To think rationing should be brought back?

[Tortycat]

Lots of threads about Christmas over consumption at the moment, both food and present wise. People either feeling guilty about buying too much or financially feeling the strain. Climate change seems to be at near catastrophe levels and we have to stop consuming to have a chance - plastic, palm oil, meat etc.

So how about bringing back rationing? A definate limit in what you can 'consume ' ie clothes, food, stuff, airmiles. fuel etc. Ok I'm aware there may be economic problems, but hurtling towards environmental catastrophe just to keep people in jobs seems insane. Think of the plus points - no fast fashion, no 'keeping up with the Jones's, no having to keep buying things, more trade and jobs in repairing things, less waste etc. Its so easy to keep buying things. I 'need' new clothes, new bathroom suite etc, but i dont really. If everyone had to cut back it would be so mu ch easier. The excess and consumerism of xmas have depressed me and adverts are still on imploring us to buy more. Drastic times call for drastic measures??

Yes, why not. We can model our economy on the huge success that was the USSR.

I completely agree! The ‘make do and mend’ mindset definitely needs to be brought back.

Obviously there would be some problems with it but no problem is bigger than our planet being destroyed completely

I think it's happening naturally with some people anyway. People seem to generally be consuming less. It's a slow trend, but it's visible

Ha ha! What's this, government Brexit preparation? 😂

Wouldn't work nowadays, too easy to access black market stuff online.

Yabu and it wouldn't work, black market would thrive, people would smuggle in food from abroad or buy under the counter.
Do those who don't go abroad to use the air miles ration, get extra of another?

We need to go get better on education, eat local, decent home ec lessons (including sewing and mending things) push companies to stop single use plastics etc but rationing wouldn't be the way to do it.

What would be more successful would be an import tax.
Shipping stuff round the globe can't be environmentally friendly.
Producing stuff in the UK would provide decent paying jobs but would put prices up, increase prices would naturally cut consumerism.
The problem is that increased prices affect the poor more than the rich. But more better paying jobs would reduce the numbers of poor. But really there is no easy answer.

The other thing is plastics used in toys is actually a waste produce from the petrolchemical industry. The refine crude oil for different types of fuel and the stuff that can't be used for fuel becomes packaging and toys.

So reduce the need for petrol, diesal, aviation fuel, oil burners and you reduce the waste oil.

You don't have to buy stuff all the time, there's no gun to your head. Just make a decisiin not to buy anything new unless you're replacing something that's worn out or broken. If kids grow out of stuff that's different obviously but otherwise no-one is forcing you to shop . Who cares if you're not in the latest fashion? It's actually quite liberating.

It wouldn't work in our economy which is based on people consuming as much as possible. Economics before anything else..

How about you look into the realities of rationing- my mum had to put up with it during communism, the rich still managed to get what they wanted whilst poor people endured.

The 'mend' mentality is partially gone because things can't really be mended anymore- clothes are from man made fabrics that can't often be resewn, household items have one main motherboard thing that can't really be fixed and isn't often worth replacing.

.So how about bringing back rationing? A definate limit in what you can 'consume ' ie clothes, food, stuff, airmiles. fuel etc. Ok I'm aware there may be economic problems, but hurtling towards environmental catastrophe just to keep people in jobs seems insane.

Why is keeping people in jobs insane? What do you think would happen to the billions of people made unemployed by this when they no longer had a market for their trade or a very limited one. The numbers would be far too high for any government to feed and house them, they’d be overwhelmed in a day.

It would also lead to a flourishing black market so the rich had luxuries denied to the rest of us.

It would, ultimately, lead to the people who had lost their jobs being unable to feed, clothe or house themselves and dying as a result, especially the most vulnerable in society.

Those at the bottom would be hugely harmed by the ‘it’s just jobs’ philosophy, because there are human beings who need the food and shelter those jobs pay for.

It would just turn the planet into a playground for the rich who could afford to weather a huge slump.

Why do you feel you need someone else to limit your consumption?

The rationing mindset is what is needed, not actual rationing. I'm very good with saving, re-using and make doing.

However we've just moved and needed to buy pretty much a house full of furniture. The amount of money we have spent makes my head hurt.

Plus Christmas.

Rationing mindset restarts tomorrow.

Why can't people just be responsible for their own finances?

We never spend a lot and we never go in to debt for xmas or birthdays.

In fact my sister, a single Mum of two recently baulked at how little we spend on our kids for these occasions, we are financially much more stable than her and could easily spend more but it is not how we want to bring our kids up, expecting so much just because it's xmas.

If people want to continuously put themselves in to debt, year after year, then this is their choice.

I can only assume, OP, that you weren't around when we had rationing in the 1940s/50s or you wouldn't make such a suggestion.

Unless you are a child, surely you should be capable of controlling your own consumption and shouldn't need a nanny State to do it for you.

Don’t worry. It will when we go through a no deal Brexit!

No thanks. I put myself through years of education and work extremely hard for my money. I'd like to be able to spend it how I like.

YABVVU my parent grew up in a country where they were told what they could buy, what they could wear, where they could go, who they could marry (not a typo, if you married the wrong person the KGB would harass you until you got a divorce). The government has no right to tell individuals how to live their lives.

The rationing mindset is what is needed, not actual rationing.

This. We need to think smarter, and make it more normal for people to be more sustainable and to think smarter. There was a huge backlash where I used to live when they bought in no more plastic shopping bags, but now everyone has got over it and toddles off to the supermarket with their bags over their shoulder. By taking the choice away, it made it just routine for people to have to think about it, before just grabbing a plastic bag.

I am now living in a place where there is no garbage collection, everything must be taken to a waste disposal facility. There is no easy access to items, everything larger (including furniture and cars) that you buy has to come by ship, and it's expensive, risky, and with at least several months lead time. No importing of most fruit and vegetables are allowed. Because of this, everyone is obsessive about their waste, has a backyard vege patch and shares with their neighbours, buys local as much as possible (imported pre-packaged items are very expensive), and hand around second hand items, which are usually 'upcycled' by hand. It's a totally different mindset, and a different way of living than I used to have, but it's just routine here to live sustainably.

The planet has been changing temp for millions of years, plastic etc isn’t helping but if you think about the nature of space and what Earth actually is, it’s not surprising. Also due to the Sun’s lifecycle it is literally going to explode one day, and nothing can be done to stop that. Basically, no this is a terrible idea.

And what would you do with all the people not in jobs caused by this? It would be more than you think as company would pull out of the uk.

Oh dear, probably someone who can't wait for a no deal brexit. No one wants it!
There are environmental solutions that can help reduce waste but the answers lie in governmental and corporate responsibility. Not on making the population actively miserable. What is wrong with you?

Just wait until 29 March.....

I think petrol should be rationed. Everyone drives really short distances when they could walk or cycle. If people only had a monthly allowance they might be more careful about what they used it for.