Actual Text 1: “The US has 5% of worlds population but we are using 35% of natural resources and creating more than 30% of the worlds waste. If everyone consumed like the US did we would need 3-5 planets.”
Response 1: After hearing this part of the clip I immediately went back and had to re-watch it in order to fully absorb the information. These numbers are absolutely mind-boggling. Considering the US populates only 5% of the entire world but are using 35% of natural resources just begins to exemplify how much people consume. The waste here is another issue entirely. We are accountable for much more waste compared to the amount of people that are producing the trash. If we continue to consume the way we do and start consuming that much as well (which is not very likely in third world nations) we would need many more planets than we have available to have the space to put all our “things”. Yet we are told by President Eisenhower in the 1950’s and early 60’s says later in the movie “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, replaced and discarded at the ever-accelerating rate.” Once again I am perplexed at why we are still being told to consume. How is this valuable advice?
Actual Text 2: “Make things right by just going shopping…!”
Response 2: This part of the clip was right after the transformation of heal size varies from season to season was discussed. This very unnecessary phenomenon is due to marketing techniques of various advertisement agencies trying to get people to feel as if their current heal is “out of season”. The solution that is given to us is to go buy the new collection for the fall season instead of the out of date summer heals. This is ridiculous how marketing has control of so many sectors of our lives; it is honestly scary to think about. The clip discusses how this is a type of perceived obedience where the consumer is convinced to throw away the stuff that is no longer useful, or in other words, old. Commercials now tell us “YOU SUCK!” and make us feel almost ashamed of the “old stuff” and in a way force us to buy the next new thing, which only keeps this constant demand and supply an endless extraneous loop.
« The Story of StuffThe Story of Stuff and The Story of Change Post »
More blog posts in this category Common
Subscribe to RSS-Feed
Visitors
Board Statistics
