George Carlin said, "If you think there is a solution, you are part of the problem."
Many of the problems humanity is faced with today, including consumer behaviour contributing to the destruction of the life support system planet Earth provides, don't have solutions.
That is because such structures are flawed from the beginning, and cannot be rehabilitated.
No amount of green, ethical, or conscious consumerism will turn things around. But they will maintain the old order and make profit in the meantime.
What we need are new ways of doing things, recognizing that sometimes the new thing is an old thing.
Like living more locally, growing some of your own food, reducing our expectations and demands on the environment, and living simpler, slower, more wholesome lives.
We used to do all these things, but gave them up in trade for unlimited consumption of things that didn't make life much better, but did elicit some temporary good feelings, and elevate our social status.
Likewise with the way we work, our healthcare and education complexes, and the way we govern ourselves. There is no solution that leave these rotted structures intact.
Thinking so only delays much need action.
Those that think the status quo can be gussied up to work for regular people, and that will bring peace and prosperity to all, should consider carefully what George said.
We need wholesale, people-powered change, and the sooner the better.
Yes, I have come to the same conclusion too with regards to the system/structure itself creating all these negative outcomes. It is just inherently build into the system/structure and there is no "fixing it". We are going to have to create a new system that inherently produces positive outcomes for all peoples and the environment. A complete system re-design is needed based on what works and what doesn't work, and not on some existing political theory (check out Peter Joseph's Revolution Now Podcast as he presents these ideas in a very intelligent and researched based way).
ReplyDeleteLiving more simply is a very good place to start. In the book, The Day the World Stops Shopping, it references a study done by sufficiency researcher Maren Ingrid Kropfeld which looked at four kinds of people that resist mainstream consumer habits to see how effective they were at reducing their environmental impact. These were environmentally conscious consumers, frugals, tightwads, and voluntary simplifiers. The conclusion was that simplifiers "had far and away the most success at reducing their impact." They were about twice as effective as tightwads (the second-place group). Frugals and green consumers didn't reduce their impact at all.
Green Consumers = folks trying to live green lifestyles (I fit into that category, but now I know better)
Frugals = folks who take pleasure in saving money
Tightwads = folks who hate spending money (that was my Father who grew up in the great depression and who I now wish I had emulated more since I probably wouldn't have to be a wage slave)
Voluntary Simplifiers = folks who actively choose to consume less (my new goal, but still struggle with)
Doreen USA Florida
Thank you for your comment. It covers a lot of things I have been thinking about over the years.I like the different categories - they make sense to me.
DeleteWe will be looking for "The Day The World Stops Shopping" (great title). And the Revolution Now Podcast. Appreciate your recommendations.
- Gregg