2012 09 24 gareth

Gareth HansfordUniversity Of Johannesburg

9/19/20122012

Self-Motivation (Paganism) vs. Profit Motivation (Consumerism):A brief study on Pagan and Capitalist eco mentalities

[Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]

Gareth Hansford Research Paper 201044173

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Research Question and Motivation 4

3. Methodology 5

4. Ecology…………………………………………………………………………………...5

5. Religion Defined 6

6. Consumerism as a Religion 7

7. Ecological Policies of Consumerism 9

8. Pagan Tradition………………………………………………………………………11

9. Pagan Ecological Policies…………………………………………………………..13

10.Consumerism vs. Paganism………………………………………………………..15

11.Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………16

12. Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….17

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Self-Motivation (Paganism) vs. Profit Motivation (Consumerism): A brief study on Pagan and Capitalist eco mentalities.

1. Introduction

Anyone who has read a business report in the newspaper or on any other median, and

has a fairly average understanding of religion will notice the similarities that

Consumerism has with religion. I am not the first to notice this, and certainly hope I am

not the last. For if this ‘new religion’ goes unchecked it will have consequences, it will

cause more problems than it has already, and we may not be able to recover from

these. Humanity as a global population is moving into an extremely crucial period of

transition, according to Dr. Michio Kaku, astrophysicists have recognized that

civilizations go through three stages of development. You get Type 1, Type 2, and Type

3 civilizations. Type 1 is a civilization that can harness the energy output of an entire

planet. A Type 2 civilization can harness the energy output of a star, and generates

about ten billion times the energy output of a Type 1 civilization. Lastly is the Type 3

civilization this civilization harnesses the energy output of a galaxy, and has about ten

billion times the energy output of a Type 2 civilization. Currently we rank as a Type 0

civilization on this scale. Dr. Michio Kaku states that within the next hundred years we

should be making the transition to Type 1. You may be wondering why I said that it is a

crucial period of transition, well it is dangerous because one of the things needed for us

to gain Type 1 status would be a globally unified population that acts in unison to better

the entire populace and maintain a healthy sustainable environment. Consumerism

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Coetzee, Johan, 2012-10-10,

Reference? date, page.


would not be able to provide the mind-set for such an ideal to happen, it is a profit

driven idea ologyideology and profit driven ideas do not benefit all people or our planet,

as we can see today or in our recent past. What we need is an alternative, and it is my

opinion that the current pagan religion of today could hold the key to a human race that

is self-motivated towards bettering themselves and thy neighbour as well as maintaining

a sustainable environment. In the chapters sections that follow we will look at what a

religion is, so that it will be clear when it is showed that Consumerism is a religion of

modern humankind and its ecological viewpoint is discussed. After this there will be a

literature study on pagan religion finalizing with their ecological view. This will be

followed by a comparative study of these two ideals and to bring up the rear of this

paper will be a conclusion of my findings and my view.

2. Research question and motivation

Humanity as a race is moving towards a crucial time in the development of our

civilization., our Our current ideal of consumerism which runs rampant throughout all

parts of the globe promotes the overzealous use of our planet’s natural resources which

contributes to the current ecological crisis. Is there a better way? For far too long we

have just been using of the planet as we see fit. Now the consequences loom and we

are seeking a way out. This paper offers a different perspective to the search for a

solution towards averting the current ecological crisis for now and future generations.

Toin order to show that it is a change in the mind-sets of humankind that needs to take

place for there to be any long term benefit from ecological policies.

It is not clear to me yet what your exact research question is.

Formulate it sharply. If you want to put forward a hypothesis, do so

clearly and briefly.

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3. Methodology

The methods used in this paper; : first there will be a brief literature study done on both

Consumerism and Paganism. This is done to give a bit of background on the two major

players in this document as well as inform of the ecological policies which they apply.

This will be followed by a comparative study to draw attention to the key aspects of

these two traditions’ ecological policies.

4. Ecology

Since ecology is in an important topic in this paper here is a definition from the Stanford

Encyclopaedia of Philosophy:

Ecology is the scientific study of the “interactions between individual organisms and

their environments, including interactions with both conspecifics and members of other

species (Sahotra http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/ecology/, consulted

September 2012). The interaction that is focused on when this paper refers to ecology

is that of human beings and the rest of nature. Ecology in this sense is evaluating the

effects that humans have on the environment, and searching for possible solutions

through a religious/traditional context.

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http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/ecology/


5. Religion defined

Religion is rather tricky to define as there are so many different versions of it in

existence around the globe; many have tried and each offer forth their own versions. I

have listed a few below.

Emile Durkheim defined religion as “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to

sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which

unite into one single moral community called a Church all those who adhere to them.”

(Morton, 2007:page number?).

James G. Frazer defines religion as “a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to

man which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life.”

(Morton, 2007:page number?)

Schmidt, et al. said that “Religions, then, are systems of meaning embodied in a pattern

of life, a community of faith, and a worldview that articulate a view of the sacred and of

what ultimately matters.” (Morton, 2007:page number?)

From these you can get a general idea of the principles that a religion exists within, ; it is

a unified set of beliefs in a higher power that controls the fate of nature and humans,

and it has acolytes that spread its word and institutions that house them. Now that we

know in essence what the definition of religion let us see how it can be said that

Consumerism is a religion.

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The reference forms part of the sentence, therefore the period should come after the reference. You should refer to a specific page or pages where you found this.


6. Consumerism as a religion

There is an article by Harvey Cox that does this brilliantly demonstrating the remarkable

similarities between Christian religions and Consumerism. For the question of a

deity/higher power he claims that ‘The Market’ has replaced God, comparing it to the

omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent Christian God. He found that the arguments

they use in their business resemble process theology, an idea influenced by the

philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. In this view although God still possesses the

powers of being omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent he does not possess full

control over these abilities, but is moving towards full control. Just as this theory helps

theologians with the question of why bad stuff happens to people that a just,

omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient God would not allowed to have taken place.,

So so does it help the theologians of the market to explain the bad things that result

from economic dissent to free markets. Cox likens the markets initial rise to power to

that of Zeus claiming sovereignty over all the other gods, ; his throne was never safe

and he had to constantly defend it. In recent times however he likens the market to

“Yahweh” of the Old Testament for it is no longer just a strong deity fighting for control,

but rather the ultimate one in near complete control that shall have no competition (Cox,

2009:page?).

The market as omnipotent, omnipotence meansmeaning to have very great or unlimited

power, . although Although the market may not yet have this in totality at present its

“willed-but-not-yet-achieved” omnipotence means that there is no imaginable limit to its

unstoppable ability to convert conception into produces. According to Cox this is hardly

a new view, even though it is tweaked a little. He says “In catholic theology, through

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what is called “transubstantiationtransubstantion,” ordinary bread and wine become

vehicles of the holy. In the mass of The Market a reverse process occurs. Things that

have been held sacred transmute into interchangeable items for sale” (Cox,

2009:page?).

For the case of omniscience Cox states that “The Market, we are taught, is able to

determine what human needs are, what copper and capital should cost, how much

barbers and CEO’s should get paid, and how much jet planes, running shoes, and

hysterectomies should sell for.” This, as anyone can see, is quite a lot of knowledge and

even if the market is not entirely omniscient it is very close to attaining this goal (Cox,

2009:page?).

Almost all religions on this earth talk about omnipresence and the new market religion is

of no exclusion. An enthusiast of globalization, Henri Lepage, speaks of a “Total

Market”. The latest out of economic theory is that they are trying to use market

calculations on areas that were previously left alone, for example: dating, marital

relations (Cox, 2009:page?).

This is a perfect example showing how consumerism has become a religion and us, the

unsuspecting public, have unwittingly become followers of this tradition. It controls the

fate of nature and humans through the creation of merchandise which we consume at

alarming rates, the more we consume the more we deplete our planet’s natural

resources leading us into this ecological crisis.

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7. Ecological policies of Consumerism

When the state of the environment started becoming a concern in the sixties, the first

thing that was done to attempt to curb the rampant increase in pollution caused by

industry and consumers was to pass government regulations which almost always

cause instability in the market (Henion, 1982page?).

The best solution economists have come up with is something called ecological

marketing, as the name suggests it is meant to help with our environmental problems

caused by pollution. A formal definition of this advertising theme is, and I quote,

“Ecological marketing can be visualized as a point of view on how better to advance

environmental quality. Normative in character, the viewpoint advocates a national policy

for the environmental crisis which facilitates profit making by the private sector through

the marketing of environmentally beneficial products. The aim of this marketing strategy

is to target the ecologically concerned consumer with this plan the government’s role in

regulating suppliers and producers with laws and taxes is reduced. The focus is moved

onto the informed and uninformed consumer, the goal is to lower the demand for

products that are not environmentally friendly and increase the demand for products

that are more eco-friendly. Consumer behaviour is the biggest cause of solid-waste

pollution through the buying of and throwing away of a wide variety of commercial

products. Environmentally beneficial products are crucial to eco-marketing; they are

products that have attributes which are either inherently beneficial to the environment or

will be beneficial to the environment one day. An environmentally beneficial product

may have one or more but not limited to the following characteristics: A long life time, it

may be reusable, non-resource-intensive, repairable, have a low disposal cost (Henion,

1982page?).

Some examples of ecological marketing, the setting to beer producing companies in

Texas with their respective ecological marketing schemes:

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Does your quotation end here? If so, this is too long a quotation. You have to interpret and write in you own words.


This sentence does not read clearly.


“In September 1973, one of those companies, Pearl Brewing Co., decided to enter the

business of recycling aluminium cans. This was done not only to cut material costs but

also to increase revenues through the aggressive promotion of its recycling centres. In

conjunction with its distributors and local radio stations, Pearl sponsored clean up and

collection campaigns throughout Texas. The promotions were highly successful and

citizen response was enthusiastic. To encourage even greater citizen participation,

Pearl raised its initial offer of ten cents per pound of returned aluminium cans to fifteen

cents in May 1974” (Henion, 1982).”

In counter to that of Pearl’s a competitor Lone Star Brewing Co. launched its own

ecological marketing scheme.

““Long Live Longnecks” helped create demand for its beer packaged in a tall twelve

ounce returnable glass bottle. This theme got across in part because Austin, the capital

of Texas, and home of the state’s major university, had come to be identified in recent

years as the birthplace and centre of “Progressive Country” music. As this type of music

flourished and grew into a cultural movement, the “Longneck” beer grew as a symbol of

the movement. It was this association on which Lonestar capitalized in its advertising

theme” (Henion, 1982page?).”

Another example of ecological marketing:

Sears introduced a phosphate free detergent called Ecolo-G, with this name a

connection was made between the name of the product and its quality as an eco-

friendly product (Henion, 1982page?).

To sum up: Ecological marketing does do something towards alleviating our

environmental crisis, but it is not really driven by any need, it seems to just better the

world’s ecological system. From what has been stated above one can observe that the

motivation behind these schemes is purely profit driven. It would not be surprising if this

was the case for most, if not all, business ventures.

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8. Pagan Tradition

Pagan traditions have been around since before the rise of most mainstream religions

(i.e. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). If you follow a pagan religion you would be

considered to be following a religion of the earth. Many pagan religions have the

common belief that all living things are ultimately one and it is from this belief that they

have developed the worldview of all things being sacred. Pagan history is quite a

mystery, . the The most popular pagan religion known would be the druids of the old

Celtic tradition, . yet Yet how much do we really know about them, considering as far as

we know they did not keep written records. ? All of their teachings were passed on

through oral tradition to Celtic nobles and neophytes of the order. In fact a lot of the

reputation attributed to the druids is miss leading as it was all basically made up in the

late seventeenth century by a man named William Stukely who was doing research into

the origins of Stonehenge. These myths about the druids became extremely popular

over the next few hundred years. What we do know about the druids goes as follows:

the druids believed in immortality, according to a statement made by Caesar he says:

“The druids taught the immortality of the human soul and maintained that it passed into

other bodies after death.” The Celtic peoples did not seem to have any notion of justice,

; as far as is known the concept was completely absent from their faith. We assume this

is so because they did not seem to distinguish between good or evil and the type of fate

that a follower of either would acquire. This simple belief of immortality was summed up

best by Lucan1 he said: “the same spirit has a body again elsewhere, and death is the

midpoint of a long life” (Kendrick, 1927) (Kendrick, 1927page?????).

The druids held great importance as teachers for the Celtic peoples. because

Because of this they would have had considerable influence over most, if not all,

Celts, . whether Whether or not what they were teaching was of any account,

would not necessarily affect the quality of their influence as, according to Mela, it

was not only the neophytes who attended the classes, but also the high-born

1 Lucan, Latin name in full: Marcus Annaeus Lucanus; Roman poet and republican patriot; born 39AD

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This is a direct quote from a source. Refer to the source properly.


citizens of the society. It was more likely that this is where their respect shown by

the classical world came from, their reputation not residing within some great

form of mystical knowledge, but rather in their ability to control the mind-set of

the populace through concerted effort as a teaching corporate. (Kendrick, 1927)

(Kendrick, 1927page?????)

In more recent times paganism has become Neo-paganism and it is from this sect

that I will formulate my critique on pagan ecological principles. As established in

the earlier section not a lot is known about pagan roots, but here is how it stands

today according to the people who practice it. Paganism reconnects the world of

the mind with the world of the corporeal self so as to tune one back into

syncronisation with their body through the practice of ritualized myth and good

sex (Harris, n.d.page?).

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9. Pagan Ecological policies

It is believed that the only way to achieve a fulfilling mutual relationship with our planet is through the healing of one’s own self. Pagan ecology has been named ‘Sacred Ecology’ which is rather fitting since the tradition’s primary belief is that all things are sacred, . since Since the nineties it has become unpopular to view the world as humankind’s ‘cash cow’ there to be used to feed the monstrous machine of consumerism. Paganism brings a different dimension into the subject of environmental philosophy as the article on Sacred Ecology states, “It seems that all green thinkers are stuck in a common mind-set: such systems live in the head, the rational, analytical world of argument and counter argument. What is required is another way of knowing, a sacred ecology that moves beyond the cerebral to bring us to a direct experience of wholeness rooted in the body”. Paganism brings a viewpoint that is outside the box to the table. iIt searches for action that stems from feeling rather than logic; maybe it is a feasible idea as our logical minds are what we have been using so far, . although Although we have accomplished great things the price that our world has paid has been drastic (Harris, n.d.page????).

The Sacred ecology Ecology that is around today does not have written records nor does it give them, for it is not achieved through intellect but through one’s own personal experience. It speaks of a profound knowledge that is held within every fibre of our bodies. This is called a somatic (of the body) knowing. Dr Adrian Harris (reference?) states: “the philosophical tradition of the west is an intellectual one founded on logic and language. It is profoundly limiting, for within it whatever cannot be said does not exist.” (reference). What he proposes is a radical alternative “a somatic philosophy which respects the knowing of the body, the knowledge memories and wisdom held within our muscles, flowing with our hormones, sparking through our nerves” (Harris) (Harris). To achieve this state of knowing Harris says that being part of a powerful ritual or experiencing really good sex will make it able for you to gain this goal, and that is the realization that all things are ultimately one. Repairing the gaps between the somatic self and the cerebral self brings about wholeness; this of course is done via the above methods. Somatic knowing is concerned with what we truly are and what we can be (Harris, n.d.page).

Other forms of pagan ecological expression would be: meditation and symbolic action, membership of green groups and then pagan ecologists (Harvey, 1997) (Harvey, 1997:page?????).

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Coetzee, Johan, 10/10/12,

Refer to the source properly: Name, date, page.


Be consistent in your spelling. Previously you have used capital letters for both terms.


When you quote directly from a source, the source should be referred to immediately.


Meditation and symbolic action seem to revolve around the belief that positive thoughts bring about positive reactions. A person who follows this approach will more than likely practice it at their home or anywhere they are comfortable enough to achieve a meditative state, it relies heavily on the idea of the universe being interconnected. It is a change of relationships affecting people’s mind-sets and therefore effecting changes in life (Harvey, 1997) (Harvey, 1997:page?????).

Membership of green groups, many of the members of groups like Greenpeace, Friends of the earth and others of the like are pagan. The goal of these groups is to preserve and protect wildlife through protests and donations. Not all members of these groups are into hard-core action, if active protesting is not your scene then you merely donate to the cause (Harvey, 1997) (Harvey, 1997:page?????).

Pagan ecologists:, besides the above mentioned groups there are more specifically pagan ones. An example would be Robin’s Greenwood Gang; this is a group that is into going to free festivals, camps and planting trees (Harvey, 1997).

Paganism revolves around gaining the ultimate knowledge that we are all one, and through this knowledge one gains the self-motivation to care for the ecological environments we live in. It has not had to persuade people to change their attitudes towards their environment. All that it does is encourage those who are ecologically concerned to do something since ecology is at the core of paganism and it hopes to achieve a healthier relationship between humanity and other living beings (Harvey, 1997).

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Correct all your references in this way.


10. Consumerism vs. Paganism

As you may have noticed from reading these two studies on Consumerism and Paganism, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Consumerism is concerned more with going green to avoid excessive governmental regulations which almost always cause disturbances in the market affecting profit. Consumerism’s main solution to this issue is Ecological marketing Marketing which in its definition states that it is profit driven. It says that consumers are the biggest issue when it comes to pollution, . but But as far as I am concerned, yes, consumers play a role, but in the end it takes two to tango and what we buy is produced by the companies that take up these green schemes. If they really wanted to help with the green cause it would have to mean drastic changes in structure, . mMany products would have to be removed from the market for if we cut our production down we drop our expenditure as well, thereby reducing the affect we have on nature.

In contrast, Neo-Paganism takes direct and indirect action in the struggle to save this planet through various strategies (green movement groups, meditation). The philosophy of ‘somatic knowing’ speaks of a unique yet bountiful knowledge gained through direct experience through ecstatic rituals or really good sex; . it It is the understanding that all of life is ultimately one. This, therefore, leads to the learning that all is sacred which brings about a self-motivation to take care of our environment

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11. Conclusion

In conclusion, we can see that the idea of Consumerism being a religion is growing, that although it is attempting to aid in the curbing of pollution through green friendly marketing schemes, it is in fact not doing it for the right reasons: instead of doing it to protect the environment they are doing it to target a new profit niche, the eco-friendly consumer. As far as I am concerned a self-motivated ethic towards environmentalism would be far more beneficial to the planet and the human race. Since it is self-motivated it will incline you to take greater action towards saving the planet as is evident in Neo-paganism. It is the conclusion of this paper that in accordance with my earlier comments on the transition we are going to be going through over the next hundred years or so that Consumerism would not be a feasible option in making that transition successful as it promotes greed in society. When what we need is a society that is open and free from all forms of oppression, for me Neo-paganism is a good option for achieving this goal as it promotes one,s learning through direct personal experience, meaning that there is acceptance over a wide variety of views.

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12. Bibliography

2nd, K. E. (1982). Ecological marketing will the normative become descriptive? In D. A.Aaker, & G. S.Day, Consumerism:Search for the consumer interest (pp. 280-291). New York: The Free Press.

Cox, H. (2009:page?, 03). The Market as God: Living in the new dispensation. Atlantic Magazine.

Harris, A. (n.d.). The green fuse/Harris/papers. Retrieved 09 10, 2012, from the green fuse.org: www.thegreenfuse.org/harris/sacredeco.htm

Harvey, G. (1997). Listening People, speaking Earth:contemporary paganism. City/place of publishingC.Hurst & Co. Publishers.

Kendrick, T. (1927). The Druids. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.

Morton, T. (2007:page number?). Ecology without Nature. London: Harvard University Press.

Sarkar, S. (2009, Spring). The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 7, 2012, from The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/ecology/

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Coetzee, Johan, 10/10/12,

See textbook for correct way of writing a bibliography.


Gareth, I give you a mark of 68% for this essay as it is at present.

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2012 09 24 gareth

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