Research On Need-consumption Alienation Theory Of William Leiss

As a representative figure of ecological Marxism,Leiss criticized the needs and consumption concept of the capitalist society from the perspective of alienation,and first made a multi-dimensional survey on the phenomenon of needs and consumption alienation.In the personal dimension,some dilemmas as follows: the inadequacy of the individual’s knowledge with respect to the composition of goods,the danger of physiological and psychological damage in the use of products,the deteriorating quality of decisions owing to the scarcity of time,and the confused objectives of the person’s wants themselves;commodities consumption is a external performance of the insatiability of needs.In the social dimension,the high-intensity market setting,with the help of advertising media to guide and control human needs and consumption dimensions,makes people seem to feel free from the threat of scarcity in the commodity rich society;in fact,it is not eliminating shortages,but constantly creating new shortages.In the natural dimension,the secular process of the control of nature by man showed positive and negative double features;control natural this should serve as a method to achieve the purpose to meet the needs of the people,but people in alienated need-consumption concept of the society,the natural control itself has become the end rather than the means.Secondly,this paper focuses on the type of commodity fetishism need-consumption alienation and happiness of the people,and alienated consumption lead to the ecological predicament to make a deep perspective.Consumers have immediate interest in the characteristics of the goods,but they have only a derivative interest in the goods themselves.In modern society,the highest consumption value to consumers tend to worship of the commodity fetishism is the alienation in the field of consumption present;people mistakenly think that consumption equals happiness.However,there isno necessary correlation between happiness and consumption,and happiness depends on the limit of individual self-satisfaction.Need-consumption alienation aggravates the exploitation of the natural world.Mass production and massive consumption generate human’s dual dependence on natural environment: relying on natural resources to obtain life and production materials;and relying on natural circulation ability to decompose life production wastes.It also means that mankind will face the threat of dual ecological dilemma: constrained by the limited resources and constrained by the limited capacity of the ecosystem.This double predicament has led to the possibility of a possible collapse of the global ecosystem in the future.Thirdly,the purpose of Leiss’ s exploration of consumption alienation is to explore an alternative social structure choice which is related to the natural needs outside human beings,a social form that is easy to survive.The key is to let people jumped out of a single type to meet the consumption pattern,change to meet the degree of madness measure consumption alienation makes people have strange like,meet in creative activities.We should re-understand the concept of "controlling nature",connect with the natural needs outside human beings,and give the ethical view of non-human nature to coordinate the non-human natural needs with human needs and interests.Finally,the theory of Leiss has opened a new ideas and new directions for China’s ecological construction and green development.Although Leiss critique of capitalist society,but with the same restriction on similar situation at present Chinese socialist construction,more is to have a conception of humanity to construct a reasonable consumption concept-guiding significance and practical reference value.This is not only reflected in the ecological inclination of policies and regulations,but also the ecological turn of consumption demand.It should also be reflected in the ecological reconstruction of people’s pursuit of happiness.