Tag Archives: Consumerism

It is time to give fundamental rights to the planet itself.

11 Saturday Apr 2015

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Most of today’s decision makers will be dead before the planet feels; the heavier effects of acid precipitation, global warming, ozone depletion, or widespread desertification and species loss.

Most of the young voters of today will still be alive.

The consumer cultures will have to be re-engineered into cultures of sustainability, so that living sustainable feels as natural as living as a consumer does today.

Two-thirds of the world’s energy is used to-day is for the production of commodities.

This new reality, from which there is no escape, must be recognized – and managed.

Sustainability cannot be achieved by simply switching technologies.

We need to see instead the possibility for a new era of economic growth, one that must be based on policies that sustain and expand the environmental resource base.

We all know that  industries most heavily reliant on environmental resources and most heavily polluting are growing most rapidly in the developing world, where there is both more urgency for growth and less capacity to minimize damaging side effects.

Humanity’s inability to fit its activities into a less must have now orientation for the sake of short-term pleasure and profit – from I am alright Jack attitude to recognizing our true values can not come soon enough.

Our Common Future, cannot be a prediction of ever-increasing environmental decay, poverty, and hardship in an ever more polluted world among ever decreasing resources. Which is changing planetary systems, fundamentally. Many such changes are accompanied by life-threatening hazards.

We need a new description of the possibilities ahead of us.

We have been for centuries and still are borrowing environmental capital from future generations with no intention or prospect of repaying. It may show profit on the balance sheets of our generation, but our children will inherit the losses.

The onus for change lies with no one group of nations.

Every day, we are presented with a range of “sustainable” products and activities—from “green” cleaning supplies to carbon offsets.

Is it time to abandon the concept altogether, or can we find an accurate way to measure sustainability? If so, how can we achieve it? And if not, how can we best prepare for the coming ecological decline?

Given that consumerism and the consumption patterns are not compatible with the flourishing of a living planetary system, either we find ways to wrestle our cultural patterns out of the grip of those with a vested interest in maintaining consumerism or Earth’s ecosystems decline will bring down the consumer culture for the vast majority of humanity in a much crueller way.

A change has to be started to put us on the path to prosperity without diminishing the well-being of future generations.

It will and is being resisted by myriad interests that have a huge stake in sustaining the global consumer culture— from the fossil fuel industry and big agribusiness to food processors, car manufacturers, advertisers, and so on.

Consumerism is not a viable cultural paradigm on a planet whose systems are deeply stressed and that is currently home to 7 billion people, let alone on a planet of 8–10.6 billion people, the population the United Nations projects for 2050.

So what can be done?

We all know what has to be done but every few of us are willing to do anything.

In a majority of societies today, consumerism feels so natural that it is hard to even imagine a different cultural model.

Consumerism—now propped up by more than trillions in annual advertising expenditures, by hundreds of billions in government subsidies and tax breaks, billions more in lobbying and public relations spending, and the momentum of generations of living the consumer dream—will undoubtedly be the most difficult part of the transition to a sustainable society.

The only question is whether we greet it with a series of alternative ways of orienting our lives and our cultures to maintain a good life, even as we consume much less.

You must ask yourself if there is any chance for us to come through the trials of climate destabilization in a nuclear-armed world with 10 billion people by 2100.

How can we soon reckon with the thorny issues of politics, political theory, and start governing with wisdom, boldness, and creativity.

We can all see our present danger, and we can also see our future potential: a stable human population of some 7–9 billion, living cleanly and well on a healthy biosphere, sharing Earth with the rest of the creatures who rely on it.

Or

Has humanity already overshot the carrying capacity of Earth so badly that we are doomed to a horrible crash after oil, or freshwater, or topsoil, or fish, or the ozone layer, or many other things—after one or all of them run out? So that no matter what we do in the meantime, it’s a foregone conclusion that we’re in for a fall?

I don’t believe so.

Provided we locked the global economy and global ecology together in new ways there is a way out for our beautiful home planet. There is no point reaching for the stars if we are bring with us Greed and Profit.

This is not just a dream but a responsibility, a project. The things we can do now, to start on this project are all around us, waiting to be taken up and lived.

Our problem stems from decades of engineering of a set of cultural norms, values, traditions, symbols, and stories that make it feel natural to consume ever larger amounts—of food, of energy, of stuff.

Policymakers changed laws, marketers and the media cultivated desire, businesses created and aggressively pushed new products, and over time “consumers” deeply internalized this new way of living.

For example, the United States, now suffers from an obesity epidemic in which two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. This obesity epidemic—which has spread around the world.

McDonald’s did not just create a cheap and tasty food, it effectively targeted children to get them to eat at McDonald’s early on—shaping their palate for both the company’s food and the high-sugar, high-salt, high-fat consumer diet.

Or

People spend more than $58 billion on pet food each year around the world. ( There are 133 million dogs and 162 million cats in just the top five dog and cat owning countries in the world),

Or

Globally, military expenditures total about $1 trillion a year and continue to grow.

Nothing will change unless our cognition’s change.

Even Professional sport promotes consumerism.

 

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that “we must rapidly begin to shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society.” By living “deliberately”—as Henry David Thoreau understood—we spend less, work less and enjoy life more.

Through collective action inspired by creativity we can build a vibrant environmental justice movement and reform the institutions that are driving “climate collapse”: the military and unchecked consumer capitalism.

Imagine if we had lists of “Ten Things to Save the Planet”

The problem would be that we have nowhere to hang the list.  Even if we did we there is no way of making anything on the list to stick.

So there is only one solution. We will have to use the most basic weakness of mankind – his own self-interest to effect change.

Rewards/Payment that are felt in his pocket.

Where do we get the funds to make these payments.

By Placing a world Aid Commission of 0.05% on all Foreign Exchange Transactions ( Over 20,000$) on all High Frequency stock exchange transactions and on all Sovereign Wealth Funds Acquisitions.

With this Perpetual Fund by greed we could then redesign Consumerism into Savvy consumers and Sucker consumers. Create a new consumer culture which would be truly a step in the right direction.

We could start to address Climate Change by granting home solar panels.

We could pay to protect to safeguard our, fresh water, our forests, our seas, our environment and give fundamental rights to the planet itself.

The faster we use our talents and energies to promote a culture of sustainability, the better off all of humanity will be.

This is what we have achieved so far. Have a look.

( https://youtu.be/MrqqD_Tsy4Q)  It takes two minutes.

We need to create a new centralization of power that specifically looks after our planet >  not a United Nations gossips shop that can do nothing because of its veto corset.

But an Earth Court that must be heeded or suffer the consequences, or no rewards or grants.

https://youtu.be/XvuM3DjvYf0

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Is Black Friday our worst example of unchecked consumerism.

30 Sunday Nov 2014

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This year, the shopping orgy called Black Friday became untethered from Thanksgiving and floated across to the U.K., where it most assuredly did not increase happiness and gratitude. It did however exposed a society that is encouraged by its Government since Maggie Thatcher day to treat   shopping as a sport.

We were all treated to woman fighting over leggings, people stampeding to get the latest TV/Smart phone/i Pad till the police had to be summoned to stop them from biting or killing each other. An extremely shameful, embarrassing thing to watch.

Many of the more extreme political movements in the world today claim that they are a response to the power and force of the modern global economy and its accompanying set of values. We should not be surprised when Social Media carries such pictures.

Today, young people are building a shared understanding of how the world works through social and other web-based media..

In 2008, a Walmart employee was killed when a mob of deal-desperate Black Friday shoppers tore the store’s doors from their hinges and stormed inside, trampling him to death. The chain was eventually fined $7000 for their role in the employee’s death — but six years and $2 million later, the world’s largest retailer has yet to pay up. I am sure the poor brighter did not collect his Loyalty points either.

The shape of the global economy, media, and world-wide society now being born is difficult to predict. On the one hand, the logic of economic growth can lead to the pursuit of short-term economic gain to the exclusion of other values.

On the other hand, a sustainable growth strategy could help ensure that the pursuit of economic growth factors in long-term considerations such as environmental impacts and human well-being.

Consumerism has is part to play in this well-being but because humans are like wildebeests the advertising industry spends $12 billion per year on ads targeted to children, bombarding young audiences with persuasive messages through media such as television and the Internet.

The average child is exposed to more than 40,000 TV commercials a year and ads are reaching children through new media technologies.

Some researchers say that consumerism is baked into our DNA, nestled in our neurons. They say our consumptive tendencies will forever evolve in response to marketing, culture, policy and changing needs on our one and only, tiny blue planet.

In light of Black Friday let’s rediscover the full meaning of the word consume.

Is it a modern American tradition gone wrong or just one more bizarre piece in the backbone of our wobbly world economy?

Now days to consume has become a negative word, but there are other meanings.

The verb to consume can also mean to enjoy avidly and to engage fully.

More and more people are coming to the realization they much prefer to consume experiences than stuff — they prefer doing over owning.

Nature has massive value that we may never be able to put a value on. This is truth, not a fad or a trend. For example if you love the ocean, share it, and don’t be afraid to consume it in the very best sense of the word. But also, fight for it. Protect it.

Black Friday has its roots in shopping frenzies. Online retailers such as Apple and Amazon have facilitated the spread of Black Friday far beyond its american frameworks, to any would-be consumer with an internet connection.

While it is easy to brush of all this behavior off as dystopian present-day phenomena, consumerism and taste-makers set the course of this nations culture, with purchasing power playing a huge role in the nationalistic negativism of or nations.

The technologies of information, stimulation, and comfort are seductive and addictive. People and their needs remain constant. Little else seems to be very stable. We are literally drowning in information. Still, the great difficulty with the empirical base of the information age is that much of the data we rely on to understand the world we live in is unverified.

So much so that the reality behind all that glam and glitter is that joy of engaging in the natural world might be forgotten.

As Pope Francis succinctly wrote: “Today’s economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric.”

So what can we do to slow or even work against the hordes of mindless buyers?

We could and should promote a Buy Nothing Day (BND)

A global day of exercised purchasing power, where social activists or other concerned people work to counteract the rampant avarice and shopping orgy of Black Friday with a day dedicated to purchasing… nothing.

Let’s call it neoconsumerism.

Our economies are being artificially kept afloat, and despite all the signs (shuttered businesses, monetary easing, disastrous world politics and energy issues looming), businesses are now pulling out what appears to be the “final act” for the phrase BLACK FRIDAY.

Thank god there are some gnus that are still evolving.

Black Friday Shoppers

These are rich experiences worthy of consumption. Think of the parts of your life that give you immeasurable joy, yet cost nothing taking time to eat good local food and to consume nature, together, is perceived as valuable, because it is valuable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us worry about the addiction to the information streaming out of smart phones as people walk the street, oblivious to vehicular and even pedestrian traffic.

 

 

 

 

 

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The market revolution was a boom-period in american culture derivative of advancements in technology, infrastructure, and communications, as well as the shift in public attitudes after the Great Awakenings.

The mirrors, furs, furniture, hats, and fine clothes allowed for consumers to express their individuality, not only as sovereign beings with varied tastes, but as citizens who were beginning to desire a sovereign nation.

 

 

 

 

Every 30 seconds, a human being is sold.

17 Monday Nov 2014

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I run a Magazine Call Silent Witness to Modern day Slavery on Flip board.

I call it Silent Witness because Flipboard does no facilitate comment. In it I post articles and videos from the Internet covering a wide range of Slavery as there is no typical victim of slavery. Modern-day slavery affects men, women and children across the world..

( Have a look. Robert de Mayo Dillon@no1bobdillon.)

It has come to my notice that the biggest source of Slavery get little mention if at all.  Debt Slavery.

In the Oxford Dictionary the term Slave is defined as “a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them” as in the case of the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries where slavery was a legalized institution. These the Dictionary now defines slavery as “a person who works very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation” as in today’s world of a person working for a company or corporation where their efforts are usually under appreciated.  It also describes a slave as “a person who is excessively dependent upon or controlled by something” or “a device, or part of one, directly controlled by another”.  DEBT.

An economy that is consumer based with credit is a disaster in the making because that debt only becomes unmanageable in the long run, especially when the people have no means to repay its debt obligations. Consumerism leads to moral decay with people becoming perpetual servants of mega corporations and international banks.. You saw what happened on Black Friday, it is a reminder of how people react when products they don’t really need are on sale.

Consumers suffer psychological abuse by its creditors.  As long as an individual remains in debt bondage, that person will have to repay that debt until the day that person literally dies in most cases. Imagine how they will react in times of economic despair.

How many people clear their House mortgage in their life time? Interest rates attached to the purchases made is the bond that ties you and the corporate interests or bankers for eternity. It becomes a “control mechanism” as the creditor becomes the “Slave Owner” and the debtor becomes the “Slave”.

When people become ingrained in consumption disregarding the debt they inherit, they become immune to the realities around them. 

We are all slave in one way or another and it would be reasonable to say that Debt is a choice which I would agree with. The Interest is not. My bone of contention is that the Interest should stop once the Capital sum is repaid. If your house goes down in value your mortgage and interest payments don’t. Would you not think it reasonable the cost of one a Toll road or Bridge has being repaid it should transfer to public ownership

Anyway Modern day slavery is flourishing with 20.9 million people worldwide victims of forced labor. 4.5 million of these are victims of forced sexual exploitation, while 14.2 million are victims of forced labor exploitation. The remaining 2.2 million are in state-imposed forms of forced labor.

Celebrities’ personal lives still dominate headlines in the main stream media.  The ‘War on Terror’ has taken away civil liberties and the ‘War on Drugs’ has increased the prison population.  High-crime rates in major cities remain problematic. With the rollout of 7000 drones in 2015, endless wars, a looming economic collapse, and endless Pharmaceutical commercials that keep people heavily drugged are serious problems for the world public.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of international crime.

Every 30 seconds, a human being is sold for an average price of $90. The profits generated from human trafficking are estimated to be $32 billion every year. 

The legal confusion between a job with appalling conditions and criminal exploitation means it can be difficult to identify and prosecute 21st-century slave traders and people traffickers.

In a world driven by profit there is little hope of changing the above till we start using our wallets to force change. One day of boycotting any company that does not pay its employees a living wage would soon make that company sit up and pay attention.

You might think slavery does not touch your life but mark my words Fresh water, Clear Air, and demishing natural resources are being privistised as we speak by Sovereign Wealth Funds, and all knowledge is being stored by Google. Both will ensure Slavery in all its forms.

When the necessities such as food and shelter become scarce the people will begin to panic and lose control over their own lives reality will sink in.

Millions of people are in forced labour around the world.