consumerism or consumptionism?

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The have more, want more thread caused me to revisit some thoughts I'd had a while back.

We're told we live in a consumer society. OK, but what does that mean? At a glance you might think it would mean whats good for the consumer is good for the society. Seems reasonable---right?

Well---I'm not so sure. How is it good for society to make junk, knowing full well it'll only last a short while before it has to be replaced? How is it good for society to make stuff that is designed to be non-repairable or 6 different makes of cars with six different lug nut patterns? How is that good for the consumer? The list goes on and on.

I hate going to stores! My wife and I went to the dollar store because she bumped into some hand trowells for the garden and forgot to get a couple of them. The store was loaded from floor to ceiling with shiny JUNK. Your eyes were assaulted by all the phony bright colors and the smell of fresh plastic mingled with some other chemical "fragrance" it was enuf to make you gag.

The whole system seems geared to consume, consume, consume---feeding the endless appetites generated by madison avenue. Malls have become, at least in my mind, monuments to mammon.

And I wonder if the public policy wonks are thinking beyond tomorrow. We live in a shrinking world. The third world nations are being developed at a rapid rate by the global capitalists. They turn out more useless junk, creating a larger demand on the finite resources. As the resources dry up substitutes will have to be found but before they are the prices will be driven up. The economies built on these shifting sands will founder and again it will be the haves against the have-nots.

I've said this before, what responsibility does the USA have in averting this inevitable crises when we are the haves? We consume 40% of the global oil supply as it is and a large portion of the other finite resources. America with a population of around 250,000,000 people constitutes only 4% of the global population. Personally I think we're due for a comuppance because joe consumer doesn't wanna hear stuff like this. Comments??

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 07, 2000

Answers

We are actually closer to 300,000,000 people. Guess what, people in China, India and the rest of the world are also starting to want all that shiney crap. I watched a FRontline show while back(I think it was Frontline) on possibilities of just providing each family in the world with a very modest electric refrigerator. The amount of new power plants and resultant pollution was enormous. They even examined the possibility of solar and wind, but to use those would require the use of a very large area of land. Its all done in the name of short term corporate profits. Short of "Star Trek" technology, the only real answer is a much smaller and stable human population and social setup not based on making and selling huge quantities of "stuff". I have no idea how to convince people to go in this direction and highly suspect nothing will change without some large catastrophy. Then it will just start all over again. As to monuments to Mammon. Shopping has become the national religion of America. We now worship the modern version of the shiney golden calf and I've not seen any modern preacher railing against such. He just wants his 10% cut of the ever larger pie. Some even promise supernatural intervention for those that donate generously.

-- Hermit John (ozarkhermit@pleasedontspamme.com), June 07, 2000.

You hit the nail right on the head, John. Even the developing countries want the junk. When in Korea, I saw some wonderful blown glass apothacary jars, what they used to preserve ginsing roots in. They were becoming very scarce, I found when trying to buy some, because the "new" thing for them was guess what? PLASTIC. They were very proud of all the plastic products and kept trying to convince me that what I really wanted was plastic. NOT. I finally located some of the jars, and still use them. I'm sure the shopkeepers thought I was nuts, but I couldn't convince them how wonderful the glass ones were. I have relatives and friends that LIVE to shop. Got to go to the mall every weekend, and buy, buy, buy. Not what you "need", just things. I personally hate to even go to the malls, I would rather be staked out on a red ant hill! Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), June 07, 2000.

VERY TRUE!!!!, (sorry for shouting :o)

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), June 07, 2000.

Jobs, they make all that shinny plastic stuff to create jobs so that the people who have those jobs can buy the shinny plastic junk. The same with planned obsolescence. Just as an example, if toasters were made to last like they once were then the toaster makers wouldn't make enough money to pay their employees enough money so that they can buy a new toaster to match the new colors in their kitchen. It's not bad enough that people replace something when it's broken rathter than repairing it, now they replace them to match the new decorations and toss a perfectly good toaster. Sure the new colors are pretty, but I make myself buy either white or black so that it will always match the rest of the white or black stuff that I already have. Right now I have two toasters, one white and one black. We had a four slice toaster and when it died we had two two slice toasters in the attic. I see the pretty four slice toasters at Wal-mart but refuse to buy one. As a matter of a fact I think I'll go home tonight after work and polish those mis-matched toasters. John and HJ I agree with both of you so much, one of these days we are going to be in for a rude awakening and most likely it will happen gradually, like that frog in a pot of water that slowly boils. Even tho my sons didn't grow up with the mall mentality, they both sure do like to spend their money and buy the top of the line popular brand clothes or whatever whether they have any money left or not. Prayerfully they will wake up.

Blessings

-- Judy Murray (jmurray@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu), June 07, 2000.


John, this reminds me of a professor I had in school during the Cold War. Everyone was learning and excited and anxious about nuclear weapons, and the increasing use of nuclear power plants. This professor spent weeks teaching us the issues and how many times over the U.S. and (then) the U.S.S.R. could destroy the planet, etc.

Near the end of the quarter, the professor interjected that what was actually the likely outcome for this planet was that we humans would run it into the ground. His quote was, "Everyone is so worried that we will all go out with a bang, but it will probably be with a fizzle."

We will bury ourselves in our own garbage. But I venture to guess that this is all preaching to the choir, here at the Countryside forum. I thought it was a luxury to buy disposable paper milk filters yesterday.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), June 07, 2000.



Live simply so that others may simply live. We (2) live very comfortably on $8,000 a year. The majority of our possessions are other's rejects that we have restored to re-use. The only purchases we make are food and repair parts. We live debt free. It's awsome!

-- Sandy (smd2@netzero.net), June 07, 2000.

Well, a new trade agreement with China will keep us buying shiny red junk from places like Harbor Freight, which I call China freight. The only things we consume that I know are not off-shore products are meat that we have raised and produce from our garden.

-- Hendo (redgate@echoweb.net), June 08, 2000.

Sandy, if you don't mind and not meaning to be too personal, would you share how you live so frugally and what you mean by living simply beyond what you've already written. Thanks

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

I would also like to know how Sandy lives so frugally. I would like to live that way too! I am trying to learn as much as I can. Denise

-- Denise (jphammock@earthlink.net), June 08, 2000.

Amen and then some! I'd like to have some of those frugality tips, too. Reminds me of a childcare place I used to work--there were these old toy Fisher Price vans and garages--they NEVER broke! And all these years later, they don't make those things anymore--because they wore too well! Maybe it makes sense economically, but it's sick.

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.


Also--I have to add--people have the gall to say we're destroying the earth--maybe so--but I've always thought that if the human race becomes too burdensome for Earth, WE'RE the ones who will get destroyed! Earth will just start over.

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

If 'we' stop buying the 'shiney new crap', 'they' will stop selling 'the shiney new crap'! The problem here is, the people who buy the 'shiney new crap', have never heard of Countryside Forum-therefore- they won't get this message! AAGGHH!

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), June 08, 2000.

Kathy - Forgive me, but I just couldn't resist launching a frisbee in your direction :) HEADS UP! Just what kind of 'shiney new crap' did you use to post your message? Hmmmmmm? Nothing you had 10 years ago, I bet. Or even 5 years ago? And Countryside Forum didn't have this stuff either.

Without the 'shiney new crap' there would not be any holiday weekend garage sales, yard sales or barn sales to get rid of the 'dull old crap'. Let's face it. We're all a bunch of pack rats in one way or another. We all seek the simple life as long as we're tied together with the latest electronic doo-dads. Don't 'cha just LOVE IT?

(:raig

-- Craig Miller (CMiller@ssd.com), June 09, 2000.


Touche`, Craig.... It is interesting to note though, many people just can't seem to be happy without having the newest, fastest, bestest Stuff there is. Most of my friends are like that. Therefore, I am really different to them and have inspired such catch phrases for myself as "If it's not hard, it's not worth doin'"....sometimes I spend several hours trying to save very little money by making use of material I already have. Then I remember that money isn't the thing that we should measure with, and I stop berating myself.

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), June 09, 2000.

It's getting dangerous to make a comment around here. Ouch. Go back, Craig, don't spead read -'daer'- this time.

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), June 10, 2000.


Craig: All that glitters is not crap. There's an invisible line "stuff" crosses to become "crap". Puters are very cool. They've put the world at out fingertips and have opened the doors to the worlds largest library. Not crap.

Some "crap", to name a few---beanie babies, pokemon, the endless variety of plastic toys, cheap junk that breaks before you get it out of the packaging, planned obsolescence, "fashion", fads etc. There's wisdom and foolishness. Its up to us to sort it out.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), June 10, 2000.


I have a beabie baby, Its a cute cocker spaniel[my mom got it for me] and i just bought a bread maker,Im behind the times I couldnt belive it actualy kneads the dough for you, before it came I was lucky to make bread twice a year now its twice a week with home ground wheat.I agree we need to get back to well made things which last a l o n g time to cute down on clutter, just remember one mans junk is anothers treasure.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), June 11, 2000.

I found this on the oasis greywater website. It's okay to publish here isn't it? I'm new to computers and don't know about computer etiquette but here goes..

SPENDING ALMOST NOTHING

Spending less reduces resource utilization and the need to earn.

Saving increases security and economic self-determination.

The best quality of life can be achieved at the lowest monetary and ecological cost by investing in the highest quality execution of the interently cheapest solutions.

I have this enhanced and enlarged and hanging on my refrigerator for a daily reminder to live simply.

-- Sandy (smd2@netzero.net), June 12, 2000.


If people would stop watching commercial teevee and wouldn't go to malls they would become much less aware of all the shiny crap and hopefully wouldn't even notice it being gone. (BTW, I will be watching the PBS show tonight!) My husband says there should be a teevee show where you turn to a channel and for 15 minutes you look at a blank screen that reads: GET A LIFE. He figures it will take at least 15 minutes for a lot of people to figure it out...*sigh*...just a dream...they would just change to another one of the 300+ channels.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 12, 2000.

Going back to things that last...When I got married almost 23 years ago, my husbands grandmother died from cancer about a week after our wedding. To make a long story short, my mother-in-law gave me several things that belonged to his grandmother, including an iron and ironing board. The iron was old at that time. It has a fabric covered cord, so that tells you how old it is. Anyway, it works great and I still use it to this day. I loved it so much, and was afraid that someday it would die and I would have to go buy one of the new crappy ones that are so light that you feel like you need to push down on them to get the wrinkles out. Anyway, I have purchased a couple similar ones at garage sales so that when my beloved iron dies I will have at least a respectable replacement.

As a side note, I read in a magazine where they were doing iron comparisons that the estimated life span of a new iron is 5 years. My iron must be getting close to 40 years old!

Just my humble opinion.

-- CC (car-col@usa.net), June 13, 2000.


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