i haven't yet the time to read it in detail (office hours this side of the pond, i'm in a little big hurry.) but i do agree it's scary. thank you again for sharing this text. it doesn't just confirm my observations, it also shows how far back this is going, to the point where the consumerist society almost looks like everything is manipulated. i don't want to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but this was the only point i could agree on in a conversation with a victim of fundie indoctrination i had recently; the only point where our outlooks quite met was the question of how everyone seems to be under the influence of media. i guess the “media” here can be stretched out to include producers and marketers and pretty much every institution whose life depends on our consumption.
it isn't a conspiracy on yet another level, it's not an actual conspiracy. no one conspired to have the society dependant on increasing goods supply, it was just the most profitable thing to do for the managements. managerial thought is as enslaved to company development as is consumer thought to purchasing
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hmm, more than once or twice i have seriously considered cutting down on my material needs rather than trying to earn more money. before i thought this was simply me being lazy. now i can say i just sensed the danger of consummerism all along! (i SO did!)
no tv for me, no fashion, very few cosmetics, money spent mostly on food (preferrably home cooked meals from basic ingredients if only i had the time!) and arts and crafts. oh yeah, and the internets :P
but it is so true! i'm aiming at cutting consumption down myself, too. like, why else i hadn't gotten a multimedia player? i apparently can survive in commute without listening to music.
right about the player example; it doesn't appear that good, having considered my rather lower than general interest in music. it was the first example to come to mind though, seeing how everyone now just has to have a multimedia player or two, but no one han't had any twenty years ago and they were fine! artificial need, i tell ya. most people don't buy things because they need them, they buy stuff because stuff is in stores.
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no tv for me, no fashion, very few cosmetics, money spent mostly on food (preferrably home cooked meals from basic ingredients if only i had the time!) and arts and crafts. oh yeah, and the internets :P
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i have a creative muvo for about 5 times less than a similar functionality ipod. a small win, but a win.
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right about the player example; it doesn't appear that good, having considered my rather lower than general interest in music. it was the first example to come to mind though, seeing how everyone now just has to have a multimedia player or two, but no one han't had any twenty years ago and they were fine! artificial need, i tell ya. most people don't buy things because they need them, they buy stuff because stuff is in stores.
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