Consumerism

[clyzm]

I'm not a hippie. But when I went to Walmart today and saw the horde of items some people buy along with the massive amount of plastic bags, it worries me.

Specifically because it is such a stark contrast from yesterday when I went walking through the woods near my house. Whatever happened to self-restraint? Are Walmarts really even necessary, or are they just there for convenience beyond the regular convenience we already have?

There's also a fantastic short film on this called Affluenza. I think it's on youtube or myspace video. I recommend it a lot.

[Tantalus]

It's worrying, sure. But we're not going to change now. Only way out is to endgame01.

[Siva]

When your life is essentially designed for you by the constraints of your job, family, location and bank account, there are very few freedoms left in life. One of the few things people have any real control over is what shit they can buy. So they buy alot of shit.

[clyzm]

The freedom to change those limits and constraints overrides the freedoms they hand out. No one's forcing anyone to work a 9-5 job, they can always quit. Freedom is ubiquitous.

Not a question if they should take advantage of their freedom to buy a ton of shit. Not a question of individuals. A question of why the system of consumption has so greatly expanded, and if that same consumption is even necessary.

[Siva]

No-one's forcing them to work a 9-5 job? Technically, true. But they have to support themselves, or their families. Most people would rather live day-to-day earning enough to get buy and then a little extra, rather than give their lives up to uncertainty. This is reflected in the mid-life crisis scenario, when a man/woman actually realises what has happened, and the irony being they actually end up just buying even more useless dumb shit.

The reason? Introduction of things like hire purchase in the mid 20th century (in England anyway, not sure when it was introduced in America or elsewhere.). Not that I'm attributing a whole shift in culture to hire purchase, but people are programmed to want what they cannot have. Slowly over time people have been given ways to taste what they cannot have (You can buy this brand new Range Rover too! If you pay us £500 every month for the next 6 years.) which again, ironically limits what they can buy in future. So they covet and covet and end up with less and less money over time.

Another reason being the rapid expansion of the media and the general consumption of it. I'm not going to go as so far as to say the media is being controlled by the illuminati and all that business because I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But in a way, the media does control people, without quite a few of them even knowing it. In fact just yesterday I read an article in the newspaper (I forget which) asking whether people think advertising in any way affects their lives. 40% said no.

And as to whether the consumption is necessary, need is different things to different people. For example a smoker will say 'I need a cigarette' but they don't really need the cigarette, their mind just wants it so bad that it has made them believe that they cannot function without it. People 'need' new TV's, they 'need' the newest generation iPod. People are becoming emotionally and financially crippled because of their 'needs'.

[Tantalus]

"they have to support themselves, or their families". But why did we make the activity itself so bureaucratic? Why are we all just a spanner in the works? What happened to our indispensible value of autonomy?

[Siva]

The rise and rise of capitalism.

You're either at the bottom or the top, with people fooling themselves that they are in the middle.

[Hanover Fist]

It's absolutely true that the media degrades rather than informs, and it IS being controlled by the dwindling baby boomers that run most countries. They don't give a shit about consumerism and its detrimental effect it will have on future generations because they won't be around for it.

There's up and coming technology that is a perfectly logical alternative to what we use today. I'm considering getting solar panels installed on my house. Not only will it be cheaper than paying the rising rates (rising in spite of evident less use of kilowatts) but the rates of solar energy would go down because Edison will be sending me checks for shared usage of the energy my solar panels absorb but don't use (and there's is a lot that won't be used).

So long as I live in California, where the coldest winter days are like 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the sun is always out, it is a good investment.

But I digress, fossil fuels are what I think about the most when I think about mass resource consumption in the world. If the world went green it would benefit the Gen X's and Y's and it makes sense to do it now.

Don't let the Baby boomers milk fossil fuels for every cent. Fucking go green and stop inflation, make alternative energy cheaper by helping make it mainstream, stop needless conflict in the middle east over oil, and stop being controlled by politicians just because of their age. Sure they have experience, but when idealism and realism FOR ONCE clash positively together and these fruits ignore the prospect, it's time to stop letting them run the show.

I don't know how it is overseas, but in the U.S. the only thing I see whenever I watch the news is someone bitching about who said nigger on their talkshow, missing children who are found weeks later at a rapists house, and only about 20 or less minutes of actual election coverage.

Newspapers are the only place I can get news anymore and they're dying out because of the internet. It seems ironic that the more technologically advanced we get, the more ignorant. Mostly thanks to things like twitter and facebook, people wasting their time consorting on "electronic social networks" and forgetting how to interact with eachother in person.

Shit's gotta change because we're going into a metaphorical dark age and no one even realizes it.

[Aidan]

I wouldn't take facebook to THAT extreme.. but yes, People are becoming less social "in person" per say.

About the newspapers.. Electronic news is better for the environment. However, I too worry about fossil fuels the most.

In addition to what has already been mentioned.. Our magnetic field is slowly diminishing around earth. This magnetic field is what protects earth from solar radiation emitted by the sun. If the shield were to perish.. Earth would dry out completely. Earth's surface? Fried to a crisp. I'll have you know that at one point in time, Mars used to look almost identical to earth, until it's magnetic shield withered away.

The worst part is knowing that there are/is organization(s) out there that know the truth about the world, and know what is going to happen to it, and when. It will have to remain that way until Earth ends too. Think about the catastrophe it would cause if all of a sudden EVERYONE knows the world is going to end in a Month (as an example of course). Who would want to work? who would pay for food? your going to die in a month, so do whatever the fuck you want.

I could go on forever.. but up here in Canada, every winter is becoming even more mild as our polarity is slowly switching to the opposing strands.