The Story of Stuff
Daniel | June 9, 2008
Ever wonder where your stuff comes from? You shouldn’t have to. I know that I spent a lot of years actively avoiding even thinking about where my stuff comes from. I also avoided thinking about what happens to it when I throw it away. We all know it just isn’t a very pretty picture. So we think to ourselves “Oh, my stuff comes from the store!” and we leave it at that. I suppose because it’s too hard to face the idea that “Oh, my stuff comes from the rape of our planet and the horrific exploitation of human beings!”. Thinking about it that way would sure smash the joy of buying that new TV, wouldn’t it? Well, shouldn’t it?
The system we have today isn’t the way it always was. In fact, it isn’t the way things would have progressed naturally, by themselves. The change happened in the 50’s, right after World War Two. America led the way, by inventing a new way of life - consumerism. We weren’t selfish about it - we happily exported it all over the world. There’s a problem with that. Here in America, we have about 5% of the world’s population. In order to live in a state of consumerism, Americans use 30% of the world’s resources. So what happens when the rest of the world starts trying to live in consumerism?
I did a little research, and there seems to be some question as to whether this quote from Victor Lebow (in his paper “Price Competition in 1955″ Journal of Retailing, Spring 1955) was part of the design of the consumerism process, or if it was perhaps the earliest critique of the process in action. Either way, it is accurate. As Americans, we used to have big choices we could make - we’d choose between right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust. We aren’t really Americans anymore. Our founding fathers would not recognize the government they’d designed, nor would they recognize the people that inhabit this land. They’d see quite quickly that the only choices the average American makes is “should I buy the red one, or the blue one?” Victor Lebow went on to write a book in 1972 called Free Market: The Opiate of the American People. Isn’t it time we woke up from our opiate induced trance and did something about the state of the world? Isn’t it time we returned to the values this country was founded on? Isn’t it time we started making choices that matter again?
I’m starting by choosing stewardship, frugality, resourcefulness, thrift,and sustainability instead of consumerism, waste, and planned/perceived obsolescence.
Take 20 minutes of your time and go here:
The Story of Stuff.
