I'm a teen hippy, and I hate how America just consumes nowadays. All they care about is money and technology and having the nicest stuff, when some people don't even get enough to eat in a day. I wish they would quit being so blind sided by all this..I blame the media... :mickey:
My mom tried to get me to buy a coat today when I insisted I don't need one and already have two. It's beginning to bother me so much... all this conspicuous consumption. BLEH.
Every time she tries to buy you something you don't need, ask her to give you the money instead and start a savings account at a local credit union.
Why do you blame the media? Are we not able or willing to think for ourselves rather than being lead by the nose and spoon-fed?
We're a nation of disposing things. People don't take care of anything. Disposable cars and even property is disposable. People trash their yards with disposed things. We're a trashy nation. Seems to be an effect of consumerism. Buy buy buy. Pawn what stuff you grow tired of and buy buy buy more. In the meanwhile it's not even helping this county. Factory jobs are almost entirely gone. Many Americans (such as myself) don't like working in an office.
We have become a nation of consumers without, at the same time, being a nation of producers. Rather than realizing the value of lasting goods, we opt for the cheapest while knowing such will not last. It seems to be a form of instant gratification -- most are unwilling to make the sacrifice of a time without in exchange for the long term benefit.
Producers engineer the products with cheap components so they will not last. Intentional obsolesce.I saw it in the 80's with vehicles. After the warranty they would start falling apart. Made in the USA used to mean you were pretty much guaranteed a quality product that would last for years with maintenance and care and if it did break a repair shop would fix it. Now its cheaper to replace most products then to repair them. The extra warranty that places try to sell you is big profit maker. We've been conditioned to expect and prepare for our new purchase to break. sad
Most things can't be repaired these days without replacing a whole assembly or circuit board. There's no more component level repair, or very little. On the "extra warranty" these days, it used to be a joke, something you never needed..... now you need it if you plan on keeping something like a stove or refrigerator. I bought new appliances when I got this house and figured, "hell I don't need the add on warranty I just bought 30 year items" Wrong! Both failed at 14 months with a 12 month warranty, within a week of each other. I was lucky enough that they "grandfathered" the repairs in for me. The part for the stove would have cost more than a new stove..... the new stove would have had the exact same part in it. Tell me this shit makes any kind of logical sense. It doesn't Just a few years before this my folks sold their house and they sold it with working appliances. The refrigerator was purchased 35 years before when they bought the place, it was still running fine, but it could use a door seal. The door seal is still available at a reasonable cost and can be installed in 1/2 hour by yourself or by a repairman for a reasonable rate. The fridge was made in the USA, originally cost a reasonable amount of money and here's the kicker.... the company still made a profit. We never needed to outsource, never needed to cheap this stuff down, never needed to make this never ending, overly expensive, upgrade path to hell, except for one reason. Excessive profits for the very wealthy. That's the only reason the rest of us are caught up playing this game (for those of us that are) Excessive profits for the 1%
The "intentional obsolesence" point is legitimate -- personal computers are a prime example -- there are MANY others. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find products "Made in U.S.A" -- I attribute that to our continual demand for cheaper and cheaper goods, our desire for the latest and greatest of everything, AND the drive for a profit. The truth is that if there wasn't such demand for the junk, there would be no profit in selling it. It's also true: we have been conditioned to expect things to break -- to be beyond cost effective repair in much less than what should be an item's reasonable life. The more bells and whistles -- the greater the probability for problems. As long as we continue to buy the junk, i.e. accept and participate in the planned obsolesence program, we'll suffer the consequences of our own short-sightedness.
Not you in general, but people who walk around blindly thinking they need all this stuff to be happy. It's materialism. We don't need the best cell phone or computer or whatever when ours works just fine but they keep giving us new stuff to tempt us into buying things we don't need.
It IS materialism. We've been conditioned into believing that we "just gotta have one of those". One of the easiest ways to spark interest in a product is to show that everyone is getting one or has one. It's a bullshit advertising tactic -- but since quite a few of us swallow the bait, it works and works very well. Is that the fault of the advertiser? I think not. It's another example of our own short-sightedness and lack of ability/willingness to think for ourselves.
It's partly our fault for not being critical thinkers but the advertising agencies had many years of trial and error to perfect what tactics work. Had I not taken a 'Communications 101' type class I would not have known about the tactics marketers use to fool and suck in the potential buyers. And its not just retailers that trick us with marketing gimmicks. Government agencies, political party's and various institutions corporate and private use propaganda to trick and persuade the 'consumer'. We all need to be consumer advocates, teaching our families and friends to think critically and dissect the messages that are constantly being thrown at us.
