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@CLP Sorry for my little tirade. I just sitting here rethinking my comment against your question, when, DUH, the humor in your list of annoyances broke through. As SP, at least to me, seems to get more political and contentious, my hackles rise and I responded too quickly. I'm sure we don't agree on much, but a little benign humor goes a long way. I did realize even this morning, that your question was a good one.
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@CLP Sorry for my little tirade. I just sitting here rethinking my comment against your question, when, DUH, the humor in your list of annoyances broke through. As SP, at least to me, seems to get more political and contentious, my hackles rise and I responded too quickly. I'm sure we don't agree on much, but a little benign humor goes a long way. I did realize even this morning, that your question was a good one.
@DaisyDo - explanation is still in the hopper
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Tired of being sold meaningless junk all day long? Tired of wasting your preciously earned dollars from your nowhere career? Tired of feeling like a stock commodity that can be bought and sold and the whim of bureaucrats and politicians?
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Tired of being sold meaningless junk all day long? Tired of wasting your preciously earned dollars from your nowhere career? Tired of feeling like a stock commodity that can be bought and sold and the whim of bureaucrats and politicians?
Well, fret no more my friends! Act now and I've got something that can save your soul from the festering grips of American consumerism. Why, for only 139.99, you too can be the proud owner of the right to think for one's self! But wait, there's more! Buy now and we'll slash the price to 99.99! That's not even the best part! Buy your Free Will now and you'll get this brainwashing-powered mega-ultra-super better than reality 62 inch TV! YES! That's right, buy your Free Will now and get the soul-sucking BtR-HDTV as a free gift!
Warning: Side effects include temporary enlightenment followed by a even more brutal subjugation to the whims of American Corporations and Evil Politicians.
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Consumerism is more than just the culture of people going out in their big cars and charging things to credit cards. It's a system wherein companies stand to profit by making it bigger and cheaper. Corners are cut just to save pennies on the dollar, and quality is sacrificed for quality. In a lot of cases national and international law is ignored, and human rights are violated.
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Consumerism is more than just the culture of people going out in their big cars and charging things to credit cards. It's a system wherein companies stand to profit by making it bigger and cheaper. Corners are cut just to save pennies on the dollar, and quality is sacrificed for quality. In a lot of cases national and international law is ignored, and human rights are violated.
That's why people get so fed up with corporations like Starbucks, who trample on the right to unionize in America, and destroy economies based around coffee beans elsewhere in the world or Walmart that could provide workers with higher pay and decent benefits, but instead just further funnels their revenue into the pockets of the megarich, or BechTel who privatized RAINWATER in south america and sold it back to the residents, or PepCo who hired Lockheed Martin to run their green energy program or...
The list goes on and on, and what you, as an individual consumer, can do include things like doing your research before you buy, knowing what companies truly have eco-friendly initiatives and not just making napkins out of 5% recycled paper, buying from local businesses, even if it means paying a few more quarters for an item, seeking out business models that are worker owned and operated, and giving them your business.
The problems is the inertia the great mass of the american middle class has. We're going to need an awfully large cro-bar to get the ball rolling, and that's why it's so vital that every one of us knows where what we eat has come from, what's in it, who grew it and how much they got paid for it. Were they fairly compensated, or are you buying from a megafarm under the thumb of Monsanto?
The important thing to do is be open to new places to spend your money, places where that money won't be used to demolish a village for a factory.
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I think the media/advertising does a great job of making people think that they "need" their product and will be much happier with it. Our generation has changed and with it has come consumerism because people generally have more money to buy things they don't need. Money is passed down through the generations and we are far richer from money we inherited than are grandfathers were. So what I"m saying is that it's natural for there to be more consumerism. Plus more and more people are able to "get it on credit" than ever before.
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I think the media/advertising does a great job of making people think that they "need" their product and will be much happier with it. Our generation has changed and with it has come consumerism because people generally have more money to buy things they don't need. Money is passed down through the generations and we are far richer from money we inherited than are grandfathers were. So what I"m saying is that it's natural for there to be more consumerism. Plus more and more people are able to "get it on credit" than ever before.
I agree that people buy for a "perceived inner lack of some sort" that Blue Crayon mentioned. I think people have been feeling empty for thousands of years. Buying things is just a by product of where we're at money-wise as a society.
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In a word, contentment.
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In a word, contentment.
Personally I think consumerism is driven by marketing telling us that even though our current life/situation/outlook/expectations/TV/car/wardrobe/phone (etc to infinity) is not hip, not cool, no good and we don't want to be guilty of the ultimate faux pas of not being "in".
Consuming creates jobs -- but it also creates waste, pollution, greenhouse gasses, a bigger house of cards to fall when it eventually falls.
It drives us at a fevered pace of consumption, compounded by an equally rampant level of waste. (And in this light, sending something for 'recycling' is basically a feel-good. They wouldn't have to consume resources to make "new" (even using "recycled material") if we weren't recycling so much that still had use)
Any you're tired of nudists? Recycle 'em up this way!
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It is true that thinking about an antidote to consumerism on a macro level is sort of like a parlor game. We can exercise our righteous indignation and have intense expression about it without changing anything and, in the end, we feel like it is someone else’s fault.
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It is true that thinking about an antidote to consumerism on a macro level is sort of like a parlor game. We can exercise our righteous indignation and have intense expression about it without changing anything and, in the end, we feel like it is someone else’s fault.
On the other hand, if we are concerned with our own personal spiritual health, we can do a great deal in reducing the level of materialism in our own lives. This will have an effect, however small, on the overall culture too.
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But everything cash, no credit. Makes you save for what you want. Make a commitment to give a certain percentage to charity every month. You'll find out how nice it is to give money to charitable causes. Find one you believe in. I give money to help parents who don't want to keep their children find good adoptive parents. It's great.
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