"Thud" in my driveway; a thud that echoes around the world

A heavy monthly thud in my driveway is a reminder of the continuing dilemma of consumerism.

Thud! - "the (melbourne)
 magazine" is in my driveway.

The heavy thud alerts me that the Melbourne Age has arrived complete with its wonderful, but strangely contradictory, publication, “the (melbourne) magazine”.
The full colour, glossy magazine of nearly 100 pages obviously targets a market that is beyond my budget and although I thoroughly enjoy The Age, it unsettles me that my subscription to the paper allows the inclusion of a product clearly directed at the “big end of town”.
Confusingly, I really like the magazine in probably what is a reflection of an inability to truly understand, and personally deal with the differences between “want” and “need” – a dilemma that is ingrained and considered generally, an impasse that has seen world’s nations scurry to South Africa’s Durban for 12 days of climate talks.
I’m unaware of the magazine’s profitability, or otherwise, but its advertising content of frequent full-page or double-page spreads, suggest that those with something to sell see it as a worthwhile vehicle to promote their goods.

Fairfax chief executive
 and managing director,
 Greg Hywood.

The magazine features some worthwhile journalistic stories and alerts readers of many fascinating events happening in and around Victoria’s capital, but in an era in which blatant consumerism is directly linked to climate change, those one hundred or so glossy pages are inherently offensive.
Therein lies the quandary as while the magazine itself is wonderful, the products marketed within it appear wonderful and its intent appears, in a modern historical sense, without question, but it endorses and encourages a way of life our world can no longer support.
Publishers of the magazine, Fairfax Media Publications is, according to its chief executive and managing director, Greg Hywood, investing heavily in digital publication so in time the rather heavy consumptive material costs of the magazine may vanish.
However, what will not by implication go away will be society’s demand for goods that are poorly positioned to help us find out way to a society in which we live in a “five-minute world”; that meaning that most of our daily needs, from work to shopping and leisure and from various services to schooling are all within a five minute five minute bike ride or walk.
Public transport is integral to the five-minute world, but the idea of train, buses and trams seems somewhat remote from the idea behind the magazine, except for their novelty value.
The reality that is climate change floats in like a feather, with the changes to the ambience of our world being almost imperceptible, but if we live with the enthusiasm encouraged by “the (melbourne) magazine” the certain changes will arrive with a thud, a thud that will echo around the world.