In some recent writings I've been pondering this question of the moral implications of Buddhism. It seems clear, as you say, that consumerism would be futile and exploitative, capitalizing on the unreality of appearances and on our attachment to those illusions.

But I'm not sure how far this line of argument goes. Presumably the selves that have those illusions would have to be real enough. But how could we understand their reality without positing the reality of their material bodies? Once we do that, we're no longer talking about the material world as wholly illusory.

If animals and people are only immaterial, immortal ghosts, what does it matter whether they're mistreated? They'll just be reborn infinite times. And if the minds that have the illusions are also illusions, again morality goes out the window. Why not have fun with the illusions like a child in a playground?

I think it's quite tricky fitting modern morality and human rights into a mystical religion.