Consumer Culture

This is a video Matthew showed me that is really good. One thing that drives me crazy about North America is our crazy consumer culture – buy, buy, buy – bigger, better, faster, newer….ahhh! I think we start to lose sight of the big picture. This video was a reminder to me to try to be a smart consumer and keep in mind the power we have to make a difference just by being careful about how we spend our money. So with Christmas coming, the biggest spending time of the year, it was good to think about.

I love these quotes from Fight Club about our consumer culture.

“You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.”

“The things you own end up owning you. F**k off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.”

I do agree that in our culture of excess we are often slaves to our possessions. Think of how many hours people work to pay for "bigger, better, newer, cooler" things they don’t really need, when they could be spending that time instead with their families. I am guilty as well. Why does my house have three bathrooms? That is just plain stupid, only two people live here and three or four people can be happy sharing one bathroom. I have a limited amount of time on this planet, why spend it working to pay for something I don't need when I could spend that time doing something else. Why is that so difficult to see sometimes? Does having more, or the latest thing really make us that much happier? And who else pays the price for the lifestyle we live? that is what the video makes me wonder....ahh it will be a constant struggle living in this part of the world to try to keep ones head in check.

I got a copy of a book called No Logo by Naomi Klein (Steven Lewis’ dtr-in-law) that is all about how branding influences us in ways we don’t even realize, and the impact it has on the world. I will let you know how it is when I finish but I have two other adoption books on the go to finish first.

Some good websites are transfair: http://transfair.ca/ (find out where to buy fair trade products in Canada), and responsible shopper: www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/index.cfm which gives profiles on companies like Nike, where they produce their products, etc...)