How to make trillions of dollars [General]
2011 Jan 29
TV doesn't make me buy things.
The internet might..but usually not crappy things (ok well chocolate and candy ;)
I don't have cable here and donot have internet on my cell phone either.
I think a lot of people just want cheap "tasty" food and happen to like Tim's doughnuts (or whatever).
Doubt the TV is making them go there-well maybe they go there more when doughnuts are on sale, or to Dairy Queen when they are having the 50% off everything sale that is advertised??
The internet might..but usually not crappy things (ok well chocolate and candy ;)
I don't have cable here and donot have internet on my cell phone either.
I think a lot of people just want cheap "tasty" food and happen to like Tim's doughnuts (or whatever).
Doubt the TV is making them go there-well maybe they go there more when doughnuts are on sale, or to Dairy Queen when they are having the 50% off everything sale that is advertised??
2011 Jan 30
tv, internet, magazines, billboards, advertising in all forms, sales stickers in the stores, all of it makes us buy things. consciously or subconsciously. even this forum makes me go out and buy things i don't need :)
the majority of families i know personally who fall prey to notion that consuming/spending money will make my life better or make me feel more fulfilled is huge. they are hard-working, good people from all socio-economic brackets. i can understand where they are coming from. watching the news is depressing, if you then watch a comercial showing a happy, carefree family enjoying time together while they play with 'x', you then want to run out and buy 'x', just so you don't have to think about what is going on in the world for a while. the rush you can get buying something you really want feels good, but it is short lived. recognizing the purchase as something you don't need and finding another outlet in your life to get the feel-good feeling takes a lot of work.
it is a subject i think about a lot and talk a lot about. it is very important to me to live a life that involves not consuming/purchasing. hence the fact that nothing ever changes in my house because we don't shop. however, i spend more money than necessary on food and beverages. going out to eat to 2 fancy restaurants in january blew my budget and my palate and i loved it and made me feel good. i console myself weeks later with the spending by still feeling good about the meals we had.
i find it especially hard to be mindful in my choices since i live in the city and in a fantastic neighbourhood. instead of saying no all the time, i give myself permission to say yes once in a while. sometimes i wish i could be more of a blind consumer and buy more because some of it looks like fun, but i just can't get past my conscious.
the majority of families i know personally who fall prey to notion that consuming/spending money will make my life better or make me feel more fulfilled is huge. they are hard-working, good people from all socio-economic brackets. i can understand where they are coming from. watching the news is depressing, if you then watch a comercial showing a happy, carefree family enjoying time together while they play with 'x', you then want to run out and buy 'x', just so you don't have to think about what is going on in the world for a while. the rush you can get buying something you really want feels good, but it is short lived. recognizing the purchase as something you don't need and finding another outlet in your life to get the feel-good feeling takes a lot of work.
it is a subject i think about a lot and talk a lot about. it is very important to me to live a life that involves not consuming/purchasing. hence the fact that nothing ever changes in my house because we don't shop. however, i spend more money than necessary on food and beverages. going out to eat to 2 fancy restaurants in january blew my budget and my palate and i loved it and made me feel good. i console myself weeks later with the spending by still feeling good about the meals we had.
i find it especially hard to be mindful in my choices since i live in the city and in a fantastic neighbourhood. instead of saying no all the time, i give myself permission to say yes once in a while. sometimes i wish i could be more of a blind consumer and buy more because some of it looks like fun, but i just can't get past my conscious.
2011 Jan 30
HFF I hear that alot re: conscious consumption. I think it has a lot to do with age and generations. I think its related back to baby boomers. BB grew up after the wars, and in auster times, so comsumption and having things was a sign of success and hence happyness. Its getting harder to determine what is "needed" and what is "wanted".
However, as generations come and go, people are more comfortable and have more disposible income. Plus they question more, and allow themselves to have an opinion. Also, I think its an Ottawa thing. I wonder if people in other parts of the western world think the same way?
Times are a changing in the retail world. It certainly will be interesting and challenging for retailers to get people to spend. The BB will be not spending as much, the conscious spenders won't, the ones in the middle will, but they are shrinking. The economic model will have to change to support these changes.
I wonder if Walmart, Sears, Canadian Tire etc. have people addressing these issues? I expect so.
However, as generations come and go, people are more comfortable and have more disposible income. Plus they question more, and allow themselves to have an opinion. Also, I think its an Ottawa thing. I wonder if people in other parts of the western world think the same way?
Times are a changing in the retail world. It certainly will be interesting and challenging for retailers to get people to spend. The BB will be not spending as much, the conscious spenders won't, the ones in the middle will, but they are shrinking. The economic model will have to change to support these changes.
I wonder if Walmart, Sears, Canadian Tire etc. have people addressing these issues? I expect so.
2011 Jan 30
So much condescension for a Sunday morning! I suspect that a person can lead an equally unexamined or unfulfilled life whilst spending their money on a hamburger from Burger King or on a seven dollar carrot. The "dumb" consumer who buys something advertised on (gasp!) television can feel the same frisson of happiness and satisfaction as the so-called "smart" consumer can when heading home from market with a basket full of ultra-local micro crops or what have you.
Similarly, I have observed that it is possible to get the same frisson of satisfaction from conspicuous non-consuming and its associated evangelizing. That could be the product of an "unfulfilled" and/or "unhealthy" life or not. The automatic demonizaiton of (gasp!) consumption and the pity for the poor souls who are too dumb to avoid falling "prey" to the temptations of (gasp again!) marketing sounds a bit too simple and dogmatic.
Similarly, I have observed that it is possible to get the same frisson of satisfaction from conspicuous non-consuming and its associated evangelizing. That could be the product of an "unfulfilled" and/or "unhealthy" life or not. The automatic demonizaiton of (gasp!) consumption and the pity for the poor souls who are too dumb to avoid falling "prey" to the temptations of (gasp again!) marketing sounds a bit too simple and dogmatic.
2011 Jan 30
Prahs, good points! The optimal consumption pattern likely lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. I think the assumption made by the original article is that most people reading it have gone too far in the overconsumption direction and need a little reminder about why that might have happened. Condescending? Yes. Useful? Hopefully. It's pretty hard to make any arguments in favour of consumption.
Anyway, this whole search for fulfillment is pretty recent. Our ancestors were mostly concerned with staying alive. To have the luxury of being concerned with personal fulfillment is an awesome privilege.
Anyway, this whole search for fulfillment is pretty recent. Our ancestors were mostly concerned with staying alive. To have the luxury of being concerned with personal fulfillment is an awesome privilege.
2011 Jan 30
Not having access to television makes me an uninformed consumer. However, I have access to the internet so I can at least find what I want.
No, I am not at the mercy of corporate consumerist marketing through that medium, but there are many other approaches as well. I've managed to tune out as much advertising as is humanly possible while still living in the world. I stay in the lobby of the theater until the movie starts. I ignore in store signs where possible.
I know what I want and will do my own research to find it. However, that means that I am dependent on those others who are not so blind as I and willing to give their own interpretations, opinions and "facts".
No, I am not at the mercy of corporate consumerist marketing through that medium, but there are many other approaches as well. I've managed to tune out as much advertising as is humanly possible while still living in the world. I stay in the lobby of the theater until the movie starts. I ignore in store signs where possible.
I know what I want and will do my own research to find it. However, that means that I am dependent on those others who are not so blind as I and willing to give their own interpretations, opinions and "facts".
2011 Jan 30
urbanroutine - i agree with some of your sentiment. i don't see a difference between consuming/buying from walmart vs wholefoods in terms of what will give you better satisfaction in life. for me, the thought of conscious consumption is being mindful of what you are spending your money on and why you are spending it, not what the actual product/service is or where it is from. i don't think the choices i make are better than anyone else's. i am just trying in my everyday life to avoid buying into the happiness factor.
"happiness" is a huge market in north america. we are constantly told to be happy. we should be happy and if we aren't happy we should do something about it. what i see in advertising these days is a push on people to feel happy and satisfied. the easiest way to feel happy is to spend our hard earned money. we should buy this or that. we should eat this or that. we should take a yoga class, we should meditate, we should go running, we should go walking, blah, blah, blah - just hurry up, open your wallet and get out there and do something. you are supposed to feel happy and if you don't you need to work towards getting happy.
if we decide it is ok to not be happy, that just being ok is good enough, then we can start enjoying what we already have.
"happiness" is a huge market in north america. we are constantly told to be happy. we should be happy and if we aren't happy we should do something about it. what i see in advertising these days is a push on people to feel happy and satisfied. the easiest way to feel happy is to spend our hard earned money. we should buy this or that. we should eat this or that. we should take a yoga class, we should meditate, we should go running, we should go walking, blah, blah, blah - just hurry up, open your wallet and get out there and do something. you are supposed to feel happy and if you don't you need to work towards getting happy.
if we decide it is ok to not be happy, that just being ok is good enough, then we can start enjoying what we already have.
2011 Jan 30
"I stay in the lobby of the theater until the movie starts"
yeah...let the plebes enjoy their movie trailers/previews. good grief!
Prahs hit the nail on the head here...
yeah...let the plebes enjoy their movie trailers/previews. good grief!
Prahs hit the nail on the head here...
2011 Jan 31
I think the term consumption is misleading to many people. Much social research has show that humans have a requirement to foster an identity. There is nothing wrong with this. Marketers try to take advantage of that desire by tying the acquisition/maintenance of this identity to the consumption of the products they are selling. Of course, tying our identities to an every growing unbalanced consumption of our environment is inherently unsustainable, however we need to spend our money, participate economically, and we need to foster our identities. CBC Ideas had a great program in 2006 on this ( transcript and MP3 here: www.goodreads.ca ) One way to do this, the lecture argues, is to spend our effort, and money creating our identities not by buying objects ( big house, big screen TV, etc) , but by spending our money to acquire experiences, which shape our identity. This is very close to hipfunkyfun's approach of spending her money buying great experiences that she can savour and remember. Consider it equivalent to the European approach, of valuing vacation time, siesta, and fine slow food. Anyone up for a summer-long stroll of Camino de Santiago?
To a certain extent, this is what us 'foodies' here on this site are doing; Experiencing Life. Even monty, despite his sarcasm does this with his love of BBQ and smokehouse. ( Still up to trade for a SpiceBoy Monty? )
To a certain extent, this is what us 'foodies' here on this site are doing; Experiencing Life. Even monty, despite his sarcasm does this with his love of BBQ and smokehouse. ( Still up to trade for a SpiceBoy Monty? )
2011 Jan 31
It is possible that what I view as the general population's propensity to OVER consume has made me go to the other extreme where I try my damnedest to be ad-blind.
@Monty: I go back into the theatre for the trailers as well. That's information I want. I just don't feel the need to subject myself to the extra advertising if I have an option. I do have an option. I can stand in the lobby until I hear the trailers begin.
As Pete points out, we have a need to have a unique identity. A lot of people, however, all end up with the same non-unique identity because they are all following the same trends, doing the same activities and buying the same things.
Maybe this is why I don't have any friends. I feel that I have a unique identity though.
@Monty: I go back into the theatre for the trailers as well. That's information I want. I just don't feel the need to subject myself to the extra advertising if I have an option. I do have an option. I can stand in the lobby until I hear the trailers begin.
As Pete points out, we have a need to have a unique identity. A lot of people, however, all end up with the same non-unique identity because they are all following the same trends, doing the same activities and buying the same things.
Maybe this is why I don't have any friends. I feel that I have a unique identity though.
zymurgist
www.raptitude.com
The article is best summed up by these paragraphs :
Healthy people — who know how to deal with disappointment, who have given up on the idea of magic bullets, who don’t watch TV indiscriminately, who are fulfilled by things that don’t cost money — are poor consumers, and so the very-high-level marketers have nurtured a culture which produces the exact opposite.
You are being encouraged, from virtually every angle, to become or remain unhealthy and unfulfilled, because then you will buy more. Not to make you paranoid, but that’s the primary purpose of the glowing rectangle in your living room — to encourage poor (but not quite failing) health, general complacency, and an unconscious reflex for parting with money.