In at last formally educating myself about consumerism and consumption, I have concluded that America's continued consumer culture is destructive in a multitude of concrete and abstract ways. The first, and debatably most important are the environmental effects of mass consumption. Excess packaging, nondurable goods, and societal pressure to purchase unnecessary products degrade air, land, and water. Energy, mineral, and other resource waste is vast. Residents of industrial countries consume three times as much fresh water, 10 times as much energy, and 19 times as much aluminum as someone in a developing country. Consumerism by nature, facilitates the sale of all available products, without consideration of companies' quality, origin, environmental effect, or human rights policy. Production is often directed wherever workers can be paid the least, and regulation is low. This equates to greater public and private debt, a negative balance of trade, and worsened unemployment. In addition to the physical results of consumerism, the production, marketing, and mass consumption of consumer goods is creativity stifling. Americans are urged to work longer hours and spend more to fulfill materialistic media standards. Money is again valued over art, further degrading the common American value system. Please fight for more durable products, efficient packaging, responsible advertising, and ethical human rights practices abroad. Personally, you can influentially practice anti-consumerism by questioning your need for new goods, buying locally-made products, and utilizing human resource instead of technological (ex: teller vs. ATM machine). Change begins with the individual. I am extremely interested in how others feel about consumerism, and in what other ways we can regain control. ~andrea

Paragraphs 1-3: No shit, Sherlock. Paragraph 4: Okay, sure. Paragraph 5: I have an idea, but it would cost many lives.

whats with the numbering as of late nate? Did that weeklong conference in Torrence teach you bullets and numbering?

that wasn't me. i'm all for reduced packaging. this is getting retarded. you can now buy zip-lock bags with little plastic runners that open and close the lock for you. what a waste. and sturdy plastic containers that replace tupperware... but are cheap enough to throw away! cheap enough to throw away? are we talking dollars, or impact here? we need enough landfill to pave the oceans! we're working on our population problem!

i wanna see the whole damn world covered in black visqueen™ and tires.

sorry nate, it sounded like your typical smart assed response. those are your capitalists at work nate making those types of products.........anything to get you to buy another round

it is not the capitalists at work. it is the moronic masses that purchase the goods. if there was no demand, it would not be profitable to provide the supply. and we all know, the poor outnumber the rich. if it is, in fact, the suppliers forcing the demand, you assume a mindless mass of consumers. which is fine. that just means we'd be better served by facism. but my facism, please. not al gore's.

ok

SUVs are a case in point. Who the fuck needs these, unless you live in Montana or Wyoming? I parked next to a Ford Excursion in the parking lot of a 7-11 today. I could not believe how fucking big that thing was. One guy in it. Getting his Big Gulp. 7-11s are another good example of America's "must have it quick, must have it now because I'm an American dammit and I want it now and I have a birthright to it."

you people talk like you're the exceptions. no one is an exception. We're all It.

except me.

except Dave.

Yes, we're all sinners. Confess your sins, and you'll feel much better. Whom should we confess to? An accountant? An economist? How about a stock broker? Who would be the capitalist priest?

I'm not sure who the priests would be played by- but the inquisition roles would be filled by the IRS.

don't get me started on SUVs dougie......i curse approximately 10-13 single Hollywood-type 20 something women(mostly) and men riding alone in SUVs on the way to work every a.m.......dirty looks and spitting on tires......i need a valium

True, Gee, we're all guilty. But I will never in a million years buy an SUV unless I buy a ranch in Montana, and even then, I would get a pickup truck. Sorry to raise your blood pressure there, Patrick. I've tried cutting back on disposable crap too.