Consumerism, Materialism, and Cruelty to Children
Inside Covers
What is the CSPCC?
1
Letters
2
Consumerism
3
The Child Abuse Issue Cycle
12
Winning Through Cooperation
13
CSPCC Financial Statement
18
Removable Centrefold
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To Have or To Be?
19
Voluntary Simplicity -1977
25
Voluntary Simplicity - 1936
26
ISSN 0705-6591
The Journal of the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Volume 4
Number 3
Summer 1981
Consumerism, Materialism, and Cruelty to Children
I have little quarrel with those childless adults or adults with older children who choose or are led to believe that Consumerism and Materialism (and status and careerism based on these values) are worth devoting their lives to. I find it very upsetting however when I see a helpless infant being permanently maimed emotionally because the parents place so high a priority on these values that they fail to provide the empathic, affectionate care their infant needs during the relatively few years such care is a necessity.
Let us at least call a spade a spade. "We need two salaries just to keep up" means "We value the whetting of our Consumer and Material appetites for these few years more highly than our infant 's future emotional health". "I need to work in order to feel fulfilled and content, and it 's not fair to my infant for me to look after her when I 'm unhappy" means "I believe I can find happiness and fulfillment through Consumerism and
Materialsm (and status and careerism based on these), and what I want for these few years takes priority over my infant 's future emotional health".
Considering the extent to which it is
References: 1. Oxford University Press, 1934. January, 1935. What Is European Civilization? by Wilhelm Haas, Oxford University Press, 1929. 5. Social Decay and Regeneration, by R. Austin Freeman, Constable, London, 1921; Men and Mumford, Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1934. Science. See New York Times, Dec. 31, 1935. Macmillan, London, 1923. Property: A Study in Social Psychology, by Ernest Beaglehole, Allen & Unwin, London, 1931. Charles Gore, Bishop of Oxford, Macmillan, London, 1915. The Domain of Selfhood, by R.V. Feldman, p. 95, Allen & Unwin, London, 1934.