In my conversations with friends, we often talk
about current sales in stores and/or online. When I in my room, I would often
browse online catalogs as a procrastination technique. And a popular activity
(in middle school) is to go waste time at the mall. I used to enjoy all three
forms of consumerism.
Even before this class, I questioned the items
that I bought. It began in middle school when I started working as a babysitter
and dog walker. I finally learned about the time and strain that is behind the
cash. Since then, I started questioning what I buy. Is the item (but more often
food) really worth the time that I spent to earn the money?
Coming into this class, I thought I saw through
the marketing façade. Yes, I learned about the obsession on skinny models. Yes,
I see the targeting of kids such as my younger brother. Yet, despite all this
surface knowledge, I did not feel a part of the market. This course
acknowledges that even though we think we are smart enough to detour around the
trap of consumerism, we are and will always be consumerists. Not only is that a
part of our nature (we must consume
food and water), but this is also a part of our culture. To be American is to
be a Consumer.
This is not to say that Americans are terrible
people. No. The employees of these markets and advertising companies are also
humans. It’s not their fault. Rather, consumerism stems from our culture (as
indicated in the course title). And culture is something we can change; the
most potent form is through education. However, for this to happen, everyone must agree that they don’t want
to live in this sort of culture.
For some people, this culture is the air they
breathe (celebs...). Especially with international students and people from industrialized
countries, consumerism is a definition of class or caste. I speculate that this
disease of consumerism spread through globalization. However, this is someone
else’s culture and country. Even in our own country, there are those who are
born and raised to believe in the power of the brand name. I don’t think I
should inflict my beliefs (of anti-consumerism) onto them. I don’t know. And
after realizing the scale of this issue, I don’t feel like there is much I can
do to influence others. I think I change how I act now and in the future.
That was quite a depressing end… On the other
hand, there were some parts of this class that really stood out to me.
1.
Connection
to Religion/Thailand. In my religion class, I learned about how the monks are
handling the deforestation in Thailand (which is presume is for making goods to
export abroad). They ordinate trees and have very discreet signs. To put this
in perspective, nuns are not allowed to be ordained. (Women’s rights are a
whole other issue.) Also, there must be at least 10 monks present for this
ceremony to take place. And in Thailand, Buddhism is deeply ingrained in their
culture and daily lives. The signs that they write seems ordinary (like save
the trees!) but the language used allow the signs to have a second meaning: the
trees are our life. Without these trees, the forests would be gone, and so
would the lives of the Thai people living there. Quite the statement!
2. My personal research on Lumosity put in
to perspective on how items meant for health usage is marketed. This research
reminded me of when I worked at a pharmaceutical company and how statistics
were manipulated. The items that Lumosity and pharm companies sell are meant
for medical or health-related usages. Sometimes that could mean life and death.
To think that consumerism plays a role in these delicate situations made me
curious about the ethical issues involved. I want to learn more about public
health policy (in regards to marketing of drugs) and how that relates to
ethics.
3. Finally, I stared to think about the
people behind the items. The Story of
Stuff video briefly mentioned this through the idea that buying a cheap
clock may be taking a toll off of a worker. I thought about factory workers,
mostly immigrants (also another story for another time), and how by buying the cheap
products, I may be unintentionally supporting this cycle. However, I am a broke
student. I can’t afford to support
local produce and handmade gifts. And that is the worst part: I know that I am doing wrong, but I just can't afford to do right.
At this moment, the best I can do is to be an engaged consumer by supporting local businesses and spending money on experiences rather than items.
Bonus: how to change the last sentence for a better parallel structure?
Photo 1: http://www.bridalguide.com/sites/default/files/slideshow-images/engagement-ring_mrs-camera.jpg
Photo 2: http://www.mrwallpaper.com/wallpapers/City-Lights-China.jpg
Photo 3: http://cdn.lightgalleries.net/4bd5ec0733027/images/Tree_Ordination029-1.jpg
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