Mall wha?

I'm having a hard time coming to grips with a global society centered around shopping malls. They espouse and promote global consumerism. Meanwhile, poverty reigns the world over.

I can't reconcile in my mind the amount of retail shops along any miracle mile, within any regional mall, and cumulatively around the world with the population of the city, region, nation and globe.

I am dismayed that growth, not only in wealthy nations but in developing nations as well, requires near rampant consumerism and consumer spending.