Consumerism is out of control

Hugh Freaking Dillon

chadwick wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

chadwick wrote:

hell, i wish i had money to be a consumer. there's a lot of things i need but i do without. no i would not wait in line during early morning hours in very cold weather to get inside a new store. again, i'd do without before putting up with that kind of bullshit.

but what if they sold a teenage mutant ninja turtles vcr?

i despise the teenage mutant ninja jerkwater c.suckers
yes... repugnant

unacceptable on a stellar scale
yes one could purchase a teenage m.n.t. vcr player & use it as target practice, set aflame, run over with a old amc pacer or dodge dart or a new cadillac suv

fuck teenage m.n.t. & fuck a bunch of vcr players

I was only making a joke about your Dora tv!

chadwick

^ haha dora tv
funny stuff that tv

wish i still had it

hell dude sometimes i guess i miss sarcasm
i actually was thinking you are into the teenage turtles or something
i was like...wtf, HFD?
gimmie that turtle ninja vcr
i'm gonna fill it fulla gasoline & bottlerockets

chadwick

^^^ wait... i can't afford both gasoline & bottlerockets
heaven forbid

fucked over again

kenny olav

I saw Occupy Wall Street firsthand last November, about a week before it was shut down. It was an absolutely pathetic operation. I'm all for the anarcho-communist revolution they wanted, but guess who isn't? Most people. There were only a hundred or so people at OWS that day, and meanwhile, there were half a million people uptown buying all the bullshit money can buy. People will never understand what the consequences of this endless consumption will be until the shit completely hits the fan. Human civilization is on a path to destruction, and there's nothing that can be done to stop it.

But yet I can still enjoy this mug of coffee and plastic cup of strawberry-banana yogurt I'm currently enjoying.

even flow - question mark

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

So a new Ikea opened up yesterday in Winnipeg. The second largest one in Canada. This city has been buzzing about this almost as much as when the Jets were coming back. They were allowing people to start lining up beginning at 12am yesterday morning (Tuesday night/Wed morning). EIGHT HUNDRED PEOPLE LINED UP AT MIDNIGHT IN -35 DEGREE WEATHER.

EIGHT HUNDRED.

To buy furniture you have to put together yourself.

It's a STORE. It's not a one-time burlesque show. It will be there for EVER. And people brought their kids and slept in their cars in the freezing cold to be the first to buy stuff.

Makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about how disgusting that is.

Fewer people camped out for Occupy Wall Street. Yep. that's where my city's priorities are. BUY BUY BUY. :fp:

I camped out all night long for World Series tickets the first year the Blue Jays got to it.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

even flow - question mark wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

So a new Ikea opened up yesterday in Winnipeg. The second largest one in Canada. This city has been buzzing about this almost as much as when the Jets were coming back. They were allowing people to start lining up beginning at 12am yesterday morning (Tuesday night/Wed morning). EIGHT HUNDRED PEOPLE LINED UP AT MIDNIGHT IN -35 DEGREE WEATHER.

EIGHT HUNDRED.

To buy furniture you have to put together yourself.

It's a STORE. It's not a one-time burlesque show. It will be there for EVER. And people brought their kids and slept in their cars in the freezing cold to be the first to buy stuff.

Makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about how disgusting that is.

Fewer people camped out for Occupy Wall Street. Yep. that's where my city's priorities are. BUY BUY BUY. :fp:

I camped out all night long for World Series tickets the first year the Blue Jays got to it.

totally different. that's tickets to something that is an event. something that is limited. this shit can be bought today or next year. I've camped out for tickets many times, and it was fun. and if I hadn't done that, fun or not, I wouldn't have gotten tickets.

Jason P

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

chadwick wrote:

hell, i wish i had money to be a consumer. there's a lot of things i need but i do without. no i would not wait in line during early morning hours in very cold weather to get inside a new store. again, i'd do without before putting up with that kind of bullshit.

but what if they sold a teenage mutant ninja turtles vcr?

Is Micky Mouse an option?

Must be at least a 15" screen to boot.

riotgrl

Jeanwah wrote:

riotgrl wrote:

Unfortunately, our economy is completely based on consumerism. If you put an end to the spending then you destroy our economy.

What you are saying here is the media's defense for people to go out and consume in order for our failing economy to stay afloat. But it's simply not true. What exactly happened after the Great Depression? Were folks urged to spend the little that they had in order to "save" what was left of an economy? NO. People saved everything they had, reused everything, made use of everything, saved every last bit and helped one another. "Buying" the fact that we have to spend when we're not in good shape financially, due to a struggling economy, is nothing but the gov't telling you to go more into debt to save the Feds ASSES. Corporations and big companies, with their tax breaks for offshoring work, paying for slave labor in other parts of the world, paying Americans lower pay while the CEOs get deeper pockets with profits, it's all part of the scam called our federal government. Republicans passed into law AGAIN that if American businesses did business outside America, they would receive tax breaks. Corrupt politicians put their money into oversees bank accounts where they don't have to pay taxes on it. And there's so much more; all you have to do is research.

The Feds want us to think that spending our money and constantly consuming will strengthen the economy, that it's up to us. And it's pure bullshit. Consuming is doing nothing but littering the earth with more plastic, polluting our air and making us all go broke. And since we're in the Christmas season, may we all think about why exactly we're wrapped up in the hype of the next throwaway item, the defective new iphone or the holiday sweater that's going to get tossed. Be conscious of your spending habits and don't get wrapped up in the commercialism and consumerism of the holiday.

riotgrl wrote:

When will we realize that we have a collective, not an individualistic nature, and that we NEED each other? This sense of loss and loneliness cannot be filled in this way. Caring for each other and working together have been ingrained in our DNA for the past 3 million years, we can't just buy our way out of the things we need.

I agree!

Yes, this is exactly what I meant but my coffee hadn't kicked in yet! Although, I would argue that you're dead on in regards to the Great Depression but since the 1950s? I'm not sure that our economy isn't mostly based on consuming. For the most part, our economy during the Great Depression was primarily secondary sector jobs (i.e., manufacturing) with a fairly large percentage still working primary sector (i.e., agriculture). However, today we have shifted to tertiary, quaternary, and quinary sector jobs (i.e., mostly service) which would mean that we have to consume that product or service to continually invigorate the economy. But I like the way you think Jeanwah!

Cosmo

I Tried to save the trees, Bought a platsic bag. The bottom fell out... It was a piece of crap.
Saw it on the tube, Bought it on the phone. Now you're home alone with a piece of crap.
I tried to plug in it, I tried to turn it on. When I got it home, It was a piece of crap.
Got it from a friend On him you can depend. I found out in the end It was a piece of crap.
I'm trying to save the trees, I saw it on TV. They cut the forest down To build a piece of crap.
I went back to the store, They gave me four more. The guy told me at the door, "It's a piece of crap".

adropinthepark

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

So a new Ikea opened up yesterday in Winnipeg. The second largest one in Canada. This city has been buzzing about this almost as much as when the Jets were coming back. They were allowing people to start lining up beginning at 12am yesterday morning (Tuesday night/Wed morning). EIGHT HUNDRED PEOPLE LINED UP AT MIDNIGHT IN -35 DEGREE WEATHER.

Sounds like a good time for a guerrilla screening of Fight Club.

Something similar came up in a discussion the other day. The person I was talking to didn't think there was any purchase she would camp out for. I said I would absolutely camp out at Seatac if one of the airlines was having some 'Black Friday' style sales.

We all have our deals. And, for your Ikea example, they were all going to at least walk away with a $75 gift card. I'm sure people have worked in those conditions for less.

I understand being repulsed by consumerism. I have skipped Christmas with my family in the past due to the excess of it all. Which, in the end, worked in my favor(?). Since, my family would rather have me around than spend a lot of money on me. :think:

Jeanwah

Cosmo wrote:

I Tried to save the trees, Bought a platsic bag. The bottom fell out... It was a piece of crap.
Saw it on the tube, Bought it on the phone. Now you're home alone with a piece of crap.
I tried to plug in it, I tried to turn it on. When I got it home, It was a piece of crap.
Got it from a friend On him you can depend. I found out in the end It was a piece of crap.
I'm trying to save the trees, I saw it on TV. They cut the forest down To build a piece of crap.
I went back to the store, They gave me four more. The guy told me at the door, "It's a piece of crap".

Piece of CRAP!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2cQvwg0N4

DS1119

If people want to wait outside a store for however long they want to do it I see no problem with that.

vant0037

DS1119 wrote:

If people want to wait outside a store for however long they want to do it I see no problem with that.

I think he's more getting at what it may or may not say about the people who are willing to stand outside the store for that long. Sure they should have the freedom to do as they wish, but why is it that important to camp out just for the opportunity to buy more stuff? What does that say about our values as a culture?

And yes, we 10c members are complicit too. (see: overpriced backpacks).

chadwick

i could use a new car, a new place of my very own & a new set of carhartt bibs

JOEJOEJOE

vant0037 wrote:

DS1119 wrote:

If people want to wait outside a store for however long they want to do it I see no problem with that.

I think he's more getting at what it may or may not say about the people who are willing to stand outside the store for that long. Sure they should have the freedom to do as they wish, but why is it that important to camp out just for the opportunity to buy more stuff? What does that say about our values as a culture?

And yes, we 10c members are complicit too. (see: overpriced backpacks).

The gentleman from Minnesota raises a good point!

Maybe I am too idealisitc, but imagine if everyone who waited in line instead opted to do 8 hours of charity work!

I wonder how many people didn't vote in the recent election because they didn't want to wait in line for 30 minutes?

brianlux

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Maybe I am too idealisitc, but imagine if everyone who waited in line instead opted to do 8 hours of charity work!

:thumbup:

As an added bonus, charity work is great for ones outlook on life!

Cosmo

vant0037 wrote:

And yes, we 10c members are complicit too. (see: overpriced backpacks).

...
Slightly off topic... but the Patagonia Refugio pack is $85.00 and similar to competative packs by The North Face.
http://www.rockymountaintrail.com/detail.aspx?pid=100121&&ocid=441578&coid=338110&utm_medium=DataFeed&utm_source=Pricegrabber&utm_content=PatagoniaRefugio_Pack_28LBlack-155
...
About the same price as the PJ20 Pack (same Model).
It becomes over priced when the inventory is gone.
...
But, I do agree with you assessment of our being a culture of buying shit.

JOEJOEJOE

brianlux wrote:

JOEJOEJOE wrote:

Maybe I am too idealisitc, but imagine if everyone who waited in line instead opted to do 8 hours of charity work!

:thumbup:

As an added bonus, charity work is great for ones outlook on life!

and, when mandated by the court system, it helps some people avoid jail time! :?

Jason P

chadwick wrote:

i could use a new car, a new place of my very own & a new set of carhartt bibs

If I win the lotery, done and done.

As a fellow lumberjack, I got to spread the wealth.

And judging by your avatar, I believe we my have rubbed elbows at some point in time.

dancepartner

Riotgirl said it al; "When will we realize that we have a collective, not an individualistic nature, and that we NEED each other? This sense of loss and loneliness cannot be filled in this way. Caring for each other and working together have been ingrained in our DNA for the past 3 million years, we can't just buy our way out of the things we need."
Mr. Olav chimed in with a fatalistic view that I would tag on here cept I'm still post-challenged!