I just want to hear everyones thoughts on consumerism. It is what drives the US economy and now much of the worlds economy. We humans really love our stuff. Now, besides the obvious issues of waste from it all and other earthly effects, I would like to stay on topics like how consumerism impacts society; from religion and politics, to the way we save our money. I for one have been going through "phases" of being a good little consumer like "they" want and phases of being a complete hippy and not wanting to spend or earn any money at all. And right now I think I am coming to terms with a middle way. Be a consumer for the passions of my life by working for the man somewhere and growing my own food to cut costs for more toys n whatnot. I don't know about you guys but the way I like to live I certainly need to start putting aside more time devoted to a more sustainable life. So what are your thoughts on consumerism and personal sustainability?
It is what it is, people want things they don't need. Like weed. We all love it, but I'm sure most on here dont need it
Fuck living in the stone age, why destroy what it's taken hundreds of years to create? Exploitation is terrible but it has happened throughout history - Blacks, children, ethnic minorities and now the Chinese and many third world countries happily create products for the west because it provides a better standard of living than before. Ex colonial states are carrying on with what they were designed for - production and manufacturing of western produce and I'm sure they'll have their turn in the future to have their turn at exploiting others for their own greedy consumers (I point to the Chinese (exploiting African states) for their tremendously growing middle class).
I see the appeal in strengthening an economy and so forth but I am entirely against society (quite literally) conditioning us to associate happiness with material possessions. I'm probably as bad as the next guy, but generally it's a matter of being raised in an environment which fosters dependence on money and objects which supposedly correlate with happiness. I think if it came down to it we would be happier as hunter/gatherers. I may get shit for this but I think the bad that comes with all the things we cherish outweighs the good. That's not to say I'm calling for the decadence of society back into primal conditions or something silly like that. All I'm saying is the cost at which we acquire most of these things isn't worth it. Can it be avoided? Not really at this point. I watched this TED talk recently and it really sheds light on the nature of happiness. Check it out if you have the time. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1dgn_C0AU]Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness - YouTube[/ame]
I wouldn't mind consumerism if we weren't brainwashed to commit 100% of our mind, body and souls to it. But that's the only way it can survive endlessly.
I hate the fact that it is what it is thats why I've been looking into earthships and underground homes, and like seriously taking notes from hobbits (yeah them made up little fuckers got sweet house) so I can be more hippy. Figure if I can save like 20k in the next 5 years I can build my dream home, underground of course Oh and I would watch the video, but i can't download the plugin with my software. happiness to me boils down to being able to do what I enjoy doing, and the bottom line is, it takes money to do what I find enjoyable, like skiing, skateboarding, golf, disc golf, drinking beer, and smoking herb. So I've got to sacrifice some of my life to working, either for myself or at a company. trying to find a job right now cuz i'm tired of makin it on my own, its easy to get bossed around but not very easy to be your own boss.
We need to change our focus from being a throw-away society to one that can see the value in using what we have and trying to re-use, rather than increasing land fills and our taxes to pay for expanding them, and realize the pollution they are putting in the ground. We also need to address the packaging of products, seems like there is more oil based materials in the boxes and bags items come in than the items themselves. We also need a tiered registration system for huge gas guzzling vehicles. If you need a huge V10 truck to haul a trailer, fine, but to use one to make a daily trip to the market and drop the kids at school, no. Registration fees should be upped to stop squandering resources like this...I could go on and on but I think you get my drift.....common sense..
Always growing... but never achieving what it really want to. Consumerism is all about wanting whats next, it's a self-deprecating cycle. It can't be contained, it's a destructive form to pose in for this yoga class we call 'lifestyle'. If you always want what's next or something that is based on a loose foundation (i.e. processed foods I mean... I eat that shit more often then not but it's not worth it in the end. More complications for less money imo.) Then you're never going to be in for the long run. Patience is a virtue that we've pretty much lost with everything we could want at our disposal. I know it's nearly impossible not to be a consumer in today's modern society, but I think everyone just needs to slow down with it. Maybe you don't need all those t.v.s.... Hell all I have in my room is my laptop, and it serves me well whenever I'm inside. I... I gotta keep myself humble man, it's the only way for me to live aight rabit trail over, consumerism is pretty much unavoidable but limiting yourself on everything is good... To keep yourself a bigger part of your companionship when you're by yourself..... Love this thread editz: I couldn't vote on the poll, it's just not so cut and dried, consumerism ranges from high to low severity depending on who you are and what your circumstances are. Not everyone who is a consumer follows the stereotype of not being sustained very much if at all.
all I'm sayin is look back in history, ever notice humans are never without our stuff? cavemen probably had jobs or livelyhoods too, not all of them made their own loin cloths or spears or found their own cool crystal rock or sea shell
A fail-safe perhaps from loneliness? 'If people don't like you they will leave, but things can't dislike you.' {--- That may have something to do with it. Thoughts?
That's basically how I see it. Why do you think we find comfort food among the tastiest things we can eat? Things bring memories that have brought better times.
It makes sense. Y'know how on older shows it kind of taught women to drown their sorrows in 'Ice-cream' or go on a shopping spree to alleviate their hurt. I thing a lot of overly consumeristic advertising and reinforcement in social situations that that's the way to do things, has led to this generation being less able to cope with not having things. It's slowly becoming more and more a part of what we're set to do immediately after birth. Kind of makes me think of 'A Brave New World' where they condition all the people to think certain things. It's almost unfair, children are like dumpsters to our morose love for waste and overindulgence. World please... Just take a god damn step back and think about it. It also makes sense in the way that kids now seem to have worse tempers. Seems bred out of an odd cycle. They have so much more stimuli convincing them that they 'have' to have this or that, but given today's economic woes, they are less often to get what they percieve that they need. Erego being constantly let down, albeit on a conscious AND unconscious level. I think it almost clashes against their very deepest cores not to get what they want. They are so absolutely conditioned to have that certain thing that it feels like a legitimate crime against them to be denied. The whole view on receiving gifts from ones parents is absotively posilutely fuuuuucked up. Just my $0.02 USD
Well that's an obvious truth from what most people, but I think we're discussing the ideology behind it. I guess in an attempt to transcend the old back-and-forth of environmental issue and the exponential decay of most consumeristic byproducts. I get that you think consumerism is horrible, I'm with you there, but why do you think it's bad, excluding the enviornmental factors
Consumerism serves no benefit except to the recipients of profit. Henceforth, sustainability will never be fully accepted in the monetary system.