Is this what all the world's major cities can look forward to? While we in the North continue to consume at all-time highs, what right do we have to tell poorer nations that they should limit their development?

But while the mass media spread the consumer ethic, they also spread the ideology of democracy. There is cause for optimism. But it's a tough equation: for the South to have more, the North will have to get used to having a little less.

Other titles in the series are:

The Bomb Under the World - What are the consequences of consumerism taking hold in developing countries, like India?

The Gods of Our Fathers - There is nothing innate in patriarchy and militarism. We can change our culture.