Anti-consumerism

[trex]

"Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against consumerism. Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of the market economy on the individual. "The consumer" has become a derogatory term within sales companies and debt-management consultants, connoting the mindless purchasing and disposing of any product delivered through the market. Concern over the treatment of consumers has spawned substantial activism, and the incorporation of consumer education into school curricula.

"Anti-consumerist activism draws parallels with environmental activism, anti-globalization, and animal-rights activism in its condemnation of modern organizations such as the McDonald's Corporation.

"Opposition to economic materialism comes primarily from two sources: religion and social activism. Some religions assert materialism interferes with connection between the individual and the divine, or that it is inherently an immoral lifestyle. Some notable individuals, such as Francis of Assisi, Ammon Hennacy, and Mohandas Gandhi claimed spiritual inspiration led them to a simple lifestyle. Social activists believe materialism is connected to war, crime, and general social malaise. Fundamentally, their concern is that materialism is unable to offer a raison d'être for human existence."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-consumerism

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It makes sense. It is what we all can do, as individuals, to fight the big money corporations. Fight peacefully, by simply not buying any more of their shit. Like Ghandis idea, when he confronted the powerful British Empire: non-violent non-cooperation. It's a simple way to defeat them, if many people learn about it and practice it.

And it will help save the Earth from exploitation and abuses of the greedy rich.

This is now sweeping the United States, the real reason why the economy is collapsing- people are simply no longer buying things. I am sick of buying their shit, for every social occasion now they spread materilaist propaganda on the tv commercials, whether it be x-mas, easter, valentines, mothers day, fathers day. Etc.

Find ways to make things yourself. Make food from the basic ingredients, not prepared frozen food or canned food. Learn how to fix things, not throw away. Loan books from libraries, borrow videos. Even, make clothes... a great way to spend time with the family and learn.

Stop buying.

Edited March 5, 2008 by trex

[M.Dancer]

Stop buying.

Unemployment is fun....

[Leafless]

It makes sense. It is what we all can do, as individuals, to fight the big money corporations. Fight peacefully, by simply not buying any more of their shit.

Especially when everything you buy does not work or is defective, one way or the other.

And it will help save the Earth from exploitation and abuses of the greedy rich.

Earth has already been exploited and there is no stopping mankind from being affected, to the point of obliteration, from abuses by the greedy rich.

But here in North America immigration will probably cure this, and they can start all over again, playing their little 'materialism' game.

This is now sweeping the United States, the real reason why the economy is collapsing- people are simply no longer buying things. I am sick of buying their shit, for every social occasion now they spread materilaist propaganda on the tv commercials, whether it be x-mas, easter, valentines, mothers day, fathers day. Etc.

The rich have proven their little trick (consumerism) works, that is when most are employed and not unemployed.

Stop buying.

I agree, they can shove their little trinkets where the sun don't shine.

[BubberMiley]

I agree, they can shove their little trinkets where the sun don't shine.

I love my crap. It gives me pleasure. The only thing I don't buy is socialist dogma that portrays consumer society as inherently evil.

[bush_cheney2004]

...Find ways to make things yourself. Make food from the basic ingredients, not prepared frozen food or canned food. Learn how to fix things, not throw away. Loan books from libraries, borrow videos. Even, make clothes... a great way to spend time with the family and learn.

Stop buying.

I'm sure not buying this.....so much on eBay...so little time.

[August1991]

It makes sense. It is what we all can do, as individuals, to fight the big money corporations. Fight peacefully, by simply not buying any more of their shit. Like Ghandis idea, when he confronted the powerful British Empire: non-violent non-cooperation. It's a simple way to defeat them, if many people learn about it and practice it.

And it will help save the Earth from exploitation and abuses of the greedy rich.

This is now sweeping the United States, the real reason why the economy is collapsing- people are simply no longer buying things. I am sick of buying their shit, for every social occasion now they spread materilaist propaganda on the tv commercials, whether it be x-mas, easter, valentines, mothers day, fathers day. Etc.

Find ways to make things yourself. Make food from the basic ingredients, not prepared frozen food or canned food. Learn how to fix things, not throw away. Loan books from libraries, borrow videos. Even, make clothes... a great way to spend time with the family and learn.

Stop buying.

If you want to do this, go ahead.

But what gives you the right to impose your anti-consumer values on other people? Why have you turned this into a crusade to raise people's consciousness or make them aware of your ideas or whatever it is that you're doing?

Why does the Left always have to harangue people and make them better? You're like an obnoxious schoolteacher.

Edited March 6, 2008 by August1991

[capricorn]

Find ways to make things yourself. Make food from the basic ingredients, not prepared frozen food or canned food. Learn how to fix things, not throw away. Loan books from libraries, borrow videos. Even, make clothes... a great way to spend time with the family and learn.

Stop buying.

You were born too late. You would have made the perfect flower child of the 60s. You know flowers in their hair and all that.

I intend to buy and consume as much as I can until the day I die. No amount of preaching will change what I decide to do with my money and my time. Long live consumerism!

[eyeball]

Boogie till you puke!

[buffycat]

Trex, I think all your ideas are really good ones!

Do you garden? Can your own produce? Make jam, chutneys, preserves? What fun and a wonderful sense of satisfaction - not to mention great for socialising with friends and family as well.

In this consumer driven world I think we miss out on all these 'small' things that not only give us more independence but also foster relationships - between family members and of course friends. Buying everything already made, already processed is not only unhealthy, wrt foods, but also very non personal.

Farmers markets nearby, offering locally grown and raised produce helps to support our local economies. Shopping (when one MUST) at vendor owned smaller stores also improves community and again local economies.

I think all your ideas are wonderful, and strictly speaking for myself I do all these things and to be honest - don't buy alot of crap - period.

Oh - and I like to sew too!!

[guyser]

You were born too late. You would have made the perfect flower child of the 60s. You know flowers in their hair and all that.

I intend to buy and consume as much as I can until the day I die. No amount of preaching will change what I decide to do with my money and my time. Long live consumerism!

Go ahead , no one can stop you.

However there is plenty of truth in trex's statement. And you probably follow it without knowing it.

One could buy brekkie lunch and dinner from a cart/vendor/restaurant/supermarket but who does?

To some degree, consumerism, or rather the desire to have every little knick knack for convenience is getting ridiculous. I can think of plenty of things I dont buy because they are stupid, but at times convenient....

1) Swiffer and all the new attachments...I gots me a mop and bucket and it works.

2) Shower caddy cleaning units. Turn it on when getting out of a shower and it cleans. I gots me some VIM and a brush and now I have a clean shower.

3) Those little white garbage bags for under counter units. Why....?.....who doesnt have 4000 little white bags from Dominion, Piggly Wiggly, Safeway,Sobey's?

4) Microwave cleaning bags. Oh man, 30 seconds of cleaning gets it done, at approx 1/100th the cost.

5) Microwave Bacon ? WTF ? Half the reason to cook it is to make the house smell great, the other half is eating it. About the only damn thing that can wake me in the morning is the smell of bacon on the griddle.

But to each their own.

[trex]

Why does the Left always have to harangue people and make them better?

Indeed.

You don't have to become better if you really don't want to. But you may go the way of the dinosaur

[trex]

Thanks buffycat, guyser and others for the thumbs up. The rest of you, stay calm. No one's threatening to take your toys away...

[margrace]

Trex I agree with you 100%. Having always done those things, can, garden, sew, etc. Never had a lot of money to spend and didn''t need it. I got a big kick out of one of Oprah's shows that was talking about all these wonderful things to cut consumerism. You know there wasn't one thing she suggested that I hadn't been doing all my life.

[Brain Candy]

I think first you need to decide what the consumer mindset is and why it is bad. I think in general it is being dazzled by the face value of things and not thinking about what is good for you and wont waste your, or anyone elses, time and money.

Things I am certain are good:

-reading/learning

-teaching

-non garbage music (mainly classical and folk)

-physical fitness(preferably integrated into your life through something social like sports or house work)

-friends/family and social activities

-political activism

-stable source of income

Things I am certain are juvenile/destructive/wastes of time and energy:

-TV/video games/dumbest 99% of the internet

-binge drinking or heavy drug use

-casual sex

-obsessing over aesthetic

-complaining instead of doing

-charity for perpetually destructive people

[Brain Candy]

Go ahead , no one can stop you.

However there is plenty of truth in trex's statement. And you probably follow it without knowing it.

Good list. A sort of related thing that I think is wasteful is those motorized lawnmowers, unless you have a super large lawn why use that when you can save some money, and possibly a trip to the gym, with a reel mower?

[August1991]

You don't have to become better if you really don't want to. But you may go the way of the dinosaur

The way of the dinosaur? WTF?

In general, ordinary people have never lived so long or so well as they do now. And how did we get to this comparably comfortable lifestyle? By producing and consuming stuff. If your great-great-great grandmother saw how many gadgets and how much stuff you had, she'd be absolutely astounded (and probably appalled). Yet she lived a far more difficult life and saw people die around her at young ages.

I have never accepted this Protestant Calvinist rant to suffer existence. Life is to be lived and to be lived as comfortably as possible. On general trends, your great-great-great grandchildren will be richer, have more crap and will tolerate far less inconvenience than you do. If you could meet them, you would declare them to be spoiled rotten just as your great-great-great grandmother would describe you.

I got a big kick out of one of Oprah's shows that was talking about all these wonderful things to cut consumerism. You know there wasn't one thing she suggested that I hadn't been doing all my life.

I love that one. One of the wealthiest women in America who advocates to others to live simply. I somehow doubt that Oprah practices what she preaches.

How many times a day do you think Oprah changes her outfit? How many shoes do you think she has in her closet?

[trex]

The way of the dinosaur? WTF?

I bet your grandma would know what to do if the power went out, how to survive. But not you, and not the millions of dumbfounded dipshits who would die if there was a collapse of technology, like if the trucks stopped delivering frozen pizzas to your grocer.

So maybe you need to rethink who is more superior, and why.

And yes, we have more luxuries than ever before. We also have more pollution, more loss of species every day, more loss of green habitat... than ever before.

So maybe there is something to be learned about being a conservative, taking only what you need and leaving some for someone else. Real conservatives would agree. Pseudo-conservatives who are actually corporatists in disguise will have a problem with it

Edited March 7, 2008 by trex

[Moxie]

Has this forum become the new Marxist forum? Give me a break the fools that call themselves "Socialist" use every social program to their full advantage and they have the nerve to tell us to be less materialistic. Okay here's a challenge, they give up sucking the tit of social programs and I'll park my big ole truck and pedal a trike to work everyday. I swear I will, it won't be hard it's only three feet from my bedroom and no Socialist will be harmed by this experiment. They can stay in Mommy's basement with their pop and chips, posting stupid solutions to real WORLD issues.

[bush_cheney2004]

The way of the dinosaur? WTF?

Indeed...the "dinosaurs" lived a very, very, very, long time. I'll take that deal with wide screen plasma TV anyday!

In general, ordinary people have never lived so long or so well as they do now. And how did we get to this comparably comfortable lifestyle? By producing and consuming stuff. If your great-great-great grandmother saw how many gadgets and how much stuff you had, she'd be absolutely astounded (and probably appalled). Yet she lived a far more difficult life and saw people die around her at young ages.

Granny lived hard and died young, and she wasn't even in a commune. She used wax paper instead of tin-foil.

[bush_cheney2004]

Granny also liked to can her own fruit and veggies.....that's what killed her (botulism).

Edited March 7, 2008 by bush_cheney2004

[capricorn]

Granny also liked to can her own fruit and veggies.....that's what killed her (botulism).

Good one b_c. :lol:

[margrace]

I find this notion that people are living longer lives hard to believe. My hobby is Geneology and I can go back, in one family, to the 1300's. I find that it is not that people are living to be older it is that new discoveries are making the lose of children less likely.

My husbands gggreat grandparents lived well into their 70's and raised 10 children and lived to have 95 grandchildren. They were born in the late 1700's My own greatgreat grandparents, born just around 1800 lived well into their 80's. In our area today few people live past their middle 70's but one couple as well as my husbands father lived into their middle 90's. So what has changed?

Edited March 7, 2008 by margrace

[socred]

Unemployment is fun....

That is exactly why we are forced into an ever increasing consumption. I would not call it "consumerism", but "producerism". Because we are forced to engage in production in order to obtain an income, and because prices rise faster than incomes in a modern productive economy, we are forced to engage in production for its own sake in order to obtain incomes. This of course leads to a massive amount of advertising designed to get us to believe that the products which have been produced are "necessary" or "desired". This leads to an inflation of prices on goods we do need as productive capacity is diverted to the growing amount of luxury goods produced.

The one thing the banking system will never let us consume is leisure, which should be available to us all in increasing amounts as technology replaces labour in the productive process via increases in productivity.

An extreme example I always give is to imagine a world where perpetual motion machines did all the work. In such a world, we'd all starve to death, because nobody would have any income. Although such a world is a long way away, technology is moving us towards this ideal with every advance that reduces the amount of labour necessary to produce a unit output. Instead of being able to consume more leisure with advances in technology, we are merely enabled to produce more goods and services, which means that an ever increasing amount of our time is devoted to trying to convince people that we need to consume more (i.e. advertising). Not only is this destructive to our planet, it is spiritually destructive as well.

[guyser]

Has this forum become the new Marxist forum? Give me a break the fools that call themselves "Socialist" use every social program to their full advantage and they have the nerve to tell us to be less materialistic. Okay here's a challenge, they give up sucking the tit of social programs and I'll park my big ole truck and pedal a trike to work everyday.

Not sure where you are going with this.

The idea is to be less wasteful, not buying every new gizmo that is out there. How that fits in with social programs is beyond me.

One would think that those who are huge consumers are probably paying the freight .

[margrace]

Granny also liked to can her own fruit and veggies.....that's what killed her (botulism).

Granny lived to be 75 and she never heard of your fancy botulism, now today there is constantly news of people getting Food poisoning. I have lived for 73 years on Canned food and never knew anyone who died from it.

You know what did kill granny, it was having a baby every year and the old you know who couldn't keep it in his pants

Edited March 7, 2008 by margrace