Kind of an inflamitory title I know but I figure I should say something.
The evil of which I speak is consumerism. I know I've written about this before but it came up again recently. I was out and about with a friend and they were talking about going to Wal-mart. I spoke up about Wal-mart being a bad thing and that I don't shop there. They asked about a situation where I could only get what I wanted from Wal-mart, what would I do? I told them I'd do without. I spoke about my desire to support local small business owners and that I'm willing to make such a small sacrifice as going without some things if it means that I'd have to shop at Wal-mart.
It seemed like I was speaking some foreign language. Their reaction was kind of puzzling to me. It doesn't seem like that big a deal to do without something that I don't really need in order to follow my principles. Oh well.
So they asked me what I would do if it was something for my child and the only place I could get it was Wal-mart. I told them that I'd have to explain to my child that they would have do without. Blasphemy, it seems.
There are so many things that people pine for, beg, borrow and steal for yet very little of which is really necessary. My father is constantly going on about NEEDING a new 42" plasma TV. It seems that his 32" TV just isn't doing the job. It bothers him that he doesn't have this new, better, bigger TV. I think that this is a very common condition because corporations have been very effective in conditioning our society to think that we are our possessions. We live in a society that is being buried by debt, bankruptcies are at all time highs and the gap between the rich and the poor constantly growing. We keep being told that if we don't have the latest gadget or the bigget doohickey we are a lesser person. I know homeless people who have cellphones but don't have food to eat or a roof over their head. A cellphone!
Wal-mart is just one of many and has become something of the whipping boy by those of us who are critical of such large corporate power, influence and greed. Wal-mart gets a large proportion of its products from China which is a country clearly documented as violating human rights on a grand scale. They were caught and penalized a few years ago for trading with the Sudan which was under a trade embargo at the time. I find it amazing that people think I'm the one thats nuts for not wanting to shop at a store that destroys towns, abuses its staff and supports inhumane regimes around the world. All because its much more important to have that cheap pack of tube socks or portable DVD player rather than taking a stand and saying that human life is more important than my owning some piece of superfluous shit that in reality means nothing to me.
Corporations try to tell us that we are what we consume. If I wear a Nike logo I'm athletic. If I drink a Starbucks grande latte I'm somehow sophisticated and discerning. Its all nonesense. If I wear Nike it doesn't make me athletic it simply says I'm an overweight guy who wears a shirt made in Indonesia. If I drink a Starbucks coffee it means that I'm stupid enough to spend over $3 for a friggin' coffee. Corporations are actively marketing towards children because they know that if they can ingrain within them the idea that they are what they buy then they are guaranteed profits because children are unable to think critically. Of course many adults simply refuse to think critically as well. Its okay to ask questions, tough questions.
I guess that that is why I get stupified looks when I suggest that I might ask my child to do without something unnecessary if it means not perpetuating our present consumerism model for society.
Of course I'm stupified by the fact that people are completely and utterly unwilling to look beyond their own nose and begin to look at that bigger picture.
1 comment:
Just to add to your discussion, there is nothing available at Walmart that is exclusive to them. They are not innovative in any way, they are just better at selling for less by finding cheaply manufactured products and they have a huge infrastructure behind themselves that allows them to take a loss finacially while they put the competition out of business. So to your friend who looks stupified when you say you are willing to go with out, I say if you can't go without at least take the time to look around and see if what you want is sold by a local independant business. People just go to Walmart because it's easy, cheap, and we've been branded into thinking of them first.
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