Geoffrey Miller, “The Mating Mind: How sexual choice shaped the evolution of human nature”

Consumerism vs. charity

Every hundred dollars we spend on luxuries could probably have saved a sick child from death somewhere in the developing world if we had donated it to the appropriate charity. The ten-thousand-dollar premium that distinguishes a sport utility vehicle from an ordinary automobile probably cost India a hundred dead children. We may pretend that it did not, but our self-justifications are no comfort to the dead. Perhaps if we imagined a hundred hungry ghosts haunting every luxury vehicle, runaway consumerism would lose some of its sexual appeal. While designer labels advertise only our wealth, the badges of charity advertise both our wealth and our kindness. As it is, the car manufacturers can afford better advertising than the needy children, which is why our instincts for display have been directed more toward consumerism than toward charity.