There’s a tendency, even among those who are trying to buy less stuff, to call everyone “consumers”. The company needs to please its consumers … we consumers need to vote with our dollars … we need watchdogs to protect consumers … consumers are buying less during the recession. Let’s stop that. We are not consumers. We’re people. When we allow ourselves to be branded with these types of corporate terms, we’ve given in to the consumerist mindset. We’ve allowed the debate to be framed around buying: should we buy organic or local? How can we protect consumers? Do consumers have rights? What’s the best way to spend our money on products? How can we be savvy consumers? How can we affect change in society by making ethical or conscious buying choices? What about the question of whether we should be buying or not? That gets thrown out the window, because it’s already assumed in the term: we’re consumers. Of course we buy. It’s just a matter of how, how much, where, from whom, how often. But if we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers, and start calling ourselves “people”, then we open up the question. Should we even buy in the first place? Is it possible to live a life without buying? We talked a bit about that in society, reimagined … that we can grow our own food, make and trade and share everything we need. It’s possible — of course it’s possible! Human beings (not consumers) did it for hundreds of thousands of years, and at least 10,000 years in civilized society: we lived and worked and played and loved, without buying. We did it in tribes, of course, but also in larger societies that weren’t based around the basic unit of corporation -> consumer. I’m not advocating a return to tribalism. I’m saying we need to change the debate. We need to stop calling ourselves consumers. We need to open up our minds, so that a different way is possible.
It’s crazy that everyone was blindsided by the unprecedented BP oil rig explosion and oil well disaster, when it or a similar event had to happen eventually…
Many of the problems we’re experiencing as a society come from manufactured desire. Obesity, debt, financial crises, an overabundance of stuff, consumerism, global warming, and so on …
The first reason for their happiness that researchers have discovered, is that they have a low expectation of their immediate future…
— Anonymous
We all face choices. We can have ice caps and polar bears, or we can have automobiles. We can have dams or we can have salmon. We can have irrigated wine from Mendocino and Sonoma counties, or we can have the Russian and Eel Rivers. We can have oil from beneath the oceans, or we can have whales….
A duo of visionary artists have animated my mindscape, distilling it to a three minute “thought bubble” that tells the story of your mental environment and warns of its pollution.
Did the iPad come out?
So apparently something called the iPad launched this past weekend. I’m kidding - well sort of - I did know that it was coming but I certainly did not put the date on my calendar like I might do for a book. I read this article about it on CNN this morning and it became even more apparent to me how much trouble we really are in as a culture, society and civilization when people admit to buying the latest high tech gadget because it looks cool and have no idea what they will use it for. WOW. On the flip side I realized how very thankful I am for discovering the thinkers, writers, and questioners who challenge this mentality daily with something called minimalism and simplicity as I breathe a cleansing sigh of relief and know that I am not alone in pursuing a more meaningful life with less stuff.
