For Better or Worse

[anarkon]

We have reached a point in history where corporations, through branding, advertising and shear economic power, exercise an inordinate amount of influence over our day to day lives. 51 of the world’s 100 largest economic entities are corporations, the average consumer is exposed to more than 850 commercial messages a day (conservative estimate), and just 1% of all of the things we buy are still in use 6 months after their date of sale. To change these imbalances and resulting problems we need to step beyond our role as consumers and reclaim our identity as engaged citizens in a democracy.

How do we even begin to do this? Do corporations really have that much influence?

[BrandX]

Reclaiming the mantle of power from corporations will be the primary and epic struggle for the generation finally that attempts to disrupt our path of unsustainable consumption. America's rebellious gift to the world of individual freedom from the abusive and centralized power of the few over the many--our fabulous concept of democracy--has been hijacked. We are nearly back where we started, with a handful of giants yielding extraordinary power over the many--and the many reduced to unrelenting powerlessness.  We clawed ourselves free from a monarchy to establish a democracy only to devolve into a corporatocracy. This current political system and culture aggressively vilifies and marginalizes those who dare speak aloud about the need for change as communists, anarchists and heretics.

Part of the problem is that we don't seem to have a constructive vision for what lay on the other side. What's next, and what is the cost of not disrupting the current system? That seems a topic worthy of discussion. Given the opportunity to replace the current system, what would we replace it with? Is there a compelling and just vision that can guide us and motivate us in mass to fight toward change? 

[inkhead]

Is it coincidental that naked people with the least material possessions seem the happiest?  e.g: the isolated Amazonian Indian tribe in Brazil recently featured by msnbc.
They've previously had no contact with anyone outside of their tribe.  "Gather only what you need for today"--their core premise of life--is being threatened by the encroaching destruction of the Amazon/modern corporate greed. Other than that one problem, this tribe is content. They are peaceful, loving, innocent, happy, and naked. 

We've all heard of the Eskimo tribes who were completely content until some well-intentioned people introduced televisions to their communities.  Now those same tribes are filled with disconted youth, substance abuse, family and marriage problems.  Suddenly it seems like a "waste of time" to break out the dog team and sled to catch a few reindeer for supper...why not just get a flashy new snow mobile, do it quicker, get back sooner, and be able to sit inside the warm house and watch more tv to see more ads, to breed more discontent, to...etc.

Trouble is, we can't go back to naked.  We've already been tainted by all that we've wanted, all that we've had.  My business depends on convincing people that they need what I have to sell--whether they do or not.  But I need to put bread on my table too.  And I want to pay for my cable service.  So if I got naked, all I'd get is cold and arrested.

[anarkon]

I actually think we can go back to "naked" but that it will take some huge disaster - natural, nuclear, or economic per say - to make that happen. What I think is sad is that we've gotten so far away from the land in western culture that we would have no clue how to sustain ourselves. For instance how many people would know how to build there own house, grow their own food, make their own clothes. Even a generation as near as my mom has a better idea of how to live in the world without being so removed from it.

What I see happening with my generation is a farther shift from local communities to a more global mode of existance. My clothes are made in Vietnam, my food is grown in Latin America and ultimately I think that shift is an unhealthy one. It takes us out of the localized community setting that humans have always operated within and makes everything that much more impersonal and distant.

[minorgrey]

What I see happening with my generation is a farther shift from local communities to a more global mode of existance. My clothes are made in Vietnam, my food is grown in Latin America and ultimately I think that shift is an unhealthy one. It takes us out of the localized community setting that humans have always operated within and makes everything that much more impersonal and distant.

I think you're going to see this change pretty soon.  I used to live in Chicago and just moved to a farming community about 3 hours south.  I did this because I saw the economic problems coming and I wanted to start learning how to be self-sufficient.  I really feel that our society is going to have to start being more reliant on the community instead of the world.

[inkhead]

    We (husband and I) are seeking ways to rely less on corporate America in the urban setting.  For example, we grow much of our produce in our garden plot in the community garden, as well as use our local farmers' market.  We ride our scooters (100 mpg), bicycles, use public transportation, and rent a car when we occasionally need to go a longer distance.  Most of our home's furnishings are second hand...and we're always looking for more ideas. 
   As to our society's shift to a global existence...I have a lot of hope in Obama's promise (when he becomes president!) to start taxing and penalizing large corporations who manufacture non-American.  We wouldn't be using global products, nor would our economy be so adversely effected if the Republicans hadn't made it so profitable for large corporations to move out-of-country.  Michael Moore brings that fact home so eloquently in one of his earliest documentaries.
   So I agree that a disaster would cause people to get back to the basics--our current economic upheaval has had some very positive results in that way.  But I also believe in cultural revolution.  All it takes is one generation of people to quit handing our lunch money over to the Big Corporate Bully.
 

[canner]

I agree.  The more naked you are the happier you'll be.  Most of your corporate influence comes from your peers because you always want what they have.  So, that makes it an individual responsibility to figure out what you need and to only buy that.  I'm almost always happy with what I have until my friends have a better one. . . then I want one because I think it will raise my quality of life to match theirs.  That seems to be human nature.  Can we really blame it on corporate America when ultimately, it's an individual choice? 

[anarkon]

Sometimes I wonder how much of "an individual choice" it actually is. Like do I CHOOSE to see that billboard telling me my life will be better with product X every day on the way to work. Can I really CHOOSE to live above advertising and corporate influence when it's so ingrained in my way of life I don't even think about it anymore?

I'd challenge everyone to document for just ONE day every time you encounter a brand name or an advertisement from the moment you wake up to the moment until you go to bed that night. In an average day I'm not sure you'd get anything else done.

For me I wake up and immediately see "westclox" on my alarm, then it's apple, epson, altec lansig, levis, converse, grape nuts, npr, etc. etc. I have to ask myself how am I defined by those brands? How do I respond to particular points of advertising? And how have I been conditioned by both?