5.15.2008

The Story of Stuff

I read about this on Marko's blog and thought I'd check it out. Very interesting. Everyone needs to view this little movie (click on pic above). If your politics lean right, you might not agree with everything, but the lessons it teaches about how ridiculous consumerism has become are lessons everyone can appreciate. Good stuff!

3 comments:

Mookie said...

Pretty interesting video. Definitely challenges our ingrained mindset!

Anonymous said...

#1 - "it's the government's job to watch out for us and to take care of us." Yikes, then we are all up a creek.

#2 - These days, loggers replant tree seedlings after they harvest.

#3 - Yes, Americans use more than their fair share of world resouces. I see nothing unethical about that. It's not as if we are stealing it, we pay for it. We are getting something we want and other nations are selling us something they either don't want or don't need. Sounds like a win/win to me.

#4 - Large companies don't move their factories to other countries for the purpose of polluting other nations. They do it to save massive amounts of money on taxes because we insist on having a government that "takes care of us"!

All that aside, it honestly was a fantastic video. In the past year, I have started making quite a few "green" and "organic" lifestyle changes. Though I don't do any of it for the sake of the planet, it's all about saving money or having a healthier family. Not that I don't care about the planet, it's just not nearly as motivating for me as is say...being a better steward of God's money and taking care of my family.

Jason

Anonymous said...

Jason, you're wrong. They do move to China in part because there is zero enforcement of environmental and safety laws in the industrial regions. Pollution control is very expensive. It's much cheaper when you can just dump your toxic chemicals in the field or vent them to the atmosphere. I've worked there... I know.

They also go because they can pay the folks $1.50/hr, work 'em for 70+ hrs per week and no OT.

And if the worker gets hurt... oh well, there are a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand just like them. Heck, even if by some miracle they did sue (and the employer were stupid enough not to pay the bribe to the court), they'd get only a pittance. Don't want to upset the western business owners, you know.

All that and I haven't even watched the video. I just grow weary of the Reep propaganda.

Bruce