3 ms·

What are you doing posting here? Go do something about it instead of lamenting the end.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jokoon 8y ago
The whole consumption/advertisement/narcissism/raise-to-the-top ecosystem is non sense and yet, it's a big part of how social networks make their money. People don't want to hear about the icecaps, they just prefer to be on top of the world. Consumerism is a plague, and it's the #1 reason why it's impossible to talk about the environment. It's the elephant in the room. That article highlight the type of person I despise with passion, because it represents the vanity of humanity. Granted, it's a hobby like any other, but to me it's the most ugly part of income inequality, for what luxury represents as a whole. It's just my opinion like any other, you can disagree with it, but to me consumerism has become a political problem because it diverts our attention while making sure we don't think in terms of political responsibility.
- altairiumblue 8y ago
  Personally, I don't care for luxury items or brands. But your argument here is a mess - you despise people with passion because of their consumer choices... and you're mixing up consumerism, environment, politics and income inequality into something completely incoherent.
  - heavenlyblue 8y ago
    While my incredibly rational side tends to agree with your point, my closer-to-the-reality side tends to think that the real world doesn't exactly operate in a state where "consumerism, environment, politics and income inequality" are not mixed up already. The picture isn't clear, there isn't a single issue that makes the world as it is today purely by itself. So I would blame consumerism, together with everything else you listed - and I would strongly believe that you need to put the blame on every single one of these things at the same time.
- beatgammit 8y ago
  Buying green products is also a type of consumerism. Certain personalities gravitate toward "green" products and buy a bunch of that instead of reducing consumption (well, I guess consumption is reduced because "green" products are more expensive) for similar reasons as someone who buys other luxury goods. "Organic" and "gluten free" have become memes at this point, and people buy them without understanding what they really mean. People do things because it makes them feel good. Talking about global warming doesn't make people feel good. And it's not a political issue, it's a social one, yet we've dumped it into the realm of politics because we don't want to be responsible for it. At least now we can say "party X is at fault because they didn't support legislation Y". To truly fix a problem like global warming, we need to fix the social aspect of it. Find a way to play off people's self interest instead of making it a partisan issue. Only suggest policy changes as it relates to molding social perspective. We need to find a way for people to selfishly protect the environment, not force people to give up things they like to help someone else... There are simple living communities, but I doubt they'll reach mainstream success. Nonetheless, I think those communities success because there's a way to communicate with others in the community. If you want to help, find a way to make it "cool" to save the environment, and make a way to display that publicly as a status symbol. People are self interested, and to make significant progress generally, you need to play off that.
macawfish 8y ago
Well, evidently I'm touching a nerve, which could hopefully provoke some people into considering the connections. I'm frustrated that so much human energy and time is allocated to appeasing the fleeting insecurities of the hyperwealthy. Not just allocated to it, devoted to it. Meanwhile, there's very critical work to be done that isn't allocated shit on any meaningful scale. We as humans only have so much time in our days. The luxury goods sector, to me, is a wasteful allocation of energy. And I know people on the other side of the pyramid scheme busting their asses to take care of kids and pay the rent at the same time. It highly irritates me that this is where their hard work is aimed. At the top of society,the owner class is focused on fricking Prada? That really gets my goat. The ability for people to excessively obsess over logos and funnel money at them is enabled by the excessive exploitation of working people.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

The whole consumption/advertisement/narcissism/raise-to-the-top ecosystem is non sense and yet, it's a big part of how social networks make their money. People don't want to hear about the icecaps, they just prefer to be on top of the world. Consumerism is a plague, and it's the #1 reason why it's impossible to talk about the environment. It's the elephant in the room. That article highlight the type of person I despise with passion, because it represents the vanity of humanity. Granted, it's a hobby like any other, but to me it's the most ugly part of income inequality, for what luxury represents as a whole. It's just my opinion like any other, you can disagree with it, but to me consumerism has become a political problem because it diverts our attention while making sure we don't think in terms of political responsibility.

altairiumblue 8y ago
Personally, I don't care for luxury items or brands. But your argument here is a mess - you despise people with passion because of their consumer choices... and you're mixing up consumerism, environment, politics and income inequality into something completely incoherent.
- heavenlyblue 8y ago
  While my incredibly rational side tends to agree with your point, my closer-to-the-reality side tends to think that the real world doesn't exactly operate in a state where "consumerism, environment, politics and income inequality" are not mixed up already. The picture isn't clear, there isn't a single issue that makes the world as it is today purely by itself. So I would blame consumerism, together with everything else you listed - and I would strongly believe that you need to put the blame on every single one of these things at the same time.
beatgammit 8y ago
Buying green products is also a type of consumerism. Certain personalities gravitate toward "green" products and buy a bunch of that instead of reducing consumption (well, I guess consumption is reduced because "green" products are more expensive) for similar reasons as someone who buys other luxury goods. "Organic" and "gluten free" have become memes at this point, and people buy them without understanding what they really mean. People do things because it makes them feel good. Talking about global warming doesn't make people feel good. And it's not a political issue, it's a social one, yet we've dumped it into the realm of politics because we don't want to be responsible for it. At least now we can say "party X is at fault because they didn't support legislation Y". To truly fix a problem like global warming, we need to fix the social aspect of it. Find a way to play off people's self interest instead of making it a partisan issue. Only suggest policy changes as it relates to molding social perspective. We need to find a way for people to selfishly protect the environment, not force people to give up things they like to help someone else... There are simple living communities, but I doubt they'll reach mainstream success. Nonetheless, I think those communities success because there's a way to communicate with others in the community. If you want to help, find a way to make it "cool" to save the environment, and make a way to display that publicly as a status symbol. People are self interested, and to make significant progress generally, you need to play off that.

macawfish 8y ago

Well, evidently I'm touching a nerve, which could hopefully provoke some people into considering the connections. I'm frustrated that so much human energy and time is allocated to appeasing the fleeting insecurities of the hyperwealthy. Not just allocated to it, devoted to it. Meanwhile, there's very critical work to be done that isn't allocated shit on any meaningful scale. We as humans only have so much time in our days. The luxury goods sector, to me, is a wasteful allocation of energy. And I know people on the other side of the pyramid scheme busting their asses to take care of kids and pay the rent at the same time. It highly irritates me that this is where their hard work is aimed. At the top of society,the owner class is focused on fricking Prada? That really gets my goat. The ability for people to excessively obsess over logos and funnel money at them is enabled by the excessive exploitation of working people.