A Redditor highlighted the trend of overconsumption in Dubai after sharing one of the city's shopping ads.
The photo shows a wall advertisement that reads, "Because when I shop, the world gets better," a quote from the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic."
One Redditor pointed out the irony of the message, saying, "The fact they're using a quote from a speech the main character gives at the beginning of the movie that's debunked by the end is actually hilarious."
"Seems they are missing the irony," another replied.
Above the image, the caption stated, "Dubai, the land of anti anti-consumption."
Members of the r/Anticonsumption subreddit were frustrated but not surprised to see the marketing strategy promoting excessive shopping in one of the world's most expensive cities.
"Exactly what a narcissist wants to read to go shopping," wrote one Redditor.
"Dubai, a temple to rampant consumerism and greed," commented another user.
"We waste our entire lives producing garbage we don't get paid enough to afford," responded one user.
Overconsumption has become a crisis across the globe. However, the world's richest countries have significantly higher rates of consumption and waste. In high-income countries, the material footprint per capita is 10 times higher than the level of low-income countries.
As a result, the world's wealthiest countries are disproportionately responsible for the planet's rising temperatures.
The more products we purchase and consume, the more pollution and waste we create. Each product has a life cycle that produces harmful pollution throughout each stage.
The manufacturing and transportation processes during a product's life cycle rely on using dirty energy. When we finish using a product and throw it away, it usually ends up in a landfill, where it releases pollutants into the water and air.
Luckily, there are ways you can reduce your overall consumption by shopping second-hand, repairing broken items, and avoiding single-use plastics.
Redditors reflected on the international scope of overconsumption.
"It is not just Dubai," wrote one Redditor. "Just go to any high end mall in the US."
"'The world gets better' in the sense a few people are living in luxuries you can only watch in a YouTube video, while you have family that struggle to make ends meet," wrote another user.
"Lmao consumerism is ruining us," commented one Redditor.
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