Links
I have not found many sources that support the particular viewpoint of this site. Certainly there is no shortage of consumer advocate sites, and every shade of the anti-consumerism, anti-advertising and generally anti-insanity spectrum is represented here or there. (Although not a few would probably fail other sanity checks.)
I will post links to those sites, articles and other online resources I can find that are useful, interesting, informative, illuminating or otherwise in accord with the lines of thought here.
All links open in a new window.
Data
I generally despise Wikipedia and all it represents, but this is an acceptable general overview of the history and meaning of consumerism.
An inverted rehash of the above and no great shakes, but interesting.
Books
Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class
E-Book form of the 1912 classic on conspicuous consumption. Searchable.
Articles
"Consumerism as a Social Disease"
General article from ZNet that ties in Veblen and Marx.
Fellow Travelers
Affiliated with Consumer Reports, this humorous and free-swinging site has decent takes and exposés on consumer issues, but is thoroughly in the “get the best deal” mold rather than anti-anything. Good reading for insight on how marketing is used to mislead and manipulate, but bring your own Crap-O-Meter.
What this site might be if we were more theoretical and focused exclusively on countering advertising. Recommended reading.
The Renegade Consumer's national holiday. A production of Adbusters.
Onetime writer for TheStreet.com and proprietor of SavingAdvice.com, Mr. Strain appears to be a barely-masked Renegade. Although his articles for The Street tend towards the Consumer Reports end of things, he has a savvy about anticonsumerism that's refreshing to read in the general press.