Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The Story of Stuff

Ok, anyone who knows me knows that I hate the huge "green push" that has been going on in our society as of late. I don't hate it because I want to destroy the planet - but I hate it because of the arrogance and presumption and fear-mongering behind the most vocal 'greenies' out there. Do I believe global warming exists? Well, sort of, but not in the way it is being portrayed in the media. Do I believe that we can do something about it? Well, not exactly. I do however believe that we ought to be better stewards of what God has given us - and so in that vein, I am more 'green' than people might expect.

It is in that regard that I share this with you... 'big ups' to This Desert Life for alerting us to its existence.





I recommend watching this video with your propaganda detectors firmly in place. There is plenty to go around in this video, particularly in the first two sections of the video. It's not that I deny the premises in and of themselves, but the drama is a bit over the top and the numbers only tell half the story.

That being said, the sections on distribution and consumption are very, very good, and the last section to a lesser degree - a bit more fear mongering than I think is appropriate... but overall this is a helpful bit of info, something I think people should watch, though with a certain level of caution.

To the dismay of my wife, it does bolster my desire and my argument to have the cable shut off in our home (I really just don't want to pay for it)... however, that is not a hill I am willing to die on. There are much bigger fish to fry.

Enjoy, and do feel free to leave your thoughts.

PS - If I may point out ONE major nit-pick in the very beginning of the film - our narrator says passionately that "it is the governments job to TAKE CARE OF US" - I have to firmly jump ship right there... this is not and never has been the job of the government, and this is the major reason why we are in such dire straights economically as a nation... but that's enough about that for now.

4 comments:

Scott Pearce said...

She must be extremely 'right-brained' because she tilts her head to her right A LOT.

I wholly agree about the governement nit-pick.

One of the best cures for Stuff accumulation is to move or help people move--especially people who have much more Stuff than you--or help them move twice in two years.

Disconnect your cable! Do it!

Brenda said...

Would it be enough to disconnect or not have cable in your home? If it's an objection to that type of consumerism wouldn't you need to avoid viewing it when out in social situations or at friends' homes, etc?
And the internet has all sorts of ads and supported content.
Where would you draw the line?

Unless of course it's just a matter of not wanting to spend your money on it.. and not really any type of moral objection.

And I thought the video was very well done.. after the first two categories. Thanks for sharing! :)

Greg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Greg said...

I'm not suggesting anyone needs to shut off their cable.

I posted the video because I thought it was interesting and somewhat helpful to think about these things in a way that perhaps we haven't thought about them before.

I want to shut off my cable because its a lot of money that we could be putting to better use. The ideas presented in the video are just sprinkles on the ice cream of my main desire.

I don't think we can avoid the media presentation 100%. We would have to pluck out our eyes. But we don't have to react. We don't have to give in to the need to shop every time we are bored or don't feel good about ourselves. We just need to be able to hold onto our 'stuff' with a very light grasp, and not be driven by it. Christians in America are as guilty of materialism as anyone else - myself included.