“The Story of Stuff”- Watch before You Shop!
America’s materials economy in a nutshell:
“Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate.”
- Victor Lebow, 1955
Wow, America, we’ve been had. We’ve been shaped into a nation of mindless consumers, whose habits profit corporations while they rob desperate people oceans away of a local livelihood.
Seriously, folks, if you have just 20 spare minutes in your day/evening, watch the video below — “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard. Ms. Leonard does such a fantastic job in explaining the rise of the materials economy and the psychology of consumerism in America.
She says so well what I and many others have noticed over the past few years — that our government and our culture seem to have been hijacked by big corporations. But mostly she shows ways in which we can take back control — mostly by opening our eyes and ending the brainwashing of advertisers and retailers, who have convinced us with each commercial and ad that we need what’s new even though what we have still works just fine.
In the video, what grabbed my attention most were the explanations of the designs of planned and perceived obsolescence, as well as the cycle that we Americans are on of “work, watch, spend treadmill”… — oh, yes, and then the positive concept of sustainability!
In short, we don’t always need what’s fresher, faster, sleeker, bigger, better, or still smelling like the factory when what we own is still doing the job. In chunking out all that is “old” but still usable, we futilely hope to feed a craving that cannot be satisfied as long as we’re buying everything that they’re selling.
Looks like our family is going to be doing a little more baking and crafting than shopping this Christmas. We need more quality time anyway.
This year, all my gifts are “gifts in a jar”. Consumable food items and crotched scarves (if I can finish them in time!). I keep telling my Mom it’s not about the cost of what we give but the spirit and enjoyment the gift will create.
And c’mon! Who doesn’t like cookies?
A Grat and necessary post at this time of the year when we tend to go on automatic pilot, carry on in a business-as-usual manner, suspend judgement and generally behave as if caught on a treadmill we have no power to slow down or stop. You have done a great service with this post, Melanie. I thank you! G