The Story of Stuff is an extremely well made, concise video from Annie Leonard and the good people over at Free Range Studios (also of Meatrix Fame), exposing the pitfalls of our uber-consumer society. This video has been around for some time, but I felt it deserved it's own blog post today since the NYT felt it deserved a full article in their lovely publication. The article is about how schools are using The Story of Stuff to encourage conversations in classrooms around the nation about rampant consumerism and its relation to environmental and social ills. Amazingly, most texbooks still make no mention of this fact, and at least one modern civics textbook mentioned in the article has only 3 paragraphs on global warming. In other words, this video is sorely needed, and I am glad it is getting the viewership it deserves. If you haven't seen it yet, please check it out for yourself:
I have said it before and I'll say it again: I have no inherent problem with "stuff." I don't necessarily share some environmentalists view that all stuff is bad. I happen to own several things (ie. "stuff") including but not limited to my bike, my computer, my comfortable bed and my snowboard, that I very much enjoy. In fact, while I am slightly more embarrassed about this, I even have a large TV that I have no immediate plans of giving up and that makes me very happy (especially when the Lakers are winning in HD).
That being said, buying stuff for the sake of having stuff, letting old stuff go by the wayside and throwing it in the trash so you can have new stuff, or just in general buying more stuff than you can possibly ever use is NOT GOOD. It is not good for society, it is not good for the planet, and it is not good for our wallets. "Stuff," like everything else, needs to be consumed in moderation.
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San Andreas (2015)
8 years ago
3 comments:
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.
Industrial Society is destroying necessary things [Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land] for making unnecessary things [consumer goods].
"Growth Rate" - "Economy Rate" - "GDP"
These are figures of "Ecocide".
These are figures of "crimes against Nature".
These are figures of "destruction of Ecosystems".
These are figures of "Insanity, Abnormality and Criminality".
The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.
The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature [Animals, Trees, Air, Water and Land].
Destroy the system that has killed all ecosystems.
Destroy the society that plunders, exploits and kills earth 365 days of the year and then celebrates Earth Day.
Chief Seattle of the Indian Tribe had warned the destroyers of ecosystems way back in 1854 :
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you realize that you cannot eat money.
To read the complete article please follow any of these links.
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment
sushil_yadav
Delhi, India
The definitive critique to the Story of Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY
Wow dude -- if that really is the definitive critique of this video, looks like we are in pretty good shape to start changing the way we view resources in this country.
I don't have the space (or time) to critique this "definitive critique" here, but if anyone is interested in more info they can certainly follow the link above and read the comments in the youtube section. Let's just say that the video is, at best, an oversimplification of economic reality, and at worst, blatantly false and misleading.
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