of day and night, the cycle of the year or the resurrection of the sun, hoping that the new station would produce good crops. Later, Christianity probes and transforms these ancient rituals to progressively establish its own cults. Another transformation that has taken place in recent decades is that, for the sake of sustained economic growth, capitalism has established a consumer orgy in the place of Christianity. We have forgotten nature, Christianity is on the back. Today, Christmas is consumerism.
Despite its total interiorization, it is not difficult to deduce that what is consumed at Christmas is an excess. In the global North, however, fewer and fewer people are able to carry out this excess, and in many parts of the world others have never been able to do so. However, unsustainable amounts of shellfish, wine, toys, clothing or electronics are consumed in our territory. Incalculable for Earth’s thistle: thousands of tonnes of waste, burning fossil fuels, waste of resources… The ecological crisis we are experiencing is only exacerbated.
In January many families see red to make ends meet. The erasure of Christmas consumption gives way to the hangover
In January, many families see red to make ends meet. Consumption intoxication gives way to the hangover. In addition, with the new year, prices tend to rise, but wages do not follow the same path. This year, for example, year-on-year inflation has been 8.2% and 5.9% in the Spanish and French states, respectively. Wages, on the other hand, have grown only 2.7% in the former and 4% in the latter. This directly affects the quality of life of mankind, especially in the most vulnerable sectors of society.
Our society has also been consuming many more resources for 200 years than the land renews every year. Moreover, this consumption has been accelerating in recent decades. Like shellfish and champagne in our homes, industrial civilization takes no oil. As a result of the growth that has taken place, we are directly colliding with the borders of the planet and the time has come to tighten the belt. Fossil fuels have brought us thousands of extra wages, and from now on we will have to learn to live again with the monthly benefits.
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