Gardner, Assadourian, and Sarin all seem to be of the opinion that consumption, while essential to human life and prosperity is leading us into an end that is self inflicted. While I can agree on this point to an extent, that we are using resources way too fast and need to be aware of our actions and their consequences, we also have already taken measures to do so. However, I also feel that consumption can be a stepping stone to finding a way to best sustain ourselves. The majority of the world knows that humans are really cutting down on the ecosystems through urbanization and industrialization. The authors also seem to say that consumption has been able to increase through the raise of communication such with telephones and television throughout the world’s population. Through these technologies, advertising products and other “essentials” can increase a person’s desire to go out and obtain more material items that then cause the increase in production and consumption of resources. This makes this method one of the more predominate themes that is taking up a central place in our lives today. As I read this article, I found myself asking what would be a good way to stop this and find a solution to this problem, but I also often found that a strait solution was sometimes hidden in the facts of what the past dictated about this issue, but not as much for predicting any concepts of the future. Having an optimistic viewpoint at the end, the authors said that,” consumption can act not as the engine that drives the economy but has a tool that delivers an improved quality of life.” Would this imply that the authors still have hope for human kind to find a way through this problem of consumption?