resist consumerism

It is always easier to fight for ones principles than to live up to them. Until we act on your tenets people will think less of you, the longer you preach it without action, the less people will believe it, especially in this scenario. I believe it not something as a goal but as a portal, you make one decision and your world changes, all fruitlessness is left for space to fill. and you overrun extremities, life becomes priority, but this is only my expectation.. telling people my age while trying to give unadulterated advice never seems to make people level with me but I insist it on myself, i am 17 and am starting to prepare for a life abroad, being a narcissist to me is a must for this lifestyle, but, is obviously redundant advice coming from me. of corse there is happiness is conformity, to live off of limited recourse on a global scale, packing the truth in hidden places gives us a content, vapid, inclosed reality. and then throwing it at ourselves gift wrapped so we smile another day just to pass the time and gain social stature. people dont understand that the more you try to avoid suffering from truth, the more you truly suffer from more and more insignificant things. The sang “better a lie that soothes than a truth that hurts” is frowned on but in what respects? I do not see myself as a reformer, or a rebel, things do need to change and optimism accompanies me, but my first priority is to live a simple yet tenacious life on the road, becoming more independent i believe will send me later in life on a truly ethical path to change. When i read something i ask of it a single question, from how deep and true an impulse did it spring? Was it written for money, fame, personal up-lifting, or was it written to create something. 40 years ago people questioned everything nowadays people live in fear. Already the distance concept is logically arbitrary.

Capitalism requires conformity in workers, they need to be simple, predictable, and interchangeable. it requires conformity of education, independence and creativity must be beaten out of you, lastly it requires conformity of consumption, advertising dupes us into desire for that which we would not need normally.

I asked myself why, why everyone i meet claim to hate consumerism or at least disagree with it, do nothing as a whole to promote change? I thought about it and after seeing Brad Pitt wearing at least 2000$ in clothing in Fight Club it was a little more clear to me. We could avoid competitive consumption entirely. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking. We can walk away from some competitions, take steps to mitigate the effects of others, but many more simply cannot be avoided. we need to understand that consumerism is not an ideology or something that people get tricked into. Consumerism is something that we actively do to one another, and that we will continue to do as long as we have no incentive to stop. Rather than just posturing, we should start thinking a bit more carefully about how we’re going to provide those incentives.

Sadly, I am aware that to continue in this goal, which I have been doing for a few months, I have to limit my contact with a close friend of mine. She is very obsessed with shopping, name brands, image, etc. She always complains that her and her husband have so many expenses and is always talking about getting more money, even though she and he make close to 6 figures, and she consumes alot. The problem is that everytime that we hang out, she is engaged in shopping or eating at an expensive restaurant that I cannot afford being unemployed, not to mention being a continuous complainer that is affecting me as well. We don’t have alot in common anymore, but since she is an old friend, I don’t want to ditch her completely. I don’t want to be sucked into the consumerism, so I have been just talking on the phone alone lately with her, and making excuses for not coming out. I have spoken to her at length about not wanting to spend, etc. but she doesn’t get it. It seems that I will have to talk to her even less to distance myself from her.

... after having lived there for over two years, I remember how shocked I was when walking the supermarket isles and seeing the almost futile abundance of items. The different versions in which unnecessary items came was jaw-dropping… and sadness came to me when thinking of the handful of veggies displayed on a rice sack on the dirt floor in my town in Africa…

I feel strong enough to resist consumerism because I did not have my life driven by large companies and their race to profits while I was living in Africa… but I do catch myself slipping back into my old Western patterns every now and then and this is why I want to choose this goal, to have it on my list, visible and allow it to constantly remind me how nauseated I was about the injustice of economic disparaties between developed and developing countries and the power that large corporations have nowadays…

I am not enclosing the source to this info because I forgot to copy it, but here’s something I read that you may find interesting. It was useful to me because I have a baby that I intend NOT TO SPOIL with “stuff” and give him more TIME and LOVE instead.

Consider this: Almost six in 10 parents in America think their children are either “very” or “somewhat” spoiled.

Did they ever stop to think that their children being spoiled might have something to do with how many of their school-age children have:

—A computer in their rooms (40 percent)

—TV in their rooms (38 percent)

—Phone in their rooms (53 percent)

And how many of their teens also have:

—Credit cards paid for by parents (18 percent)

—Cell phone (28 percent)

—Car or motorcycle (52 percent)

—Horse (4 percent)

The teens who escaped all signs of indulgence (approximately 80 of 640) shared five positive traits, according to a survey titled “Parenting Practices”:

—Their families frequently ate dinner together

—Their parents were not divorced or separated

—The children were required to keep their rooms clean

—They had no phones in their rooms

—They did community service

The parents of those teens, meanwhile, shared a “TLC” approach:

Time — They spent more time with their children — be it at supper, at school or at bedtime.

Limits — They set firmer limits on their children and at the same time expected more of them — such as keeping their rooms clean and managing allowances.

Caring — They took an interest in what their children were interested in — be it baseball or the latest CD or movie.

I feel I have developed a greater awareness of this consumer orientated world that I live in and am better for it. I will keep all further thoughts on the matter under my wise earth citizen goal.

we were at the beach on the weekend when a bi-plane came flying around the headland towing an advertising sign behind it. I said to my partner, “avert your eyes they want you to read it, how dare they clutter this pristine blue winter sky with their foul commercialism designed to inspire spending” and we did not look. :)

Whenever I would go to the mall, even as a child, I could never find anything to buy. I just do not need much to be happy, to feel fulfilled. I never have. I never will. All these things we think we need are implanted by the advertisers. I can remember watching an infomercial one night, late, and almost picking up the phone and ordering something I did not need, and that is when I made the mental breakthrough, that all these people want is for you to buy their products. It is not anything else. They are telling you whatever you want to hear, they would never challenge you, they just say that this new “thing” will make all your problems go away. Fat chance. I say we should take down the corporations at their source. Television. Stop watching. That will get rid of your “wants” and “needs,” at least to a considerable extent.

I went to one on the weekend to see a film and I completely resisted the call of all the shops and pretty things…...

...so it was easy to go without retail therapy because the mortgage always comes first. But now it’s better and I want to spend some cash. And I feel that I need the things that I’m buying, apart form a few new CDs, which only support the artists who made them.

I have decided that I would much rather spend money on experiences than material things. Sure, it’s nice to have neat stuff, however, unless it’s essential I don’t think it’s really all that cool. I want to move into an apartment or house and just have pillows without furniture and a computer and a small TV. I mean like 100’s of pillows. Also I don’t really think the whole bed thing is gonna work either. I doubt anyone will ever want to live with me though, lol