Consumerism

Now instead of going to church on Sunday you can go to Walmart. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. The Walmart sermon is “Falling prices!”. Choose your religion, Walmart, Target , Home Depot and don't forget Micky Dee's for your holy sacra mental Big Mac. Pass the donation basket. You can put it all on your Visa card. And can you ever remember the congregation breaking down the doors to the church in a frantic stampede with a security guard as a sacrifice? Walmarts sermon is far more popular.

Consumerism & Conservation

Consumerism - The problem no one wants to hear about.

Conservation -The solution no one wants to consider.

The two are diametrically opposed.

Corporations rely on consumption to make a profit. The higher the consumption the higher the profit. Amazon, Walmart, Target and the rest.

“Bigfoot” Bill Gates with a carbon footprint the size of North America declares “I'm the solution to global warming”. Gates has done virtually nothing to solve climate change. He has not set an example for others to follow. Gates is a prime example of what is wrong in the world today. Do less than 1% of humans have the right to destroy the planet? Gates thinks so. So do Musk, Bezos, and our government.

https://nypost.com/2023/02/09/bill-gates-defends-private-jet-habit-despite-climate-activism/

“'By the gold standard of funding Climeworks to do direct air capture that far exceeds my family’s carbon footprint, and I spend billions of dollars on climate innovation. So, you know, should I stay at home and not come to Kenya and learn about farming and malaria?” an annoyed Gates responded.”

Gates claims he is going to Kenya to learn about farming and malaria. Isn't that something he could do over the internet? Zoom? Does he need to learn which end of a shovel to use to spread cowshit on the field? Maybe he thinks the bullshit he's spreading by his mouth will work as fertilizer. Sorry Bill, it won't work.

I can understand flying there to get bit by a malaria infested mosquito. Not possible via Zoom. I also don't think he plans on getting bit to contract malaria. He'll be wearing OFF as cologne. So what's the point? One would think that with all the research already done on malaria he could find the answers there. He's probably tired of Windows crashing.

Then he portrays himself as a Savior by Climeworks wiping his ass of methane emissions so he can continue to justify his enormous carbon footprint.

Global warming or Climate change?

Changing the issue to mass extinction might be a way to get peoples attention.

Global warming or climate change. Take your pick. It's real. Global warming refers to a man-made cause. Climate change refers to a natural event the planet cycles through. Climate is a chaotic system where a small change can lead to unpredictable results. Predictions of future temperatures are at best a guess but the fact that temperature is rising rapidly are enough warning that immediate action is required.Some people are going to have to have a Category 10 hurricane run over them before they believe either one. The important thing is that either one will make the world a far more difficult place for humans and animals to inhabit, and eventually impossible. Sea level rise will displace billions of people and cause incalculable damage to food supplies and shipping chains since shipping ports will be destroyed and the majority of people live in coastal regions. The impact of the climates significance will begin in earnest with food shortages. Crops adapted to certain areas will no longer grow because of changes in temperature and rainfall. Marine life will attempt to adapt to changing water temperature and salinity. These parts of the cycle are in the beginning stages and will get far worse in the very near future. Technology will not save the day as is being promised.

Wants and needs are no longer separate. A “want” has become a “need”. Society has been led into this belief system that more and latest is better. Product quality has been adjusted from lasting products to disposable ones to support this. A high turnover rate from lower quality benefits corporations. Quality is now based on warranty periods which are calculated by reliability engineering. At one time products were designed to last well past the warranty periods, now they are intentionally designed to fail shortly after the warranty expires. One component is all that is required to fail and the consumer is forced to buy new because products are also made to be unrepairable. Disposable in a word.

Retail shelves are filled with junk which are “wants” not needs. Consumerism is what our society is now based on as a fundamental for our debt based economy. Consumerism is also the driving force of ecocide, the destruction of the planet. In less than 100 years the industrial revolution has brought the planet to the verge of destruction. Wisdom, and common sense have been replaced with greed, narcissistic behavior and a continuous want for more. Over the last 60 years, we as a society, have been programmed unknowingly and unwittingly into this behavior. The want for more and better things has in actuality become an addiction to material things.

Water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution and now even space pollution are effecting the planet. Technology is a double edged sword currently with the “bad” side razor sharp and the “good” blunt. It would be possible to reverse (dull the bad side and sharpen the good) but not by increased reliance on technology, but by reduced reliance. Increased technology will only increase ecocide as has been shown over the past 100 years.

The immediate solution to ecocide, one which would have an immediate and substantial effect would be reduced consumption of consumer goods. Instead of reduction in consumption the US government is advocating INCREASED consumption by the “ green energy policies” which are anything but “green”. The green energy policies are based and rely upon increasing consumption in order to maintain the present economic system, which is on the verge of collapse. The policy is designed to keep corporations happy not the Earth.

The pursuit of wealth and goods has been a major cause in the lack of empathy and compassion in society. Status is based upon wealth, not intelligence or compassion. The less money the lower the status of the individual. Money however, is acquired by lack of compassion for others, so it is a main reason for the current problems of society. Homeless people are looked upon as less worthy than others because of lack of money and possessions. Mental illness and drugs are blamed as the cause. While this may be true in some cases the economic system is rarely if ever mentioned as a cause. Our medical system (industry is a better term) is touted as the best in the world. Both the reasons typically stated are "medical" in nature. Obama care was medical care for all. So why aren't they being treated? Maybe they aren't crazy drug addicts? Blame the victim is the battle cry of today.

Your credit score determines how worthy a citizen you are. Keeping your credit card maxed out ensures your worth.

Reducing consumption doesn't mean reduced standard living. It can actually improve it. Americans have gone from one person working one job to support a family, to two people working and going into debt in the last 40 years. There isn't just one cause to be sure, but over consumption is one of the greatest causes of debt.

An economic system based on consumption and debt causes more problems than just ecocide. It leads to greater poverty, increased debt and class warfare. It inevitably leads to separation into haves and have nots. Politicians are not capable making the decisions required for solving the problems facing humanity today. Politicians are only concerned with being reelected, pacifying their constituents and promising people that things are going to keep getting better and better. They are short sighted and irrational, focused only on maintaining power to satisfy their ego. Maintaining position and power necessitates keeping corporations happy because they are the ones funding elections.

War is the ideal form of consumerism because munitions are completely “disposable” as well as the implements which deliver them (that includes the soldiers). And costly. Then there is the rebuilding of what was destroyed. The military budget is now the main burden on the economy.

Even some CEOs support the view that consumption is a driving force to ecocide. However the conclusion that they reach is wrong in thier belief that consumption can increase indefinitely.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/renewable-exec-relentless-consumption-driving-125617614.html

From the above article -

"Trevor Neilson:

The basic situation is that the world is choking on the waste that we've produced. You cited some of the numbers, and a way to think about it is that by 2050, we're going to have more plastics in the ocean than fish."

Plastic isn't very nutritional. Fish are. What he is proposing however is recycling waste into more carbon based fuel which will only damage the environment more.

People in the world have the power to begin the reversal of the climate change catastrophe. Government is not going to do it for us. The US in particular is to blame for the crisis. The US points the finger at China for blame when it was the US who shipped manufacturing from America to China in order to escape environmental regulations, and increase profits by cheap labor. The EU followed suit. Now the Chinese bear the blame for CO2 emissions while supplying the goods the US and Europe consume.

Individuals can make a major impact on climate change simply by not consuming as much. During the second world war rationing was enforced in order to support the war machine. Now, rather than fighting Nazi Germany we are fighting a war against our planet collapsing and civilization with it. The US government is not even considering lowering consumption- it is in fact encouraging increased consumption. Soon consumption will be reduced by shortages in raw materials and then in food, water and essentials. The wealthy will not suffer at first but the effects will be felt from the poorest to the wealthy as time passes and climate deteriorates. Eventually no one will be spared. A choice can be made now if enough individuals decide to begin the reversal to stop the inevitable collapse. Procrastination is no longer an option. The longer things continue on the current path, the more drastic the consequences for all. Mass extinctions.