In his book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond uses the term, First World Lifestyle. Paraphrased, it means the ability to have the things you want. The US can be considered the founders of the First World Lifestyle with our emphasis on packaged goods, commercialism, the need to keep up with the Jones, and a desire to get more and bigger. This desire certainly drives people to work harder, reach farther, and aspire to greater things than they probably would under any non-capitalist scheme. And this has meant a lot of great things for humanity; improvements in medicine; advances in technologies than enable safety and growth; and communications that have enabled access to information that is transforming the face of the Earth. But at what point is enough, enough? When do we recognize that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and make the transition to being conscious driven rather than material driven?

Through the last 200 years the US has been a successful experiment, and an example for much of the rest of the world. The problem now is that if our example continues as is, and developing countries continue to aspire to where we are today, the Earth will be incapable of sustaining our impacts.  As such, it is time that we change our example, which will effectively change the model used by the majority of the people on the planet to guide their own desires, aspirations, and actions. We need to change from unconscious buying to mindful purchasing. We need to select products from retailers, manufactures, and countries, that embody a belief that we must recognize our impact on the Earth and act in a manner that reduces that impact.

Being the lone super power on the planet means that we need to do more than flex a muscle to eliminate terrorism. While that is a just cause, the number of humans killed by terrorists each year is miniscule compared to the number who die as a result of environmental and other political issues. And we are not a super power because of the leaders we elect. We are a super power because of what each of us as individuals contributes to our society. So the most powerful way to change the example we set for others is not through political policy, but through individual actions. Changing your purchasing patterns will in effect, change the world.