Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Kingdom for Some Stuff

A friend of mine recently sent around the following link: http://www.storyofstuff.com/. This short movie, complete with some awesome animation that helps illustrate the creator's points, transforms any laymen (or women) into a relatively knowledgeable person - at least as far as our consumption patterns are concerned - in about 20 minutes. That's less than one episode of 30 Rock (my favorite TV show)! Not much time at all and there are even cartoons. So, really, what do you have to lose?

The short is a pretty concise explanation of where our stuff comes from and where it goes, but, more importantly, why so much comes and goes and so quickly. These latter two points are the most important of all. For some time now, whenever I have to replace something I think to myself, "With all of the technological innovation this world has produced, how come I can't find a pair of jeans that will last more than a year or two? You'd think that the people who produced the space shuttle, pacemaker, and bionic leg could figure out how to create a pair of pants that can withstand the awesome force of my washing machine." The Story of Stuff answers precisely that question.

We don't really like to hear that we use too much stuff or that stuff is running out. That's understandable, such concepts take aim right at the very core of our lifestyle – that which many of us have come to identify as our very purpose for being. What makes less sense is why we use as much as we do. Could there be another way? Sure, just ask your parents or grandparents. They’ll tell you that things used to last longer and when they broke down people’s first instinct would be to fix them not replace them. The most important point that this little film addresses is the most absurd fact about our consumption patterns, whether or not it is actually making us any happier. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'll bet you know the answer...no, it isn’t. In fact, the more we have consumed over the past fifty years, the less happier we have been. Now if that doesn’t make you take pause the next time you’re strolling through the mall, I don’t know what will.

Check it out.
I’m gonna go find some pants.

Till next time.

O.M.

In response to a pretty sober view of the future of the US and, by extension, the world

Based on this article by James Kunstler (http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/debt-drought-kills-consumerism/) a response:

I happen to agree with this Mr. Kunstler. I don’t believe we can “go home again” (hence the title of this blog). If history has taught us anything, and regardless of whether or not we are willing to learn from it, it is that society – like everything else – is constantly changing and evolving. Just like the natural resources on this planet, which are finite and are drying up, so will our ability to live on borrowed money, borrowed space or borrowed time. The belief, especially in Washington, that the US can return to it’s “good ole’” self is evident in the percentage of tax breaks that comprise the recently approved stimulus package. The future is forward. If we are to avoid a deep and lasting depression with the potential to set off a war (or wars) for control of natural resources, we must accept that reality and crack on.

I believe that our best hope is in increased collectivity among states. The financial crisis revealed just how disastrous the effects independently operated systems of rules governing financial markets/institutions can be. More than efficiency and profitability, it has been crisis that has driven countries closer together and made them more cooperative in their dealings. And it is obvious that we are faced with global challenges (or rather threats) to our collective existence. The state of our ecological system, our atmosphere, the planet itself is at risk and we are all responsible, to varying degrees. Whether or not we believe it to be fair, we must work together if we are to stem the tide of this natural decline. This is the primary challenge for one very simple reason, economic conditions, in-and-of-themselves, are meaningless. Underlying those conditions, however, are the basic needs of the human (as well as animal and plant) populations of this planet. Whether people are out of work is not a material (no pun intended) concern, it is whether they are able to feed, clothe and house themselves that are of principal importance. One need only review Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to understand that an individual’s physiological requirements must first be satiated before any other needs are addressed.

Though it may not happen overnight, I believe that our global society is on a path toward a rediscovery of essential needs and that our societies will adapt to that reality or die out. Unfortunately the past sixty years, – the era of relative peace and significant prosperity for some, economic liberalization (for better or worse) for the others – with its focus on material gain, has not aided society in developing theories of the future stages of our social evolution. Instead, with the fall of the Soviet Union and Communism, quite a few “intellectuals” began to declare that we were at the “end of history”. A naïve concept, even if only used as a prism through which to view global economic systems. Especially given the ideological struggle that framed the Cold War and the post-World War II international order, such a declaration of victory is understandable. Yet, it is wholly inadequate as an explanation of social existence for the simple fact that it ignores the most consistent pattern of history – change. It is not, however, an exceptionally odd occurrence. Thoughts of socio-political transformation are forged in the fire of crisis, struggle, or great cataclysmic events.

This generation (X or Y or whatever) of bourgeois/middle class (the historical agent for change) has frequently been accused of being apathetic as a result of their relatively “easy” way of life. That, in the absence of a great challenge, they have failed (are failing) to have made a great contribution to the development of their society. And so here it is, a crisis point in which our global society will make critical choices that will impact the future of our existence and that of our co-inhabitants. Perhaps our generation will be part of the solution.

- O.M.

An Introduction...

Welcome to my blog. One friend, Brother, he says that these things are silly. "Why the hell should you give away good ideas for free," he offers. It's the 'pearls before swine' mentality and, no offense to those reading this, but he makes a valid point. Blogs are so easy to access and so plentiful, it's kind of hard to take what is said in them seriously or for the author to believe that s/he is making an impact. But as my current alternative is writing editorial pieces for free magazines who care seemingly little about content as long as the pages are filled, and despite the potential cha-ching, I'll just publish stuff here. The Love, she suggests that I have something worth saying (I agree) and that others would benefit from reading it (I'm not so sure). Either way, I'll be writing and hopefully you'll be reading.

A word on the content. This blog's title is a pretty well-known phrase which succinctly captures the idea that things are constantly changing and evolving and that with each change comes a new reality. The steam engine, the computer, the nuclear bomb, Democracy - these are all things that have altered our existence in an irrevocable manner. And yet humans don't view thier world that way, we seem to believe that the 'good old days' were better and can be preserved or resurrected. A quick, objective, look at the course of human history suggests otherwise. Moreover, the negative impact of leaders who have used that line of reasoning and preyed on our fear of change - and thus weakness for such a message - have been the fathers of Nationalism and, worse, Facism and Authoritarianism. I'm aiming to offer up my thoughts on where we are today as a 'global society'. Though I'm looking forward to putting my own thoughts down on blAper (pronounced blay-per = blog paper), I am keenly interested in comments that you, the prospective regular reader have to share. I hope to learn something from you.

Now let's get on with it...

O.M.